UK keeps its chances alive with series win

With their backs pressed against the walls guarding the SEC tournament, UK turned around to take a peak.

The Cats (26-21, 9-15 SEC) still have hope of ending up on the right side of the wall after taking two of three from No. 4 South Carolina (36-11, 17-7 SEC).

UK entered the weekend series two games out of the eighth and final spot for the SEC tournament with three weeks left in the season. Facing the league-leading Gamecocks wasn’t an easy team to start the turnaround against.

But UK put a dent in the wall behind two dazzling pitching performances — one from freshman Jordan Cooper, who was thrust into the starting role, and another from Alex Meyer, who showed just how dominant he can be — that propelled them to two weekend wins.

Cooper, pitching on Saturday after a series-opening 13-9 loss, came up with a gutsy game on the mound. Making just his third career SEC start, Cooper led the Cats to a 2-1 victory that evened the series.

Sunday, Meyer showed exactly why his ceiling is considered to be so high. He went seven innings, allowing three unearned runs while striking out six. And all that after missing three weeks with mononucleosis. Behind his smoldering fastball, UK rolled to a 9-3 win that gave them the series victory.

The weekend win was important for a multitude of reasons. Beating the No. 4 team in the nation, and the best team in the SEC, can do wonders for a team’s confidence. UK got great starts from all three pitchers, even as they removed junior Logan Darnell from the rotation (at least for this weekend). There may be some renewed trust in the bullpen, which held onto slim leads Saturday and Sunday after a year of blown late-inning leads.

However, with all that, UK didn’t receive the all-important boost in the standings. They still stand two games behind eighth-place Tennessee, who swept Georgia. Even worse, Tennessee holds the tie-breaker over UK because they won the series earlier in the season.

But still, UK kept it’s postseason chances alive with the win. Next up are defending national champion LSU, in a down year for the Tigers (12-11 SEC), and SEC cellar dweller Georgia (3-18 SEC).

Making the postseason tournament is a possibility. Tennessee has to play Auburn and Alabama, both middle-of-the-pack but very solid SEC teams. UK may have given itself enough of a boost to win these next two series and sneak in after all is said and done.

For right now, though, they are still peering over the wall. On the wrong side.