Kentucky jumped out to a 4-1 lead by the fifth inning of its SEC Tournament opener against Vanderbilt, but the Commodores scored seven unanswered runs to take control and eliminate the Wildcats from the SEC Tournament.
Freshman catcher Owen Jenkins singled in a run with two outs in the ninth inning to provide some late life, but third baseman Caeden Cloud struck out to give Vanderbilt an 8-5 win. With the loss, Kentucky fell to 31-21 overall and 13-18 in SEC games. It will have a long wait until Monday to see if it's done enough to reach a fourth straight NCAA Tournament.
Shortstop Tyler Bell and right fielder Carson Hansen hit solo homers for the Cats, and second baseman Luke Lawrence drove in two runs in the loss. Four Vanderbilt hitters collected two hits, but Brodie Johnston hurt the Cats once again. He drove in three runs, including a two-run shot in the eighth inning that provided some important cushion for the Commodores.
Kentucky ace Jaxon Jelkin cruised through his first five innings, holding Vanderbilt to one earned run and just three hits. The 6-5 right-hander, who threw an eight-inning complete game against Tennessee and then a 128-pitch complete game against Florida before throwing 29 pitches last week against Arkansas, ran into trouble in the sixth.
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After the first two batters in the inning were retired, Vanderbilt pieced together a rally that saw four runs cross and 10 batters come to the dish. Jelkin walked Logan Johnstone with two outs and then allowed four consecutive ground ball singles, which brought home three runs to tie it at 4-4 and chase Jelkin from the game.
Freshman right-hander Jack Sams replaced Jelkin and should've been out of the inning with the score tied, but Cloud's throw to first base was wide and could not be caught cleanly by Hudson Brown. Vanderbilt took a 5-4 lead on the throwing error. Johnston walked to load the bases, but the inning ended on a long flyout to center field.
The Commodores tacked on insurance runs in the eighth inning. Rustan Rigdon led off the frame with a single and stole second and third with no outs. Jenkins tried to make an off-balance throw to third while Rigdon was stealing, which ended up in shallow left field. Bell made a diving play to get to the ball, but his throw to the plate had no chance. Kentucky brought Nile Adcock into the game after a single ended Sams' day. Johnston welcomed him to the game with a two-run homer on a hanging breaking ball to make it 8-4.
That was more than enough for Vanderbilt reliever Alex Kranzler, who retired the first 11 batters he faced out of the bullpen. Prior to a one-out walk to Will Marcy in the ninth inning, Kentucky had not had a baserunner since Luke Lawrence's RBI double in the fifth gave UK a 4-1 lead. Marcy came around to score on the single from Jenkins but that would be all the Cats could muster. Kranzler allowed just one hit and struck out five batters over 4.1 innings.
It was another short stay in Hoover for Kentucky. The Wildcats have lost their opening game in the tournament in four straight seasons. Since reaching the semifinals in 2022, Kentucky has won just one game in the SEC Tournament over the past four seasons.
As for the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky will hope its RPI in the 30s will be enough to earn a bid. After Kentucky's 13th SEC win of the season on May 14, head coach Nick Mingione said he believed the Wildcats had done enough to get in.
"Track record and history says so," Mingione said. "Especially with the RPI where it is. That's what history says."
Coming into the game, D1baseball.com had Kentucky as a No. 3 seed and among its last four in. Baseball America had Kentucky as a lock in an earlier story looking at the NCAA Tournament, but had this to say after the game:
"The result puts pressure on the NCAA Selection Committee to make a complicated decision: select Kentucky, which won 13 of 30 SEC games and lost more weekend series than it won but entered the day with an RPI of 30; side with Vanderbilt, which won 14 SEC games, beat Kentucky head-to-head in Hoover but entered play with an RPI in the 70s; include both; or leave both out of the field entirely."
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