Kentucky baseball named No. 2 seed in 2024 NCAA Tournament. How to buy tickets.
Kentucky baseball will host an NCAA Tournament regional in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history. And for the first time, the Wildcats will enter the tournament as one of the top eight seeds in the field.
Nick Mingione’s team is the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament. That ranking ensures Kentucky could host a super regional for the first time if it advances through the first weekend of the tournament, offering a clear path to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Kentucky has never reached the College World Series.
“We just want to keep doing things that have never been done before,” Mingione said after the bracket was revealed. “That’s kind of been our calling since we’ve been here. ... Another opportunity to do that this year.”
UK will open tournament play against Mid-American Conference champion Western Michigan. Illinois and Indiana State are the other teams in the double-elimination regional. Indiana State was widely projected as a possible regional host but was not among the top 16 teams in the field as ranked by the committee.
If Kentucky advances to the super regional it will face the winner of the regional that features No. 15 seed Oregon State, Tulane, Nichols and UC Irvine.
Kentucky was considered a lock to be one of the top eight NCAA seeds entering the SEC Tournament last week and maybe the leading contender for the top overall seed. Tennessee, with whom UK shared the regular season SEC championship, apparently passed the Wildcats in the race for the No. 1 overall seed by winning the SEC Tournament though. Still, No. 2 is the highest seed in program history for UK.
Being named a top-eight seed is the latest accolade in what has been a historic season for Kentucky.
The Wildcats had not even previously reached the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons under the tournament’s current format. SEC coaches picked them to finish fifth in the East Division in the league’s preseason poll, and none of the major preseason top 25 polls included Mingione’s squad.
Despite that outside skepticism entering the season, UK players more than backed up their own confidence a special season was coming.
Kentucky won the second SEC championship in program history and set a program record with 22 regular season SEC wins. UK entered Selection Monday ranked No. 3 in the RPI and leads the country with 22 wins in RPI quadrant one games.
“It’s not something we would ever take for granted because you see around there’s a lot of really good teams and there’s some really good teams who did not hear their name called,” Mingione said of clinching a postseason berth. “So, we’ll definitely appreciate it, but we also understand the margin of victory is so small. We don’t really have time to pat ourselves on the back or really feel good about ourselves for very long because the second you do that someone is going to pass you.”
NCAA Tournament games begin Friday and continue through Monday if necessary. Kentucky and Western Michigan will open the regional at noon.
NKU is the other Kentucky team in the field. The Norse will play in Tennessee’s regional, facing the No. 1 Volunteers in the opener.
How to buy tickets for the Lexington regional
All-session tickets will go on sale to the public at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 28. Depending on remaining inventory, single-game tickets will go on sale at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 30. Tickets may be purchased online at UKBaseballTix.com or by calling the UK Ticket Office at 800-928-2287.
NCAA Tournament Lexington Regional
When: Friday through Monday
Where: Kentucky Proud Park
Tickets: UKBaseballTix.com
Teams: Kentucky (40-14), Illinois (34-19), Indiana State (42-13), Western Michigan (32-21)
Format: Double-elimination
At stake: Winner advances to NCAA Tournament’s 16-team super-regional round next week.
Lexington Regional schedule
Friday
Game 1: No. 1 seed Kentucky vs. No. 4 Western Michigan, Noon (SEC Network)
Game 2: No. 2 Indiana State vs. No. 3 Illinois, 7 p.m. (ESPN Plus)
Saturday
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, Noon (TV TBA)
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6 p.m. (TV TBA)
Sunday: Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, Noon (TV TBA)
Game 6: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4, 6 p.m. (TV TBA)
Monday (if necessary)
Game 7: Same teams as in Game 6, time TBA (TV TBA)
