Fresh off its sweep of No. 17 Oklahoma, Kentucky is scheduled to host Northern Kentucky Tuesday night in its final midweek game of the season. With rain in the forecast however, this game could very well be canceled as it doesn’t really benefit Kentucky this late in the season.
Things looked gloomy for Nick Mingione’s program after last weekend’s series at Mississippi State, where Kentucky was swept for the first time this season by a team that had just fired its head coach. The ‘Cats slipped to the bubble of the Tournament, but climbed out of that spot with its stellar performance at home over the weekend.
Kentucky comes in at a No. 3 seed in On3’s latest Field of 64 Projections, paired with No. 1 seed Oregon State (No. 7 overall seed), No. 2 seed TCU and No. 4 seed Nevada. Following Tuesday’s game, the ‘Cats will travel to No. 9 Vanderbilt for their final conference series of the season.
Northern Kentucky Norse (27-22, 15-12) No. 200 RPI
Northern Kentucky enters the final week of the regular season with a 27-22, 15-12 record, good for third place in the Horizon League. The Norse are reigning champions of the Horizon League Tournament and look to repeat next week to punch back-to-back tickets to the NCAA Tournament.
The Norse are hitting for a .283 team batting average (120th in NCAA) with a brutal 6.70 ERA (201st in NCAA). Head coach Dizzy Peyton’s squad has played three power-four schools this season, where they are 1-2 with a win over Indiana and losses to Louisville and Tennessee. NKU gave the ‘Vols a scare in Knoxville, as they lost by just two runs.
Junior outfielder Logen Devenport has blossomed into one of the biggest stars in the Horizon League, as he’s hitting for a .427 average (6th in NCAA) with 15 home runs and looks to be a lock for First Team All-Horizon League. Devenport is one of three Norse hitting for at least a .300 average, joined by sophomore first baseman Gabe Miranda (.340 AVG, 10 HR) and junior outfielder Josh Williams (.264 AVG, 12 HR). The Norse have hit 63 home runs as a team, which ranks second most in the conference.
It’s been a struggle on the pitching side, as not one pitcher sports a sub 3.00 ERA. NKU’s two go-to starters, senior left-hander Aaron Boster and grad left-hander Conner Linn, sport a combined 6-5 record with a 5.79 ERA in 115 innings. Kentucky however likely won’t see any of those arms.
Northern Kentucky and Kentucky last met on February 27, 2019, where the ‘Cats held off the Norse 5-4 at Kentucky Proud Park.
Kentucky Wildcats (28-20, 13-14) No. 33 RPI
Following the three wins over Oklahoma, Kentucky’s RPI jumped all the way back to No. 33 and they improved to 9-15 against Q1 teams. Kentucky’s starting trio of Nate Harris, Nic McCay and Ben Cleaver allowed just nine earned runs across 16 1/3 innings and its lineup hit for a .289 average across the three-game span.
The ‘Cats will look to keep that success going over the final week of the season. It seems like third baseman Patrick Herrera will finish as Kentucky’s 2025 batting champ, as his .326 average leads all players. Freshman shortstop Tyler Bell leads with 17 doubles, and senior left fielder Cole Hage leads with 11 home runs.
Other than these three stars however, other players are starting to stand out in the lineup. In the Oklahoma series, Junior second baseman Luke Lawrence was 4-12 with two XBH, R-junior first baseman James McCoy was 4-8 with a double and junior outfielder Carson Hansen was 3-8 with a triple. They’ll need this added production as postseason play arrives.
Junior left-hander Ethan Walker, who has been slotted as Kentucky’s midweek starter since Nate Harris transitioned to the starting rotation, will likely make his 10th start of the season Tuesday night. Walker has been shut down in his last two relief appearances against Mississippi State and Oklahoma, as he’s allowed just one hit while striking out nine batters in five combined innings.
The ‘Cats are 6-4 (excluding 2020) in home finales since 2014.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Kentucky leads 13-2
Probable Starters
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 (Kentucky Proud Park – 6:30 p.m. EST) SEC Network+
UK: LHP Ethan Walker (1-1, 4.46 ERA, 38.1 IP) vs NKU: TBA
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