Are the 2008 Bat Cats That Good?

Most teams would kill for a 19-0 start in any sport.  That is exactly how the 2008 Kentucky Wildcat baseball team started out the year.  Right now, the Bat Cats are 26-7.  UK has played .500 baseball over the past 14 games of their schedule.  What has brought this on?  A couple of things have contributed, but the main two are competition and road games. 

Most Cats fans were ecstatic about the 19-0 start.  What team’s fans wouldn’t be?  One question lingered entering SEC play.  How will the blue and white fare against major NCAA competition?  A few wins against Butler and Oakland look good on the win-loss stats, but they don’t strike fear into Georgia. 

So the Cats season was popping right along before SEC play and then they go all Vanderbilt basketball on us.  You all remember what happened to Vandy on the hardwood this year.  They started out 15-0 before conference play and won their first SEC game against the Gamecocks.  At home. 

That home court distinction is important as Vandy went on to play 10-6 basketball in SEC play with all six of those losses coming on the road and only two road wins to their credit (poor GA and USC!).  Even with their early exit from the NCAA tournament, I don’t think anyone’s ready to say Vandy wasn’t a top tier team this year.  Were they top 10?  Definitely not.  Top 25?  Well, maybe there’s some discussion, but you’re still pleading a tight case in my opinion.  But they were still a solid basketball team.

Where does that put UK baseball though?  Well, that SEC record sits at 7-7 (before Sunday’s Georgia tilt) and a little deeper look at their records unveils very Vany-like results.  The Cats are 5-1 in the SEC at home.  That puts their road record at 2-6 on the road.  Even if they take the series finale against UGA today they will still have lost twice as many on the road as at home in SEC play.

The Cats also lead the SEC in several key statistics as well.  Through 31 games UK led the league in batting average (hitting .350!), runs, ERA, and fielding percentage.  This means that the Cats have flat out played better baseball than anyone else in the league, against the competition they have played. 

So UK can put up some runs and can shut teams down when not playing elite competition on the road.  That sounds very similar to a Vandy team that ran off 16 straight to start the season and beat a #1 team at home late in the season.  What’s this mean to the overall sucess of the Bat Cats’ season?  Who knows?  They have 5 series left in SEC play with 3 of those at home.  They also have several mid-week games on the road throughout the rest of the season, but none of those teams (save maybe Louisville) are SEC caliber opponents.

So UK should put up good numbers down the stretch and continue to mount that win total toward 40 before the SEC tournament begins.  If the boys can get a little more mentally tough and continue to execute they will be able to make some noise down in Hoover this year.  Then a run toward Omaha will loom.  Here’s hoping that they can use all their talent and make some dreams come true this year.  If I’m John Cohen I put in a highlight reel of 2007-2008 Commodore basketball and ask my team one question.  “Do you want to get blown out by Siena in the first round?”