Kentucky entered the weekend road series with Ole Miss riding a 13-game winning streak and a ton of momentum. The Bat Cats left the weekend with a tough series loss. Now we get to see how this team responds to adversity.

UK (19-4, 4-2) is currently tied at the top of the SEC standings with Texas, Mississippi State, Auburn, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The Wildcats are right where they needed to be after two series but the grind is about to heat up. Another big road trip to face a talented roster is on deck.

Another baseball week has started in the Commonwealth. Let’s set the table.

Pair of short starts lead to series loss against Ole Miss

Kentucky’s Friday night starter has been outstanding this season. That continued in Oxford over the weekend. Jaxon Jelkin (5-0, 2.94 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 37 K, 9 BB/HBP) posted his best start of the season against the Rebels. The former Nebraska and Houston pitcher went seven innings and gave up just four hits with the only run coming on a solo home run by former Kentucky catcher Austin Fawley. The pitcher produced 10 groundball outs and stayed out of trouble for most of the game. Ole Miss had more than a handful of one-pitch outs, and that allowed Jelkin to eat some much-needed innings.

Kentucky had a chance to steal a road series because of this performance. The Bat Cats were unable to finish the deal due to multiple reasons. Short starts on Thursday and Saturday played a big role.

Ben Cleaver (1-1, 2.45 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 18.1 IP, 24 K, 18 BB/HBP) lasted into the fourth inning for just the third time in six starts on Thursday, but still has not pitched in a fifth inning this season. Cleaver kept some of the free passes down but gave up an opposite field home run to Ole Miss slugger Tristan Bissetta and once again was dealing with full counts. That led to an early exit. Another one would arrive on Sunday.

Nate Harris (3-1, 4.97 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 25.1 IP, 28 K, 18 BB/HBP) was fresh off a strong performance against Alabama and was cruising against Ole Miss until the fourth inning. Harris lost some control and loaded the bases. The sophomore then gave up his first home run of the season when a grand slam from Daniel Pacella gave Ole Miss the lead and started a shootout.

Kentucky got behind early and never got anything going offensively on Thursday. One three-run inning was good enough on Friday due to Jelkin. The offense did more than enough on Saturday but a bad day for the pitching staff started in the fourth inning.

Jelkin keeps delivering but Kentucky is going to need their other starters to last longer moving forward.

Kentucky’s bullpen has a bad weekend

Kentucky’s bullpen was asked to log 9.1 innings over the weekend. That was something you would sign up for heading into the weekend after a midweek game versus Marshall was postponed. Kentucky had a fresh bullpen that was backloaded to win the series on Saturday after Ryan Mullan (7 appearances, 1-0, 5.40 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 6.2 IP, 9 K, 5 BB/HBP), Oliver Boone (4 appearances, 1-0, 4.76 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 5.2 IP, 4 K, 4 BB/HBP), and Leighton Harris (7 appearances, 7.36 ERA, 1.91 WHIP, 7 K, 6 BB/HBP) ate 4.1 innings in a 5-0 loss on Thursday before Nile Adcock (9 appearances, 2 saves, 1-1, 2.61 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 10.1 IP, 15 K, 4 BB/HBP) recorded a six-out save on Friday. Unfortunately, things came unglued quickly in a winnable game.

Top closer Jack Bennett (8 appearances, 5 saves, 1-0, 1.15 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 15 K, 4 BB/HBP) somewhat surprisingly entered the game in the fourth inning after Nate Harris allowed a grand slam. The WKU transfer quickly settled things and recorded nine outs for the Wildcats. Bennett gave up zero hits and worked around some free passes on 40 pitches. Bennett left the game in the seventh inning with Kentucky holding a 8-6 lead. UK had two established relievers ready to take this home.

The Cats turned to long reliever Connor Mattison (6 appearances, 2-0, 3.21 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 14 IP, 16 K, 7 BB/HBP) in the seventh. The Grand Canyon transfer had his worst outing of the year as he gave up three runs and failed to record an out. This was the first time Mattison has given up more than a run all season. Kentucky quickly pivoted to Burkley Bounds (9 appearances, 1 save, 2-1, 4.91 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 14.2 IP, 21 K, 11 BB/HBP). Another closer option entered the game early and gave up two earned runs over 1.2 innings with three walks. The game was lost in that seventh and eighth innings with Mattison and Bounds on the mound before Ira Austin IV (7 appearances, 8.44 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 5.1 IP, 9 K, 5 BB/HBP) and Jackson Soucie (7 appearances, 2.70 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 6.2 IP, 5 K, 3 BB/HBP) got the last two outs.

This bullpen had some nice performances in the non-conference, but did give up seven earned runs of 15 innings against Alabama with 11 free passes. The Wildcats played with some fire that weekend. Against a dangerous Ole Miss lineup, only one extended effort was needed. UK had their best arms ready to go. They came up short in a very winnable game.

This was not a good weekend for the bullpen. Saturday is one that got away.

Offense runs hot and cold

Kentucky preseason All-American Tyler Bell (.367/.548/.633, 2 HR, 8 RBI on 42 plate appearances) returned to the lineup for The Citadel series to close non-conference play. Things immediately got better for the offense with Bell on the lineup card. The Bat Cats showed more consistency at the plate and scored at least 10 runs in every game that series. A 10-run performance against Ball State followed. UK would go on to score at least six runs in every game of the sweep against Alabama. Some power arrived, but UK also used small ball to get runners to home plate in the back half of this 13-game winning streak.

We saw what UK could be at its best but this is probably going to be a lineup that has ups and downs. Remember the St. John’s series where UK recorded a swept but only scored nine total runs all weekend? Something similar happened against Ole Miss.

The Bat Cats plated just 12 runs across three games and nine of those occurred on Saturday. UK was shutout on Thursday and really had just one good inning on Friday. This offense once against had some struggles against left-handed pitching, struck out a bunch, and couldn’t capitalize against the Ole Miss bullpen.

Bell went yard, Hudson Brown (.375/.495/.538, 2 HR, 18 RBI on 104 plate appearances) continued his hot run at the plate with five hits, and Carson Hansen (.265/.375/.441, 1 HR, 9 RBI on 41 plate appearances) hit a grand slam on Saturday.

Kentucky’s offense scored enough to win in the series finale but they came up short on both Thursday and Friday. This team is not built to hit a ton of home runs. UK will need basepath traffic to plate runs. There was not enough of that this past weekend.

Player Spotlight: Nile Adcock

Nile Adcock started his collegiate baseball journey in junior college at Kaskaskia Community College. The right-handed pitcher spent two seasons in JUCO and made 26 starts. Adcock posted a 2.91 ERA on 74.1 innings as a sophomore before transferring. The Illinois native ultimately picked Kentucky after ranking No. 14 nationally in WHIP (1.05) in 2024.

The SEC transition was a tricky one for Adcock. Kentucky asked him to be a reliever and he did not find much success in his first season in Lexington. The pitcher finished the 2025 campaign with a 7.13 ERA over 17.2 innings. After a very strong performance in the Ohio Valley League over the summer, Adcock has seemingly built off that learning experience.

This senior is becoming a very important part of the Kentucky bullpen.

Adcock recorded his second save of the season over the weekend and help UK save some bullpen arms for Saturday. The veteran has now gone six consecutive appearances without giving up a run and is starting to get some more opportunities. After primarily being a midweek option to start the season, Adcock is now becoming a key part of the weekend plan.

Kentucky has a veteran in Adcock who can be a fireman to wiggle out of jams and also close games late. That versatility will be valuable for this baseball team as the schedule gets tougher and the bullpen outs become more critical.

SEC standings after two weeks

PlaceTeamOverall Record (Conference Record)T-1Arkansas18-7 (4-2)T-1Auburn19-4 (4-2)T-1Georgia20-5 (4-2)T-1Kentucky19-4 (4-2)T-1Mississippi State20-4 (4-2)T-1Oklahoma19-5 (4-2)T-1Texas20-3 (4-2)T-8Alabama18-7 (3-3)T-8Florida19-6 (3-3)T-8Ole Miss19-6 (3-3)T-8Tennessee17-7 (3-3)T-12LSU16-9 (2-4)T-12Vanderbilt13-12 (2-4)T-12Texas A&M18-5 (2-4)T-15Missouri16-8 (1-5)T-15South Carolina13-12 (1-5)

On Deck: Murray State and LSU

Another Kentucky baseball week has arrived. Four games are on the slate. Kentucky will return home for a midweek game before hitting the road again for another SEC series. This one has returned to the normal Tuesday and Friday-Sunday schedule.

DateOpponentVenueTimeMarch 24 (Tuesday)Murray StateKentucky Proud Park6:30 p.m. ETMarch 27 (Friday)LSUAlex Box Stadium7:30 p.m. ETMarch 28 (Saturday)LSUAlex Box Stadium3 p.m. ETMarch 29 (Sunday)LSUAlex Box Stadium1 p.m. ET

Murray State (16-8, 3-0) is fresh off a College World Series appearance and is making some noise again on the diamond. The Racers just swept Valparaiso to begin league play and also own a sweep over Butler. The Racers have dominated at home but are just 3-7 on the road. Three of those losses occurred in a sweep to UCF. This will be Murray State’s first midweek game versus a power conference foe. Weather in Lexington is expected to be in the mid-50s for this matchup.

LSU (16-9, 2-4) has been one of the biggest disappointments in college baseball this season. The Tigers have already lost six games at The Box and dropped both SEC series to begin league play. Jay Johnson‘s team does neutral-site non-conference wins over Indiana, Notre Dame, and UCF that should help boost the resume. However, there have been some head-scratching midweek losses and series losses to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma.

Kentucky will look to get back on track after a 1-2 week. The schedule is a tricky one with a dangerous midweek opponent and a talented team that has been backed into a corner early in the conference season.