Kentucky Earns No. 12 Overall Seed in NCAA Tournament, Will Play Ball State Friday in Lexington

It'll be the Bat Cats vs. the Cardinals to open the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Lexington.

After being announced as one of the 16 Regional hosts for the 2023 NCAA Tournament on Sunday night, Kentucky baseball now knows the three teams that will head to Lexington to try and overthrow it this weekend. 

The Wildcats earned the No. 12 overall seed and will first square off against Ball State, the No. 4 team in the pod who earned an auto-bid by winning the MAC Tournament. On the other side, West Virginia, the No. 2 team in the pod who earned an at-large bid, will take on Indiana, the No. 3 team who also earned an at-large bid.

Below is the schedule laying out the double-elimination format, with the first two games taking place on Friday, June 2 at Kentucky Proud Park:

• Day 1: Friday, June 2
  • Game 1: Kentucky vs. Ball State (Noon EST)
  • Game 2: West Virginia vs. Indiana (7 p.m. EST)
• Day 2: Saturday, June 3
  • Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (1 p.m. EST)
  • Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (7 p.m. EST)
• Day 3: Sunday, June 4
  • Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (1 p.m. EST)
  • Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 (7 p.m. EST)
• Day 4: Monday, June 5
• Game 7: If necessary, same teams as in Game 6 (7 p.m. EST)

Kentucky's pod is paired with LSU's pod. The Tigers, who took two of three from the Wildcats earlier this season, are the No. 5 overall seed and will host No. 2 Oregon State, No. 3 Sam Houston State and No. 4 Tulane. 

It's UK's 10th ever NCAA Tournament berth and the second postseason appearance for Nick Mingione as head coach of the Wildcats, who own a 36-18 (16-14 SEC) record, the team's best since 2017, which also led to a Regional being held in Lexington at Cliff Hagan Stadium, UK's former home ballpark that witnessed its only two times hosting, with the first coming back in 2006.

The Cats are 18-19 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and made their only Super Regional appearance in 2017, when it faced Louisville and lost two games to the Cardinals at Jim Patterson Stadium.

Two Wildcats earn All-SEC honors. More HERE.

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