April 1, 2024 • 28 mins
Darren Headrick stops by to discuss baseball's road sweep of Ole' Miss and the hiring of Kenny Brooks! We also review softball's series triumph over #13 Alabama and a big weekend for #5 Men's Tennis.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:15):
Hello, and welcome inside another editionof UK Sports Network Today, presented by
the Big Blue Brew. Andrew Capiis here with you as always, and
boy do we have a stacked episode. We will start with the huge news
from last week, and that isthe hiring of Kenny Brooks to lead the
women's basketball program at the University ofKentucky. And what a resume that Coach
(00:38):
Brooks brings over five hundred wins betweenJames Madison and Virginia Tech and of course
a trip to the twenty twenty threeFinal Four with Virginia Tech very well could
have made a run towards that Finalfour another Final four this year. They
had some injuries derailed their season,but still made the NCAA Tournament this campaign
(00:58):
and now brings all of those accomplishmentsto Lexington as he tries to get the
women's basketball team back into the NCAAtournament and make a final four run of
their own. Last Thursday, hewas officially introduced as the ninth head coach
in UK women's basketball history. Andit's going to be an exciting twenty twenty
four twenty five. Yes, weirdto say that. Twenty twenty four twenty
(01:22):
five women's basketball campaign that of courseis going to take place in the brandly,
brand new, renovated Memorial Coliseum andhe got a bit of a sneak
peak did Coach Brooks with athletic directorMitch Barnhardt when they have finalized that deal
on Thursday and he was named thehead coach. So now the roster formation
(01:42):
begins as well as the coaching staffformation, which is all very exciting in
the next coming days, weeks andmonths to read about with women's basketball,
and we will have Darren Hedrick onlater to discuss obviously baseball and their weekend,
but also to get his thoughts onthe hiring of coach Brooks. Darren,
like everybody else in athletics, extremelyexcited about this home run higher and
(02:06):
coach Brooks hitting the ground running.As mentioned this episode of the UK Sports
Network Today podcast presented by the BigBlue Brew, we are going to recap
a big weekend on the diamond forboth baseball and softball. Baseball sweeping away
Ole Miss in Oxford to move toeight and one in SEC play, and
then UK Softball, which has hada brutal schedule to open things up.
(02:29):
It did not get any easier thisweekend, they've played the number three team
and now playing the number thirteen AlabamaCrimson Tide. They took two of three
from Alabama and a very big statementfrom the softball program. We will recap
both of their weekends and we willhave Darren Hedrick by to talk about baseball
(02:50):
sweep. He just got back in, shook off the dust from the road,
so to speak, and got hoppedon with us to chat about those
three victories against Old Miss and baseballseason as a whole. And this week
we expect to have Aaron Koffl,the new home run and RBI champion of
UK Softball on to talk about herseason, the team season and of course
(03:10):
look ahead what will be a busyweek for softball. It's a busy week
for baseball as well as always.The UK Sports Network Today podcast is presented
by the Big Blue Brew. It'sthe official newsletter of UK Athletics. You
can sign up today at UK Athleticsdot com slash Big Blue Brew. It's
completely free and it hits inboxes everyweekday morning. Once again, that's UK
(03:35):
Athletics dot com slash Big Blue Brew. Now let's get to our interview as
we chat baseball's big weekend in OleMiss at Ole Miss, I should say,
and without further ado, here's Darren, Darren Hedrick of the UK Sports
Network stopping by the voice of courseof many sports with Kentucky. But right
now we're going to talk a littlebit of baseball, and Darren, really,
(03:57):
really good weekend for the Batcats,not one, not two, but
three, a clean sweep of OleMiss. How's the team feeling on the
right back? Obviously it was avery confident bunch on the bus ride back,
and you're right, it was agreat weekend for Kentucky baseball. Anytime
you can go on the road andwin a series in the SEC, it's
a big deal, Andrew, Butto sweep and do so in a dominant
(04:18):
fashion, I mean, think aboutthis. Kentucky's played three SEC series,
two of them have been on theroad, and in two of the three
won at home against Georgia and nowone on the road at Ole Miss.
They have swept and scored a totalof thirty seven runs in both series.
So this offense is clicking on allcylinders. And obviously a young rotation that
(04:41):
was completely rebuilt coming into this yearcontinues to be refined and it's coming into
its own and the Wildcats are healthyand playing like a confident bunch right now.
Not that the team's worried about nationalattention or anything like that, but
it definitely seems like I think eyeballsstarted to get opened this weekend on a
national level with the performance in Oxford. How historic is this for Kentucky as
(05:03):
a program. I mean, thisis obviously the best start of the Nick
Bingeon era eight and one in SECplay here after three rounds. Yeah,
matches last year. They were nineand one last year, so they got
a chance to even better what theywere doing last year when they hosted a
region and made a super regional.So yeah, it's a historic run.
And to add to the history,first Wildcat team to ever go into Oxford
(05:25):
and sweep ole miss at Swayzy Field. Kentucky had never done that in there.
I think it's over one hundred yearhistory of baseball and so that was
a significant weekend for Kentucky to dominatethe Rebels like they did. And you're
right, they're seeing new heights.This is a team that's starting to catch
attention. They're ranked in almost everypole. Now there are still some people
(05:46):
out there kind of giving Kentucky aside eye, am questioning them, and
the team is fine with that.Look, these guys like being under the
radar, they like being doubted withsomething to prove. It's a chip on
their shoulder. And when you watchthem play the way they're the rest of
Andrew, the way they attack,this team plays with a chip on its
shoulder, and I think they're goingto keep that there for most of this
or if not all this year.I cannot wait to ask head coach Nick
(06:10):
MinJe on this when we have themon and obviously some players as well.
But one of the things I've reallyenjoyed hearing about is this weird thing as
far as just the personality of theteam and just the dugout antics. Tell
us a little bit about what itmeans with UK baseball to be weird.
Well, I think it's just somethingthat this team is cultivated naturally this year
(06:31):
with the chemistry, and it's havingfun in the dugout. It's staying loose,
playing relaxed and not being just pressuredand tight and being weird. The
antics in the dugout. There's somethings that we don't ask about. We
just let them do we don't knowwhat the meetings are behind them. We
just let them go. There's pinkfuzzy hats. They have done great imitations
(06:56):
of Nick coaching third base, andthey're getting really good at mimicking his movements
in the third base coaches box whenthere's runners at second base. But they've
got chance, they've got broodin sticks, anything you can think of, these
guys are latching hold of. Andit's really fun to watch this team during
games have fun and it's translating intovictories. And like coach Benjiones said,
(07:19):
as long as they're playing and havingfun, he's leaving it alone. And
Grant Smith said today that so farAndrew, they haven't found that line where
it's okay, guys, we can'tdo this anymore. But they are certainly
racking up different ways to have funin the dugout. I asked coach manjion
this last year, when I wasspilling in for you while you were still
with women's basketball, about how justit seemed like the chemistry even with last
(07:44):
year's team that you mentioned got tothe super Regionals against LSU, was really
good. And you and I havebeen around some high level teams not just
with Kentucky, but all the wayup into the TRIPA A Baseball ranks,
and it seems like there's a commonthreat, at least for me, where
really good teams typically like each othera lot. So that's I think that's
a great sign for future success athow well this team is jelling, no
(08:07):
doubt about it. You know,I've been around some teams a Yankees TRIPAA
team that won it all and basicallywas a locker room of guys that just
said, hey, let's go winthis thing. We're here, let's go
win it. And Kentucky this yearis jeling the culture that started being built
in twenty twenty two with that teamthat just missed making a regional. After
(08:28):
a great run in the postseason atthe SEC Tournament, the culture started getting
built with them and it carried overlast year. And now that culture is
established, the building blocks and thefoundation are in place, and now this
team this year is taking that andadding to it and building on it.
They not only want to get backto a regional or a super regional,
(08:52):
they want to make it to Omaha. They want to take this to new
heights. And they're all pulling therope in the same direction. They're getting
a long great Obviously winning helps allthat stuff, but they're they're doing all
the right things and saying all theright things, and so far the results
are showing that. You mentioned therebuilt pitching staff, but it's hard not
to give love to that lineup afterwhat they did this weekend in Oxford.
(09:16):
And it's a really good mixture ofguys that returned, guys that transferred in,
and then some young guys at timesas well. Two of the names
I wanted to bring up Ryan Waldschmidt, which I know everybody was concerned with,
you know, the injury, howwell that would that would come back,
he would come back from that,and how quickly he would come back
from that. And Amelian Petrie,who the growth of him from his freshman
(09:37):
year to now has been just tremendous. So those two guys are kind of
spearheading at least as far as thereturners go of this offense. Yeah,
I'll start with a million Petrie becauseI feel like he's sort of an unassuming
superstar on this team. Andrew,I really believe I've seen a lot of
talent in my career. I reallybelieve Petrie has the potential and the talent
(09:58):
to maybe someday play in Major Leaguebaseball. He's an excellent infielder. Whether
he's playing shortstop, I think he'sbetter where he's currently playing at second base.
He kind of projects there from me, but just the way he swings
the bat, the way he stayseven keel, and all the things he's
done to get to this point.He played behind Ryan Rinter as a freshman,
so he didn't see the field oftime, but he learned under Ryan.
(10:20):
He basically stuck to him like ashadow, learned from him, and
then moved to second base. WhenGrant Smith came. That allowed this infield
to go at a whole other leveldefensively. Last year those two were playing
together again. This year, Petrisgot more walks than he does strikeout,
showing tremendous discipline at the plate.You're talking about a young man that's basically
(10:41):
from Quebec and on his own hereat Lexington. He taught himself English so
that he could come down here andgo to school and play baseball. Just
a terrific young man. And RyanWalshmid's another superstar. He's another guy that
could someday play in Major League baseballkinds of athleticism in the outfield, and
(11:01):
he's a great story. This year, he tore his ACL and summer ball.
Like you said, we weren't surehow much you'd get to play in
the spring, but he stayed ontrack. The doctors cleared him to dh
eurly in the season. Now he'sbeen fully cleared to play in the outfield,
and credit to Richie Wells and theentire training staff around baseball, they've
got him ready and he's out here. I think he's second on the team
(11:24):
behind Petrie and stolen bases already,So just a huge impact at the top
of the order for both of theseyoung men. There's a reason why coach
Minjenge consistently bats them one and twoin the order. And we talked about
the transfers, or at least brieflymentioned baseball is kind of has dealt with
transfer the portal, so to speak, for a long long time, just
(11:45):
because of how things are and youknow different, it's a lot more common
in baseball, even before the portalkind of opened up for other sports.
And there's a couple of really goodadditions in that lineup. Nick Lopez really
comes to mind just guys that havecome in and just hit the ground running
with real, no real transition,growing pain so to speak, that we
can see from the outside, nodoubt about it. I mean, Lopez
(12:09):
is just a pure hitter, andhe's a switch hitter. We've seen him
homer from both sides of the plate. This weekend, he got hits from
both sides of the plate. Hugeaddition to the middle of that order as
he just stabilizes it, like yousaid, and coach ben Jon and his
staff just continue to hit it outof the ballpark. In terms of the
transfer portal, they stacked the rosterin addition to the great freshman class,
(12:31):
they stacked it with the transfer veteranslast year. They've done it again this
year. One transfer I want tomention too is Dominic Nyman in that week
in rotation, the Saturday guy.He has been a dominant force for them
on Saturdays. I know he gaveup what was it six or seven runs
against Old Mess, but that wasan offensive day. Kentucky scored seventeen runs.
(12:52):
So and Dom's had a little bitof bad luck work against him,
and sometimes that happens to a pitcher. But for the most part, he
goes out there every day pitch aswell, gives Kentucky five, six or
seven innings, which is what youneed out of your starter, and so
they just continue to hit it outof the ballpark, whether it's pitchers or
like a guy like Nick Lopez inthe lineup. Mason Moore kind of really
(13:15):
took storm, I think you couldsay with his performance in the postseason last
year, it was widely assumed,widely talked about he was going to move
into the rotation. How has thattransitioned been for him so far? You
know, I think he's been growingagain this year. Every experience is a
new one for him. As astarter against Missouri, didn't have his best
stuff, but still was able togive his team length. He gave up
(13:37):
four runs, but kept them inthe game. Kentucky ended up winning.
And then Sunday at Old Mess hetakes a line drive comebacker off his right
arm, his pitching arm near theelbow. Still goes five innings and only
allowed a run on two hits.Just a phenomenal performance. He's got an
excellent sinker fastball that has been describedby opposing coaches is like a ninety four
(14:01):
mile an hour bowling ball. Andnow he's landing his they call it a
curveball. It's a little more slurvy, but it's still a great breaking ball.
But he's landing it for strikes andthat's taken him to a new level.
His change up continues to come around. He's got his change up might
be one of his best pitches,but they're still tinkering with it and it's
coming around. They're still in thedevelopment stages. You know, the thing
(14:24):
you forget about Mason because he hasso much potential and he's so good,
you kind of forget that he wasmore of a basketball star in high school.
So he's still a relatively young pitcherthat's learning a lot on the fly.
But man oh man, as hedynamite on the mound for Kentucky.
It's a good thing. It's agood problem to have. But the bullpen
(14:46):
kind of got hit the last coupleof years with the draft guys going professional
and now doing well in their respectivemajor league organization in the minor league.
So how has that been that quoteunquote rebuilt bullpen? Ben, I think
you've said some guys still defining roles, but now we're starting to see who
the guys this coaching staff will relyon in tight games. Late Johnny Humble
(15:07):
has sort of become the closer forthis team, a transfer from Erskine.
I mean he jumped up from Dtwo to D one and into the SEC
and he's become the closer for thisteam. You got a guy like Cameron
O'Brien. They call him the firemanbecause he comes in and puts out rallies
for the opposing team. But thething I like most about this bullpen Andrew
(15:28):
is Coachminge and Dan Roselle the pitchingcoach. They want a staff of arms.
If you think about the face ofa clock. They want a guy
that's got an armslaughter, an armangle coming from each hour on the clock.
Now, obviously you're not going tohave one at all twelve positions,
but they've got guys that are overhanddThey've got him side arm three quarter high
(15:52):
quarter low quarter from left and right. And a guy like Evin Byer's coming
in. He'll throw off speed fromthe left. He mixes up his timing,
he gets hitters off balance. Thenyou bring in a flamethrower like a
Cameron O'Brien or a Johnny Hummel witha great slider. Robert Cogan's got a
great slider and can throw in themid nineties. So they've got a great
(16:12):
mix of guys coming out to thisfull pin and I think they're going to
get stronger as the season goes.Last baseball question for you, Darren,
At least with this visit, welook forward to having you back on of
course as the season progresses, andhopefully a deep run into the great month
of June. But looking ahead,it's a big week for Kentucky. I
mean, now that you're in thethick of things, really, every week
(16:33):
is a big week, but obviouslynone bigger, at least the midweek games
than what the Cats have coming upat Kentucky Proud Park against the Louisville Cardinals.
No doubt about it. This isa big week, and obviously when
it's the Cats and Cards, that'sthe big bragging rights in the state.
This is the game, and Kentuckyis ready to go. You know,
they're coming off the big series againstOld Miss. But I think it's great
(16:56):
that Kentucky has this rivalry game.It's going to keep him locked in.
They've got to bounce back from thehigh of a series sweep and get focused
for the Cardinals Tuesday night, andthen Alabama comes to town, and when
you look at all the latest rankings, this is going to be a top
twenty, top fifteen showdown this weekend. Crimson Tide are playing well, but
they've shown some weaknesses here and there. They got swept by Georgia and then
(17:22):
they but they come back and almostsweep South Carolina at home in Tuscaloosa,
and they also got a series wentover Tennessee. So Alabama is a very
dangerous team coming in here. Theypitch extremely well. Obviously they got some
veteran hitters in that lineup. Soyou're right, this is a tough week
for Kentucky. But the way they'replaying right now, you got to think
they're going to be ready to goagainst Louisville and Alabama. I can't let
(17:45):
you go, Darren without asking youthe latest and greatest news from women's basketball.
You're also the voice, of courseof the women's basketball team. Kenny
Brooks just officially named the head coachof Kentucky women last week. What a
great hire, just looking at hisresume to win a one hundred and eighty
games at a place like Virginia Techand go to the final four just last
season. You got to be thrilledwith what's coming to Lexington or what is
(18:07):
in Lexington. Now, Yeah,I absolutely think Mitch Barnhardt and his staff,
Rachel Baker, Markiel, all theseguys, all the people involved,
I think they hit it out ofthe park. To use a baseball analogy
to use the basketball when they hada slam donk with hire of Kenny Brooks.
You're talking about a guy who isa program builder at James Madison and
(18:27):
Virginia Tech, and he's a provenwinner with NCAA tournament appearances at James Madison
obviously a final four and a coupleof ACC championships at Virginia Tech. Virginia
Tech had always been a program inwomen's basketball that was there, but he
got them from being there to beinga championship contender and won an ACC regular
(18:48):
season title this year. And ifit hadn't been for a significant injury to
their star player, I think theywould have had an even deeper run in
the tournament again this year. Butyou're right, what a fabulous hire.
The things he said in his openingpress conference to Big Blue Nation. I
just thought he had a great day. Thought it was a great day for
Kentucky overall. You know, hedidn't promise the moon. But the one
(19:12):
thing you can know about Coach Brooksand his program, they're going to go
to work, they're going to recruit, they're going to develop players, and
they're going to put a product onthe floor that BBN could be excited about.
And when you think about Memorial Coliseumis going to look brand new next
year with all the renovations. You'vegot the new head coach. What's going
to be you know, probably anew roster and a new program. It's
(19:34):
a lot of excitement surrounding women's basketballfor Kentucky right now. We cannot wait
for that, and we certainly cannotwait for that Cats and Louisville matchup and
then the Bama series this weekend.Darren, thank you so much for your
time, and we'll see at thepark this week. Yeah, anytime,
Andrew, thanks so much. Beforerecap all the action on the diamond,
A big congrats to fifth ranked Kentuckymen's tennis. They completed the sweep in
(19:56):
a two match road trip against OleMiss to move to nine and oh in
Southeastern Conference play. They also movedthat overall record to eighteen and two,
so a top five program that isnow sprinting toward postseason play. Friday,
April fifth, they'll be back inaction in Columbia against South Carolina. They'll
(20:17):
wrap up home matches against Georgia andTennessee before they will be off to the
SEC Tournament in Baton Rouge beginning onApril seventeenth. So we will be keeping
tabs on that and a lot ofgood stuff to come for number five men's
tennis. Now let's turn our attentionto University of Kentucky softball. They played
a bit of a modified schedule lastweekend, beginning our series against number thirteen
(20:41):
Alabama and Thursday with taking Sunday off, so instead of that normal Friday through
Sunday schedule, they played Thursday throughSaturday, and boy did at kickstart the
weekend in a big, big waywith Stephanie Schoonover throwing one hundred and eighty
one I know it sounds like amisprint, it sounds absurd, but it's
true, one hundred and eighty onepitches as she went the distance on Thursday
(21:03):
night, and Kentucky beat Alabama behindthat great pitching performance and some timely hitting
as well, Kentucky beating the thirteenthrank Tide on Thursday six to three to
take the opener of the series andmoved to twenty two and eleven. Big
hit of the day was Taylor Ebbsin a pinch hit roll put Kentucky in
front, ripping a double into theright center field gap to plate two.
(21:26):
But the story really was Schoonover.She went the distance those seven frames,
gave up three runs, two ofthem earned, struck out nine batters and
as we mentioned in a strike zonethat at times it was just a little
bit tight for both teams, verymuch a hit her friendly zone on Thursday
night, but boy, she battledthrough it, stranded some runners and threw
one hundred and eighty one pitches,none bigger than the final one of the
(21:48):
night as her sign and now platewordswing and a miss, she struck her
out a high heater. That's yourballgame, as Scoonover and emphatic yell her
dugout as Kentucky hangs on tying runat the plate. No problem for Schoonover
as she sealed the win six tothree, Kentucky getting the upset over number
(22:11):
thirteen Alabama on Thursday, Tide wouldtake the game on Friday night, which
set up a rubber match on Saturdaythat the Cats emerged victorious in. If
you thought Schoonover was done, boyyou were mistaken. She came back on
Saturday, just a couple of nightsafter those one hundred and eighty one pitches
and she threw one hundred and fortymore in extra innings, going all eight
(22:33):
innings in a Kentucky four to threetriumph. Riley Smith was the hero in
extra innings as she sent home lackAntenna with a double in the eighth inning.
Cat's walking it off four to threein eight frames to take the series
against Alabama and have a lot ofmomentum for Kentucky now. And they'll have
a midweek game this week against NorthernKentucky on Wednesday, April third, a
(22:59):
music midweek Taylor Swift Special five pmfirst pitch, so a bit of a
unique start time at John Crop Stadium, five pm the first pitch, and
that is a game that we willhave on the UK Sports Network, will
be on the air shortly before firstpitch and have all the action for you
and then softball will have a veryquick turnaround after that Wednesday game against NKU.
They will head to College Station fora weekend series Friday, Saturday and
(23:22):
Sunday. And oh, by theway, that Saturday, April sixth game
against Texas A and M will benationally televised on the SEC Network. We'll
have a little bit more of apreview later on in the week of that
series. As we just discussed withDarren, a big weekend for UK baseball
as well. We'll start with Friday, when Kentucky got a five to three
(23:44):
triumph over Ole miss to move totwenty two and four six and one in
SEC play as the Cats, andwhat was not a theme for the weekend,
It looked like pitching would reign supremeif you believe the results from Friday.
That would not necessarily be the casethe rest of the way, but
hey, a win is a winfor Kentucky, who got an early lead
one nothing in the top of thethird inning, scored three times in the
(24:07):
top of the sixth, and ledby one until an insurance run came across
an inning number eight and emerged victoriousfive to three. Talked about that bullpen
with Darren and they did a greatjob. Travis Smith pitching the seventh and
eighth innings a pair of frames witha strikeout, and then Johnny Hummel in
the ninth worked around two walks throughtwenty nine pitches. Wasn't super clean,
(24:30):
but got the job done as theCats emerged victorious to knock ole Miss to
eighteen and nine. A bit ofa different story on Saturday, as we
mentioned, the offense reigning supreme onthe Saturday afternoon game, Dominic Nyman going
six innings, giving up seven runson eight hits, but as Darren mentioned,
he pitched to the score kept histeam in the game in what was
(24:52):
a wild affair. Ole Miss scoredtwo in the first, but the Cats
got two in the second to levelthe game. They went ahead with four
in the third. Ole missmatched thatwith four runs in the bottom of the
fourth inning, but it was toomuch Kentucky after that. Two in the
fifth, four in the sixth,and how about four more in the ninth
inning for Kentucky. Just a simplyremarkable effort for them. Nolan McCarthy doing
(25:15):
the heavy lifting. He went threefor six with six runs knocked in.
He was one of the Cats tohave a home run, he had two.
James McCoy hit his second Amelian Petriehis fourth Patrie, a two hit
day for him, and how aboutMcCoy did not start the game, came
in as a pinch runner, butwent a perfect four for four, including
that home run. His average nowup to three twenty six. Simply remarkable
(25:40):
start for him, and he alsodoes a little bit of pitching for the
Cats. Didn't pitch in this one, but nonetheless the dual star for Kentucky,
helping them move to twenty three andfour overall, seven and one after
saturdays of fair and then the Catswrapped it up with total domination on Sunday,
and it was right out of thegate in support of Mason Moore.
(26:03):
They scored five first inning runs tolead five nothing. They would make it
ten nothing with a five run fourthinning, and ole Miss did get on
the board to make it ten toone, but the Cats would score four
times in the seventh to run ruleole Miss and clinch a sweep. Simply
remarkable fifteen to one. Ryan walshmida two hit day. He scored three
(26:25):
times, as his average is nowup to three sixteen. Nick Lopez still
above four hundred. He went twofor four, a couple of runs knocked
in Gold Glove candidate Grant Smith hithome run number one for him on the
campaign. He O one high flyball hit well, the left back goes
Laja turning watching that one's gone.Grant Smith with his first home run of
(26:49):
the season, a three run bomb, and it's fourteen to one Kentucky here
in the seventh Ole miss needed abig bottom of the seventh inning Tike keep
the game going as they were downfourteen runs and risk of that run rule,
but the Cats were able to finishoff the sweep. The one one
(27:10):
fly ball towering the left shout endWalt Schmidt camped underneath. It makes the
catch beginning to Kentucky, the gameto Kentucky, the series sweep to Kentucky.
Final score here in Oxford this afternoon, it's Kentucky fifteen Ole Miss one.
For the first time in program history. The Wildcats come to Oxford and
(27:33):
sweep the Rebels in a three gameseries. Big weekend ahead for Kentucky.
First, they'll take on their archrival, the Louisville Cardinals. As we
spoke about with Darren Weather, permittingon Tuesday night at Kentucky Proud Park.
Hope to see you out there,and hope to see you at John Crops
Stadium on Wednesday, when UK softballwraps up a homestand against Northern Kentucky five
(27:56):
o'clock first pitch. We'll have iton the UK Sports Network. If you're
unable to attend again, hope tosee you at John Crop Stadium and then
softball will be off to Texas Aand M and College Station, while baseball
will be home this upcoming weekend againstAlabama. A lot more to come this
week though on the UK Sports NetworkToday podcast, so please stay tuned.
(28:17):
A big thanks to Darren Hedrick fortaking time on his first day back from
that long road trip to Ole,miss to talk to us and catch us
up up to speed on baseball,and a big thanks to everybody else at
the UK Sports Network for helping makethis episode possible. For everyone at the
network, I'm entered capus saying thanksfor listening and we'll talk to you next time.
Hello, and welcome inside another editionof UK Sports Network Today, presented by
the Big Blue Brew. Andrew Capiis here with you as always, and
boy do we have a stacked episode. We will start with the huge news
from last week, and that isthe hiring of Kenny Brooks to lead the
women's basketball program at the University ofKentucky. And what a resume that Coach
(00:38):
Brooks brings over five hundred wins betweenJames Madison and Virginia Tech and of course
a trip to the twenty twenty threeFinal Four with Virginia Tech very well could
have made a run towards that Finalfour another Final four this year. They
had some injuries derailed their season,but still made the NCAA Tournament this campaign
(00:58):
and now brings all of those accomplishmentsto Lexington as he tries to get the
women's basketball team back into the NCAAtournament and make a final four run of
their own. Last Thursday, hewas officially introduced as the ninth head coach
in UK women's basketball history. Andit's going to be an exciting twenty twenty
four twenty five. Yes, weirdto say that. Twenty twenty four twenty
(01:22):
five women's basketball campaign that of courseis going to take place in the brandly,
brand new, renovated Memorial Coliseum andhe got a bit of a sneak
peak did Coach Brooks with athletic directorMitch Barnhardt when they have finalized that deal
on Thursday and he was named thehead coach. So now the roster formation
(01:42):
begins as well as the coaching staffformation, which is all very exciting in
the next coming days, weeks andmonths to read about with women's basketball,
and we will have Darren Hedrick onlater to discuss obviously baseball and their weekend,
but also to get his thoughts onthe hiring of coach Brooks. Darren,
like everybody else in athletics, extremelyexcited about this home run higher and
(02:06):
coach Brooks hitting the ground running.As mentioned this episode of the UK Sports
Network Today podcast presented by the BigBlue Brew, we are going to recap
a big weekend on the diamond forboth baseball and softball. Baseball sweeping away
Ole Miss in Oxford to move toeight and one in SEC play, and
then UK Softball, which has hada brutal schedule to open things up.
(02:29):
It did not get any easier thisweekend, they've played the number three team
and now playing the number thirteen AlabamaCrimson Tide. They took two of three
from Alabama and a very big statementfrom the softball program. We will recap
both of their weekends and we willhave Darren Hedrick by to talk about baseball
(02:50):
sweep. He just got back in, shook off the dust from the road,
so to speak, and got hoppedon with us to chat about those
three victories against Old Miss and baseballseason as a whole. And this week
we expect to have Aaron Koffl,the new home run and RBI champion of
UK Softball on to talk about herseason, the team season and of course
(03:10):
look ahead what will be a busyweek for softball. It's a busy week
for baseball as well as always.The UK Sports Network Today podcast is presented
by the Big Blue Brew. It'sthe official newsletter of UK Athletics. You
can sign up today at UK Athleticsdot com slash Big Blue Brew. It's
completely free and it hits inboxes everyweekday morning. Once again, that's UK
(03:35):
Athletics dot com slash Big Blue Brew. Now let's get to our interview as
we chat baseball's big weekend in OleMiss at Ole Miss, I should say,
and without further ado, here's Darren, Darren Hedrick of the UK Sports
Network stopping by the voice of courseof many sports with Kentucky. But right
now we're going to talk a littlebit of baseball, and Darren, really,
(03:57):
really good weekend for the Batcats,not one, not two, but
three, a clean sweep of OleMiss. How's the team feeling on the
right back? Obviously it was avery confident bunch on the bus ride back,
and you're right, it was agreat weekend for Kentucky baseball. Anytime
you can go on the road andwin a series in the SEC, it's
a big deal, Andrew, Butto sweep and do so in a dominant
(04:18):
fashion, I mean, think aboutthis. Kentucky's played three SEC series,
two of them have been on theroad, and in two of the three
won at home against Georgia and nowone on the road at Ole Miss.
They have swept and scored a totalof thirty seven runs in both series.
So this offense is clicking on allcylinders. And obviously a young rotation that
(04:41):
was completely rebuilt coming into this yearcontinues to be refined and it's coming into
its own and the Wildcats are healthyand playing like a confident bunch right now.
Not that the team's worried about nationalattention or anything like that, but
it definitely seems like I think eyeballsstarted to get opened this weekend on a
national level with the performance in Oxford. How historic is this for Kentucky as
(05:03):
a program. I mean, thisis obviously the best start of the Nick
Bingeon era eight and one in SECplay here after three rounds. Yeah,
matches last year. They were nineand one last year, so they got
a chance to even better what theywere doing last year when they hosted a
region and made a super regional.So yeah, it's a historic run.
And to add to the history,first Wildcat team to ever go into Oxford
(05:25):
and sweep ole miss at Swayzy Field. Kentucky had never done that in there.
I think it's over one hundred yearhistory of baseball and so that was
a significant weekend for Kentucky to dominatethe Rebels like they did. And you're
right, they're seeing new heights.This is a team that's starting to catch
attention. They're ranked in almost everypole. Now there are still some people
(05:46):
out there kind of giving Kentucky aside eye, am questioning them, and
the team is fine with that.Look, these guys like being under the
radar, they like being doubted withsomething to prove. It's a chip on
their shoulder. And when you watchthem play the way they're the rest of
Andrew, the way they attack,this team plays with a chip on its
shoulder, and I think they're goingto keep that there for most of this
or if not all this year.I cannot wait to ask head coach Nick
(06:10):
MinJe on this when we have themon and obviously some players as well.
But one of the things I've reallyenjoyed hearing about is this weird thing as
far as just the personality of theteam and just the dugout antics. Tell
us a little bit about what itmeans with UK baseball to be weird.
Well, I think it's just somethingthat this team is cultivated naturally this year
(06:31):
with the chemistry, and it's havingfun in the dugout. It's staying loose,
playing relaxed and not being just pressuredand tight and being weird. The
antics in the dugout. There's somethings that we don't ask about. We
just let them do we don't knowwhat the meetings are behind them. We
just let them go. There's pinkfuzzy hats. They have done great imitations
(06:56):
of Nick coaching third base, andthey're getting really good at mimicking his movements
in the third base coaches box whenthere's runners at second base. But they've
got chance, they've got broodin sticks, anything you can think of, these
guys are latching hold of. Andit's really fun to watch this team during
games have fun and it's translating intovictories. And like coach Benjiones said,
(07:19):
as long as they're playing and havingfun, he's leaving it alone. And
Grant Smith said today that so farAndrew, they haven't found that line where
it's okay, guys, we can'tdo this anymore. But they are certainly
racking up different ways to have funin the dugout. I asked coach manjion
this last year, when I wasspilling in for you while you were still
with women's basketball, about how justit seemed like the chemistry even with last
(07:44):
year's team that you mentioned got tothe super Regionals against LSU, was really
good. And you and I havebeen around some high level teams not just
with Kentucky, but all the wayup into the TRIPA A Baseball ranks,
and it seems like there's a commonthreat, at least for me, where
really good teams typically like each othera lot. So that's I think that's
a great sign for future success athow well this team is jelling, no
(08:07):
doubt about it. You know,I've been around some teams a Yankees TRIPAA
team that won it all and basicallywas a locker room of guys that just
said, hey, let's go winthis thing. We're here, let's go
win it. And Kentucky this yearis jeling the culture that started being built
in twenty twenty two with that teamthat just missed making a regional. After
(08:28):
a great run in the postseason atthe SEC Tournament, the culture started getting
built with them and it carried overlast year. And now that culture is
established, the building blocks and thefoundation are in place, and now this
team this year is taking that andadding to it and building on it.
They not only want to get backto a regional or a super regional,
(08:52):
they want to make it to Omaha. They want to take this to new
heights. And they're all pulling therope in the same direction. They're getting
a long great Obviously winning helps allthat stuff, but they're they're doing all
the right things and saying all theright things, and so far the results
are showing that. You mentioned therebuilt pitching staff, but it's hard not
to give love to that lineup afterwhat they did this weekend in Oxford.
(09:16):
And it's a really good mixture ofguys that returned, guys that transferred in,
and then some young guys at timesas well. Two of the names
I wanted to bring up Ryan Waldschmidt, which I know everybody was concerned with,
you know, the injury, howwell that would that would come back,
he would come back from that,and how quickly he would come back
from that. And Amelian Petrie,who the growth of him from his freshman
(09:37):
year to now has been just tremendous. So those two guys are kind of
spearheading at least as far as thereturners go of this offense. Yeah,
I'll start with a million Petrie becauseI feel like he's sort of an unassuming
superstar on this team. Andrew,I really believe I've seen a lot of
talent in my career. I reallybelieve Petrie has the potential and the talent
(09:58):
to maybe someday play in Major Leaguebaseball. He's an excellent infielder. Whether
he's playing shortstop, I think he'sbetter where he's currently playing at second base.
He kind of projects there from me, but just the way he swings
the bat, the way he stayseven keel, and all the things he's
done to get to this point.He played behind Ryan Rinter as a freshman,
so he didn't see the field oftime, but he learned under Ryan.
(10:20):
He basically stuck to him like ashadow, learned from him, and
then moved to second base. WhenGrant Smith came. That allowed this infield
to go at a whole other leveldefensively. Last year those two were playing
together again. This year, Petrisgot more walks than he does strikeout,
showing tremendous discipline at the plate.You're talking about a young man that's basically
(10:41):
from Quebec and on his own hereat Lexington. He taught himself English so
that he could come down here andgo to school and play baseball. Just
a terrific young man. And RyanWalshmid's another superstar. He's another guy that
could someday play in Major League baseballkinds of athleticism in the outfield, and
(11:01):
he's a great story. This year, he tore his ACL and summer ball.
Like you said, we weren't surehow much you'd get to play in
the spring, but he stayed ontrack. The doctors cleared him to dh
eurly in the season. Now he'sbeen fully cleared to play in the outfield,
and credit to Richie Wells and theentire training staff around baseball, they've
got him ready and he's out here. I think he's second on the team
(11:24):
behind Petrie and stolen bases already,So just a huge impact at the top
of the order for both of theseyoung men. There's a reason why coach
Minjenge consistently bats them one and twoin the order. And we talked about
the transfers, or at least brieflymentioned baseball is kind of has dealt with
transfer the portal, so to speak, for a long long time, just
(11:45):
because of how things are and youknow different, it's a lot more common
in baseball, even before the portalkind of opened up for other sports.
And there's a couple of really goodadditions in that lineup. Nick Lopez really
comes to mind just guys that havecome in and just hit the ground running
with real, no real transition,growing pain so to speak, that we
can see from the outside, nodoubt about it. I mean, Lopez
(12:09):
is just a pure hitter, andhe's a switch hitter. We've seen him
homer from both sides of the plate. This weekend, he got hits from
both sides of the plate. Hugeaddition to the middle of that order as
he just stabilizes it, like yousaid, and coach ben Jon and his
staff just continue to hit it outof the ballpark. In terms of the
transfer portal, they stacked the rosterin addition to the great freshman class,
(12:31):
they stacked it with the transfer veteranslast year. They've done it again this
year. One transfer I want tomention too is Dominic Nyman in that week
in rotation, the Saturday guy.He has been a dominant force for them
on Saturdays. I know he gaveup what was it six or seven runs
against Old Mess, but that wasan offensive day. Kentucky scored seventeen runs.
(12:52):
So and Dom's had a little bitof bad luck work against him,
and sometimes that happens to a pitcher. But for the most part, he
goes out there every day pitch aswell, gives Kentucky five, six or
seven innings, which is what youneed out of your starter, and so
they just continue to hit it outof the ballpark, whether it's pitchers or
like a guy like Nick Lopez inthe lineup. Mason Moore kind of really
(13:15):
took storm, I think you couldsay with his performance in the postseason last
year, it was widely assumed,widely talked about he was going to move
into the rotation. How has thattransitioned been for him so far? You
know, I think he's been growingagain this year. Every experience is a
new one for him. As astarter against Missouri, didn't have his best
stuff, but still was able togive his team length. He gave up
(13:37):
four runs, but kept them inthe game. Kentucky ended up winning.
And then Sunday at Old Mess hetakes a line drive comebacker off his right
arm, his pitching arm near theelbow. Still goes five innings and only
allowed a run on two hits.Just a phenomenal performance. He's got an
excellent sinker fastball that has been describedby opposing coaches is like a ninety four
(14:01):
mile an hour bowling ball. Andnow he's landing his they call it a
curveball. It's a little more slurvy, but it's still a great breaking ball.
But he's landing it for strikes andthat's taken him to a new level.
His change up continues to come around. He's got his change up might
be one of his best pitches,but they're still tinkering with it and it's
coming around. They're still in thedevelopment stages. You know, the thing
(14:24):
you forget about Mason because he hasso much potential and he's so good,
you kind of forget that he wasmore of a basketball star in high school.
So he's still a relatively young pitcherthat's learning a lot on the fly.
But man oh man, as hedynamite on the mound for Kentucky.
It's a good thing. It's agood problem to have. But the bullpen
(14:46):
kind of got hit the last coupleof years with the draft guys going professional
and now doing well in their respectivemajor league organization in the minor league.
So how has that been that quoteunquote rebuilt bullpen? Ben, I think
you've said some guys still defining roles, but now we're starting to see who
the guys this coaching staff will relyon in tight games. Late Johnny Humble
(15:07):
has sort of become the closer forthis team, a transfer from Erskine.
I mean he jumped up from Dtwo to D one and into the SEC
and he's become the closer for thisteam. You got a guy like Cameron
O'Brien. They call him the firemanbecause he comes in and puts out rallies
for the opposing team. But thething I like most about this bullpen Andrew
(15:28):
is Coachminge and Dan Roselle the pitchingcoach. They want a staff of arms.
If you think about the face ofa clock. They want a guy
that's got an armslaughter, an armangle coming from each hour on the clock.
Now, obviously you're not going tohave one at all twelve positions,
but they've got guys that are overhanddThey've got him side arm three quarter high
(15:52):
quarter low quarter from left and right. And a guy like Evin Byer's coming
in. He'll throw off speed fromthe left. He mixes up his timing,
he gets hitters off balance. Thenyou bring in a flamethrower like a
Cameron O'Brien or a Johnny Hummel witha great slider. Robert Cogan's got a
great slider and can throw in themid nineties. So they've got a great
(16:12):
mix of guys coming out to thisfull pin and I think they're going to
get stronger as the season goes.Last baseball question for you, Darren,
At least with this visit, welook forward to having you back on of
course as the season progresses, andhopefully a deep run into the great month
of June. But looking ahead,it's a big week for Kentucky. I
mean, now that you're in thethick of things, really, every week
(16:33):
is a big week, but obviouslynone bigger, at least the midweek games
than what the Cats have coming upat Kentucky Proud Park against the Louisville Cardinals.
No doubt about it. This isa big week, and obviously when
it's the Cats and Cards, that'sthe big bragging rights in the state.
This is the game, and Kentuckyis ready to go. You know,
they're coming off the big series againstOld Miss. But I think it's great
(16:56):
that Kentucky has this rivalry game.It's going to keep him locked in.
They've got to bounce back from thehigh of a series sweep and get focused
for the Cardinals Tuesday night, andthen Alabama comes to town, and when
you look at all the latest rankings, this is going to be a top
twenty, top fifteen showdown this weekend. Crimson Tide are playing well, but
they've shown some weaknesses here and there. They got swept by Georgia and then
(17:22):
they but they come back and almostsweep South Carolina at home in Tuscaloosa,
and they also got a series wentover Tennessee. So Alabama is a very
dangerous team coming in here. Theypitch extremely well. Obviously they got some
veteran hitters in that lineup. Soyou're right, this is a tough week
for Kentucky. But the way they'replaying right now, you got to think
they're going to be ready to goagainst Louisville and Alabama. I can't let
(17:45):
you go, Darren without asking youthe latest and greatest news from women's basketball.
You're also the voice, of courseof the women's basketball team. Kenny
Brooks just officially named the head coachof Kentucky women last week. What a
great hire, just looking at hisresume to win a one hundred and eighty
games at a place like Virginia Techand go to the final four just last
season. You got to be thrilledwith what's coming to Lexington or what is
(18:07):
in Lexington. Now, Yeah,I absolutely think Mitch Barnhardt and his staff,
Rachel Baker, Markiel, all theseguys, all the people involved,
I think they hit it out ofthe park. To use a baseball analogy
to use the basketball when they hada slam donk with hire of Kenny Brooks.
You're talking about a guy who isa program builder at James Madison and
(18:27):
Virginia Tech, and he's a provenwinner with NCAA tournament appearances at James Madison
obviously a final four and a coupleof ACC championships at Virginia Tech. Virginia
Tech had always been a program inwomen's basketball that was there, but he
got them from being there to beinga championship contender and won an ACC regular
(18:48):
season title this year. And ifit hadn't been for a significant injury to
their star player, I think theywould have had an even deeper run in
the tournament again this year. Butyou're right, what a fabulous hire.
The things he said in his openingpress conference to Big Blue Nation. I
just thought he had a great day. Thought it was a great day for
Kentucky overall. You know, hedidn't promise the moon. But the one
(19:12):
thing you can know about Coach Brooksand his program, they're going to go
to work, they're going to recruit, they're going to develop players, and
they're going to put a product onthe floor that BBN could be excited about.
And when you think about Memorial Coliseumis going to look brand new next
year with all the renovations. You'vegot the new head coach. What's going
to be you know, probably anew roster and a new program. It's
(19:34):
a lot of excitement surrounding women's basketballfor Kentucky right now. We cannot wait
for that, and we certainly cannotwait for that Cats and Louisville matchup and
then the Bama series this weekend.Darren, thank you so much for your
time, and we'll see at thepark this week. Yeah, anytime,
Andrew, thanks so much. Beforerecap all the action on the diamond,
A big congrats to fifth ranked Kentuckymen's tennis. They completed the sweep in
(19:56):
a two match road trip against OleMiss to move to nine and oh in
Southeastern Conference play. They also movedthat overall record to eighteen and two,
so a top five program that isnow sprinting toward postseason play. Friday,
April fifth, they'll be back inaction in Columbia against South Carolina. They'll
(20:17):
wrap up home matches against Georgia andTennessee before they will be off to the
SEC Tournament in Baton Rouge beginning onApril seventeenth. So we will be keeping
tabs on that and a lot ofgood stuff to come for number five men's
tennis. Now let's turn our attentionto University of Kentucky softball. They played
a bit of a modified schedule lastweekend, beginning our series against number thirteen
(20:41):
Alabama and Thursday with taking Sunday off, so instead of that normal Friday through
Sunday schedule, they played Thursday throughSaturday, and boy did at kickstart the
weekend in a big, big waywith Stephanie Schoonover throwing one hundred and eighty
one I know it sounds like amisprint, it sounds absurd, but it's
true, one hundred and eighty onepitches as she went the distance on Thursday
(21:03):
night, and Kentucky beat Alabama behindthat great pitching performance and some timely hitting
as well, Kentucky beating the thirteenthrank Tide on Thursday six to three to
take the opener of the series andmoved to twenty two and eleven. Big
hit of the day was Taylor Ebbsin a pinch hit roll put Kentucky in
front, ripping a double into theright center field gap to plate two.
(21:26):
But the story really was Schoonover.She went the distance those seven frames,
gave up three runs, two ofthem earned, struck out nine batters and
as we mentioned in a strike zonethat at times it was just a little
bit tight for both teams, verymuch a hit her friendly zone on Thursday
night, but boy, she battledthrough it, stranded some runners and threw
one hundred and eighty one pitches,none bigger than the final one of the
(21:48):
night as her sign and now platewordswing and a miss, she struck her
out a high heater. That's yourballgame, as Scoonover and emphatic yell her
dugout as Kentucky hangs on tying runat the plate. No problem for Schoonover
as she sealed the win six tothree, Kentucky getting the upset over number
(22:11):
thirteen Alabama on Thursday, Tide wouldtake the game on Friday night, which
set up a rubber match on Saturdaythat the Cats emerged victorious in. If
you thought Schoonover was done, boyyou were mistaken. She came back on
Saturday, just a couple of nightsafter those one hundred and eighty one pitches
and she threw one hundred and fortymore in extra innings, going all eight
(22:33):
innings in a Kentucky four to threetriumph. Riley Smith was the hero in
extra innings as she sent home lackAntenna with a double in the eighth inning.
Cat's walking it off four to threein eight frames to take the series
against Alabama and have a lot ofmomentum for Kentucky now. And they'll have
a midweek game this week against NorthernKentucky on Wednesday, April third, a
(22:59):
music midweek Taylor Swift Special five pmfirst pitch, so a bit of a
unique start time at John Crop Stadium, five pm the first pitch, and
that is a game that we willhave on the UK Sports Network, will
be on the air shortly before firstpitch and have all the action for you
and then softball will have a veryquick turnaround after that Wednesday game against NKU.
They will head to College Station fora weekend series Friday, Saturday and
(23:22):
Sunday. And oh, by theway, that Saturday, April sixth game
against Texas A and M will benationally televised on the SEC Network. We'll
have a little bit more of apreview later on in the week of that
series. As we just discussed withDarren, a big weekend for UK baseball
as well. We'll start with Friday, when Kentucky got a five to three
(23:44):
triumph over Ole miss to move totwenty two and four six and one in
SEC play as the Cats, andwhat was not a theme for the weekend,
It looked like pitching would reign supremeif you believe the results from Friday.
That would not necessarily be the casethe rest of the way, but
hey, a win is a winfor Kentucky, who got an early lead
one nothing in the top of thethird inning, scored three times in the
(24:07):
top of the sixth, and ledby one until an insurance run came across
an inning number eight and emerged victoriousfive to three. Talked about that bullpen
with Darren and they did a greatjob. Travis Smith pitching the seventh and
eighth innings a pair of frames witha strikeout, and then Johnny Hummel in
the ninth worked around two walks throughtwenty nine pitches. Wasn't super clean,
(24:30):
but got the job done as theCats emerged victorious to knock ole Miss to
eighteen and nine. A bit ofa different story on Saturday, as we
mentioned, the offense reigning supreme onthe Saturday afternoon game, Dominic Nyman going
six innings, giving up seven runson eight hits, but as Darren mentioned,
he pitched to the score kept histeam in the game in what was
(24:52):
a wild affair. Ole Miss scoredtwo in the first, but the Cats
got two in the second to levelthe game. They went ahead with four
in the third. Ole missmatched thatwith four runs in the bottom of the
fourth inning, but it was toomuch Kentucky after that. Two in the
fifth, four in the sixth,and how about four more in the ninth
inning for Kentucky. Just a simplyremarkable effort for them. Nolan McCarthy doing
(25:15):
the heavy lifting. He went threefor six with six runs knocked in.
He was one of the Cats tohave a home run, he had two.
James McCoy hit his second Amelian Petriehis fourth Patrie, a two hit
day for him, and how aboutMcCoy did not start the game, came
in as a pinch runner, butwent a perfect four for four, including
that home run. His average nowup to three twenty six. Simply remarkable
(25:40):
start for him, and he alsodoes a little bit of pitching for the
Cats. Didn't pitch in this one, but nonetheless the dual star for Kentucky,
helping them move to twenty three andfour overall, seven and one after
saturdays of fair and then the Catswrapped it up with total domination on Sunday,
and it was right out of thegate in support of Mason Moore.
(26:03):
They scored five first inning runs tolead five nothing. They would make it
ten nothing with a five run fourthinning, and ole Miss did get on
the board to make it ten toone, but the Cats would score four
times in the seventh to run ruleole Miss and clinch a sweep. Simply
remarkable fifteen to one. Ryan walshmida two hit day. He scored three
(26:25):
times, as his average is nowup to three sixteen. Nick Lopez still
above four hundred. He went twofor four, a couple of runs knocked
in Gold Glove candidate Grant Smith hithome run number one for him on the
campaign. He O one high flyball hit well, the left back goes
Laja turning watching that one's gone.Grant Smith with his first home run of
(26:49):
the season, a three run bomb, and it's fourteen to one Kentucky here
in the seventh Ole miss needed abig bottom of the seventh inning Tike keep
the game going as they were downfourteen runs and risk of that run rule,
but the Cats were able to finishoff the sweep. The one one
(27:10):
fly ball towering the left shout endWalt Schmidt camped underneath. It makes the
catch beginning to Kentucky, the gameto Kentucky, the series sweep to Kentucky.
Final score here in Oxford this afternoon, it's Kentucky fifteen Ole Miss one.
For the first time in program history. The Wildcats come to Oxford and
(27:33):
sweep the Rebels in a three gameseries. Big weekend ahead for Kentucky.
First, they'll take on their archrival, the Louisville Cardinals. As we
spoke about with Darren Weather, permittingon Tuesday night at Kentucky Proud Park.
Hope to see you out there,and hope to see you at John Crops
Stadium on Wednesday, when UK softballwraps up a homestand against Northern Kentucky five
(27:56):
o'clock first pitch. We'll have iton the UK Sports Network. If you're
unable to attend again, hope tosee you at John Crop Stadium and then
softball will be off to Texas Aand M and College Station, while baseball
will be home this upcoming weekend againstAlabama. A lot more to come this
week though on the UK Sports NetworkToday podcast, so please stay tuned.
(28:17):
A big thanks to Darren Hedrick fortaking time on his first day back from
that long road trip to Ole,miss to talk to us and catch us
up up to speed on baseball,and a big thanks to everybody else at
the UK Sports Network for helping makethis episode possible. For everyone at the
network, I'm entered capus saying thanksfor listening and we'll talk to you next time.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com