Kentucky Wildcats baseball

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Kentucky Wildcats
Founded: 1896
Kentucky Wildcats athletic logo

University University of Kentucky
Conference SEC
Eastern Division
Location Lexington, KY
Head Coach Gary Henderson (1st year)
Home Stadium Cliff Hagan Stadium
(Capacity: 3,000)
Nickname Wildcats
Colors Blue and White

             

NCAA Tournament Appearances
1988, 1993, 2006, 2008
Conference Champions
2006

The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team represents the University of Kentucky in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other Kentucky athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Eastern division of the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats play their home games on campus in Cliff Hagan Stadium, and they are coached by head coach John Cohen.

Contents

[edit] History

The baseball program, partly hampered by being the northernmost school in the heavily warm-weather SEC, has historically achieved only modest success at best. Wildcats baseball hit bottom at the turn of the 21st century, with only one winning season from 1997 through 2004, and last-place finishes in the SEC East division in every season from 2001 through 2005. In 2003, after the retirement of longtime coach Keith Madison, Kentucky hired Florida assistant John Cohen as head coach. Cohen was able to lead the Cats to a winning overall season in 2005, despite another SEC cellar finish.

Few could have expected the Cinderella season the Cats would have in 2006. They literally went from worst to first in the SEC, winning a regular-season conference title for the first time in three decades, and being ranked as high as fourth in the country by one major baseball poll during the season. However, the newly energized Kentucky baseball faithful saw the Cats crash out of the SEC tournament early and fail to make it out of the regionals of the NCAA tournament at home.

There were high hopes for the 2007 team and for the most part they delivered. After going undefeated at 19-0 they eventually fell against Arkansas They then fell into a tailspin but rebounded at the end of the year to just miss the SEC playoffs after a Tennessee Volunteers win. They finished with a 37-19 record.

[edit] Stadium

The Wildcats play their home games in Cliff Hagan Stadium.

A view of Cliff Hagan Stadium from the outfield.
A view of Cliff Hagan Stadium from the outfield.

[edit] Head Coaches

[edit] Year-by-Year Results

[edit] All-Americans

  • Dom Fucci – 1949
  • Jeff Abbott – 1994
  • Chad Green – 1996
  • Ryan Strieby – 2006
  • Sean Coughlin – 2007
  • Sawyer Carroll – 2008
  • Collin Cowgill – 2008

[edit] Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament


[edit] Former Players


[edit] See also

[edit] References