Kentucky baseball wins third elimination game at SEC Tournament, reaches semifinals

The Kentucky baseball team can’t stop winning in Hoover, Alabama.

UK’s spectacular and sudden run in the Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament continued Saturday afternoon with a 7-2 victory over LSU in a fourth-round elimination game.

The victory was the third in four days in Hoover for head coach Nick Mingione’s team, with all three wins coming in “win-or-go-home” scenarios.

It also sends Kentucky through to an SEC Tournament semifinal game against No. 1 Tennessee, which will be played Saturday night and broadcast on the SEC Network.

The semifinal will be another elimination-game scenario, with the winner advancing to Sunday afternoon’s championship game against either Florida or Texas A&M.

Kentucky took two of three games from Tennessee earlier this season in Lexington. The Wildcats were the only team to win a series against the Volunteers this season.

UK has now scored elimination game wins at the conference tournament against Auburn, Vanderbilt and LSU.

Kentucky’s lone loss in Hoover, which came against LSU, has also been avenged.

Kentucky is the first No. 12 seed to reach the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

With this run, UK has pushed its way back into the NCAA Tournament conversation, as well, although most projections still have the Cats on the outside of the 64-team field entering Saturday’s semifinal against Tennessee.

UK last made the NCAA Tournament in 2017.

With Saturday afternoon’s win, Kentucky is now 33-25 overall this season with a 15-19 record in games against other SEC schools.

Tyler Bosma’s pitching prowess powers UK to win

Kentucky’s win over LSU on Saturday afternoon was all about UK left-handed pitcher Tyler Bosma.

A graduate student in his first season at Kentucky who previously pitched at Miami (Ohio), Bosma entered Saturday’s first game with an earned run average of 5.35 this season and 26 runs allowed in 35 1/3 innings pitched.

But against the Tigers he was nearly untouchable.

Bosma had a no-hitter through six innings and finished his start with six innings pitched, 10 strikeouts, two walks and two runs. He threw 64 of 101 pitches for strikes and kept one of the nation’s best scoring offenses at bay.

In 57 prior games this season, LSU averaged more than eight runs per game.

Against the combined efforts of Bosma, Wyatt Hudepohl and Daniel Harper, the Tigers managed only two runs.

At the plate, the Cats scored multiple runs in the first, fourth and fifth innings to establish a commanding 7-0 lead.

Nine-hole hitter and first baseman Jake Plastiak had a three-hit day, including a solo home run to right field.

Daniel Harris had a three-hit day as well, while Hunter Jump recorded two RBI.

Next game

Kentucky will play Tennessee, the No. 1 team in the country and the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament, in a Saturday night tournament semifinal.

UK won two of three games against Tennessee earlier this season, the only team in the country to win a series against the Volunteers this season.

The winner of the UK-Tennessee game will play the winner of Florida-Texas A&M in Sunday afternoon’s SEC Tournament championship game.