With 64 teams all fighting to be the last team standing in Omaha, momentum is a massive factor in making a run in the NCAA Tournament.
Currently, Kentucky baseball enters the NCAA Tournament with little to no momentum as it is currently on a four-game losing streak.
Outside of momentum, another important factor to tournament success is winning game one of a regional.
In a double elimination format, if you can win game one, you only need two more wins before you lose two games. However, if you don’t, then you have to win four-straight games with your season on the line.
In the past two seasons, the Wildcats have won game one and went on to win the entire regional.
While this season does not see the Bat Cats staying home for regional play, the importance of game one this season may loom even larger.
While Kentucky has been the No. 1 seed the past two years, this season it will be the No. 3 seed in the Clemson Regional.
While managing the pitching staff can be a tough challenge, it’s clear that Kentucky needs to send Ben Cleaver to the mound in game one.
“If you said, ‘Hey, Coach Minge. Like, what returning pitchers made the biggest jump?’ I would say, ‘It’s Ben Cleaver,’” Kentucky Head Coach Nick Mingione said on media day in February.
The left-hander has shown that jump on the mound and been a spark plug since he arrived in Lexington in 2024.
Cleaver has added ace along with the high-energy as he’s been the rock for the Wildcats on the hill in his sophomore campaign.
That type of energy is just what Kentucky needs to break the current skid and propel them to a win.
Furthermore, Cleaver has been the workhorse for Kentucky as he’s led the team in series finales all year.
Since moving to the Sunday role in the second weekend of SEC play, Cleaver has been handed the ball five times with the series on the line.
In those five appearances, Cleaver has pitched to a 3.71 ERA as he’s given up 12 earned runs in 29 1/3 innings.
If he was entrusted in those huge moments when his team needed a win, that should not change now.
On the year, Cleaver leads the team in innings pitched with 77 along with ERA with at 3.39 and strikeouts with 87.
Along with having him on the mound in game one, there is a good chance that he would get the ball in regional-deciding game five if it came to that, which would not be unfamiliar territory for the lefty.
The coaching staff has shown a trust in Cleaver all season long to get out of jams and give his team a chance to win.
This trust and confidence should not wavier as Kentucky looks to earn its biggest wins of the season.
“The way he carries himself is, I mean, there are certain guys, when they stand on the mound, they look like eight feet tall and 10 feet tall, He’s one of those guys,” Mingione said. “He carries himself in a great way and brings great positive energy even when he’s not pitching, what an unbelievable teammate.”
With a guy that brings that kind of presence on the mound for Kentucky, it’s a no-brainer that Cleaver should be on the mound in game one of the Clemson Regional.
The opening game of Kentucky’s postseason will see it take on West Virginia on Friday, May 30, at noon to kick off the Clemson Regional.
