Alabama Baseball Welcomes Kentucky to Town

The Alabama Crimson Tide is hosting its first SEC home series of the season as the Kentucky Wildcats come to town this weekend.

Alabama desperately needs a series win in SEC play, as their 1-5 record in the SEC is second-to-last in the conference (just ahead of Mississippi State's 1-6 mark). The Crimson Tide’s only action this week came in the form of a 5-2 loss to the rival Auburn Tigers in the Capital City Classic; bringing the team’s losing streak to seven in a row. On the bright side, Alabama's past four losses have all come by three runs or less.

The sixth-ranked Wildcats (according to D1Baseballl.com) are the highest ranked opponents the Tide has faced this year. Kentucky is one of five SEC teams currently ranked in the top 10 nationally. The Wildcats' key victories came earlier this month when they won their series against the ninth ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lexington. Kentucky is led by a high-powered offense, which features a pair of big bats in Luke Heyer (11 HRs and 33 RBIs) and Kole Cottam (10 HRs and 26 RBIs).

A series win against Kentucky would go a long way towards vaulting the Crimson Tide back into the thick of competition in the crowded SEC. Overall, the SEC currently has eight teams ranked in the top 25 (or almost one-third of the ENTIRE rankings).

Sam Finnerty is expected to take the mound for Alabama in Friday's series opener, followed by Jake Walters on Saturday and Garret Rukes for Sunday's series finale.

The Alabama Crimson Tide will kick off its series against the Kentucky Wildcats at The Joe on Friday, with first pitch expected for 6 p.m. Saturday's game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start and Sunday's matchup is expected to begin at 1 p.m.

You can watch the entire series live courtesy of SEC Network+ and you can stream the Crimson Tide Sports Network broadcast of the games on Tide 102.9/100.9 or the Tide 102.9 app.