Kentucky freshman outfielder Braxton Van Cleave was stretchered off the field and loaded into an ambulance following a scary collision with Arkansas shortstop Camden Kozeal in the third inning of Friday night's game. Kentucky coach Nick Mingione said after the game that the left side of Van Cleave's face was numb while he was on the field and that more imaging would be done that night.
Following Saturday's 16-12 loss to the Razorbacks, Mingione provided a positive update.
"Braxton got released (Friday) night with his parents," Mingione said. "Thankfully, his parents were here. He got released and still has some swelling in his face. They'll go back in and see some imagery, but he came by today to see the guys. His dad, so smart. He's a coach. He knows how that could impact your team mentally. So he just felt like it was important for him to see the guys. The guys gave him a big round of applause today. He had a big ol' knot on his eye. Kinda looked like Rocky Balboa when he fought Apollo Creed. Braxton, they told him what a dog he is and how tough he is. I think that was big for those guys to just lay eyes on him and see him. The parents really appreciated all the prayers, and they felt all the love. We'll know more as the days progress and some of the swelling goes down."
Van Cleave, a highly-ranked prospect from Arlington, Texas, has been one of the best developments in the second half of the season. Van Cleave had logged 19 at-bats this season leading up to the Vanderbilt series on April 17. With the Wildcats trailing 2-1 and down to their final out, Van Cleave launched a grand slam over the right field wall to complete the 5-2 victory. He started every game after that and rode a 10-game hitting streak through the Tennessee finale. Van Cleave collected three hits and homered in that game. He went hitless in the series opener at Florida but then started a new hitting streak, finishing the regular season with a hit in four straight contests.
For the season, the 6-3 freshman is slashing .260/.329/.506 with four doubles, five homers and 21 RBIs.
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A look at Kentucky statistically in the SEC
With the regular season now complete, let's look at how the Wildcats fared within league play.
Kentucky ended up having a solid season offensively, all things considered. The offense went through a rough patch in the middle of the season as players were in and out of the lineup due to injury, illness, and sometimes just general ineffectiveness. But the offense picked up in the final 13 games of the regular season. Despite posting a 5-8 record, the Wildcats scored 98 runs, averaging over 7 runs per game.
Here's how Kentucky ranked within the league in its 30 SEC games:
- Runs: 11th (181 runs)
- Hits: 7th (271 hits)
- Doubles: 2nd (55 doubles)
- Triples: 3rd (five triples)
- Home runs: 13th (34 homers)
- Runs Batted In: 11th (167 RBI)
- Slugging percentage: 12th (.435)
- Walks: 12th (118 walks drawn)
- Hit-by-pitch: 1st (53 HBP)
- On-base percentage: 4th (.373 OBP)
- Stolen bases: 1st (55 stolen bases)
This team did a nice job getting on base, finding gaps for extra base hits and was the most effective team in the league at stealing bases. The number of home runs hit, which actually climbed quite a bit in the final few weeks, was much lower than many of their SEC counterparts. Eleven of the 16 teams in the league hit at least 40 homers, and six teams hit at least 50 homers. Kentucky Proud Park plays bigger than many of the other leagues in the stadium, but there's no doubt that other teams were built to slug much more than this team was.
The pitching staff was a different story. Outside of Jaxon Jelkin, who doubled the rest of the staff in innings pitched and strikeouts in league play, the Wildcats had a difficult time finding reliable arms. Kentucky finished 12th as a team in ERA (6.44) and allowed the fourth most hits of all teams in conference play, including the most doubles allowed with 65.
In terms of ERA, it was the highest of the Dan Roszel era. Here's how this year stacked up to previous seasons:
- 2026: 12th (6.44)
- 2025: 11th (5.74)
- 2024: 7th (6.05)
- 2023: 7th (5.37)
- 2022: 4th (4.81)
- 2021: 12th (6.06)
The pitching staff hit the second-most batters in the league (48) and finished with 44 wild pitches, also the second-worst in the league. LSU was the league-leader at 53. However, after Kentucky, the next closest team in wild pitches was Mississippi State with 28. Opponents hit .273 against the Cats, tied for the fourth-highest average.
Jelkin provided a memorable season, at least. He finished second in league play in innings pitched (61.1) and was tied for sixth in strikeouts with 68. Jelkin, a transfer from Houston, tossed two complete games this season and stepped up and recorded a save in the Wildcats' 13th SEC win of the season.
In addition, freshman right-hander Jack Sams developed into a reliable weapon out of the bullpen. The Lexington Catholic grad struck out 30.6% of the batters he faced in league play and posted a 1.50 ERA over 12 innings. He allowed an earned run in just two of his outings all season.
Kentucky begins postseason play on Tuesday against Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament. First pitch is set for around 2 p.m. ET.
