Road trips in the SEC are always fun. Even with the usual number of very talented teams in this league, road series in the SEC are never easy. What will make 2019 especially interesting is the fact that Texas A&M still has four more series left on the schedule against teams currently ranked ahead of them (at No. 10 LSU, vs. No. 12 Auburn, vs. No. 2 Mississippi State, at No. 11 Arkansas), according to D1Baseball, and that doesn’t include their series at current-No. 18 Ole Miss. Taking down Vanderbilt was huge, but the Aggies’ work is nowhere near finished. In recent years, this is the kind of series that A&M would drop, leaving everyone scratching their heads and putting a serious damper on their postseason resume. It would definitely behoove the Ags to take care of business this weekend.

This weekend the Ags are headed up to Lexington to face Kentucky (14-7, 0-3). And while the Cats aren’t one of those previously mentioned ranked opponents, UK is just two seasons removed from a super regional appearance.

It’s worth noting that UK’s schedule hasn’t been the strongest. Their opponents have a combined record of 103-105, which is buoyed by No. 10 LSU (16-5), No. 19 Texas Tech (12-5), and unranked Wright State (13-5). Additionally, the only two teams that Kentucky has faced up to this point that have ERAs below 4.00 are Middle Tennessee (3.35) and Tech (3.78). In essence, A&M will be, statistically, the best team the Cats have faced all season. How exactly that will shake out, who knows, but that’s encouraging to say the least.

Kentucky is led at the plate by the trio of OF Ryan Shinn (slashing .324/.446/.595, with three home runs, 11 RBIs, and 11 doubles), DH TJ Collett (.316/.417/.671, 7 home runs, 28 RBIs, 53 total bases), and OF Jaren Shelby (.293/.407/.440, 2 home runs, 21 RBIs). The Cats lead the league in steals, stolen base attempts, and sac bunts as a team, which means whenever someone reaches base, they’re moving that runner over. Outside of that, however, they rank anywhere from the middle to the bottom of the SEC in almost every offensive category.

Probable Starters

• Friday: John Doxakis (3-2, 1.80 ERA) vs. Zack Thompson (1-0, 2.20 ERA)
• Saturday: Asa Lacy (4-0, 1.86 ERA) vs. Grant Macciocchi (1-1, 3.18 ERA)
• Sunday: Christian Roa (2-1, 2.29 ERA) vs. Dillon Marsh (2-1, 5.12 ERA)

How to Watch

• Times: Friday, 5:32 pm | Saturday, 1:02 pm | Sunday, 12:02 pm
• Live Video: All three games can be streamed on SEC Network +
• Radio: SportsRadio 1150 AM/The Zone 102.7 FM
• Live Stats: UKathletics.com