For years, Kentucky Baseball has been at the cusp of greatness but has never been able to reach the holy grail of college baseball by reaching the College World Series. Following a loss last season in the Super Regionals to the eventual National Champion, LSU Tigers, Head Coach of the Kentucky Wildcats, Nick Mingione, decided with his staff to change the program by playing Kentucky Baseball and taking it to the next level of greatness. Not only have the Wildcats started the season with massive wins, but they have also risen in the polls and have had fun doing so.

With Tennessee coming into Lexington for a three-game series beginning on Friday, Kentucky sits atop the Southeastern Conference standings with a 14-1 record in conference play and a 30-5 overall record. Kentucky is number three in the country, while Tennessee comes to Lexington as the second-ranked team. Last season, although not as big, Tennessee took two games over the Wildcats, giving Kentucky the harsh dose of reality that they’re still a year behind the Volunteers in terms of pecking order of the Southeastern Conference.

With that loss to Tennessee last season, Kentucky changed the way they approach the game of baseball. As this season rolled around, Coach Mingione built his roster to fit the brand he expected from his Kentucky Wildcats.

Kentucky is a baseball team that can score many runs by hitting home runs and playing smart situational baseball by producing runs by being weird and focusing on what makes Kentucky Baseball so good.

Not to mention a pitching staff that has locked down their opponents, giving Kentucky an unfair advantage to this point in the Southeastern Conference play. Kentucky pitches from the mid-week guys to the weekend rotations have dominated the mound, giving the Kentucky offensive firepower a break from having to score too many runs.

What makes this Kentucky Baseball team so different is that not only are they legitimate National Championship contenders, but the Wildcats have fun playing baseball. Kentucky knows the talking heads of college baseball will overlook them for others, but none of that matters. Kentucky Baseball is playing for the Bluegrass and trying to be the team that forever changes the landscape of Kentucky Baseball.