Cats Overcome Adversity on Saturday to Stay Alive

The Kentucky baseball team faced a lot of adversity on Saturday. The Cats were taking on USC Upstate in an elimination game in the Clemson Regional of the 2025 NCAA Baseball Tournament.

Then, in the pregame, it was determined that one of the team’s best players, shortstop Tyler Bell, would not play in the game due to a knee injury suffered when he fouled a ball off the joint on Friday. Kyuss Gargett would play shortstop as Bell watched from the dugout.

Nevertheless, the Cats were able to win 7-3, surviving and advancing to Sunday, where they will meet either Clemson or West Virginia. UK head coach Nick Mingione liked how his team responded to the challenges that faced them on Saturday.

“Proud of our team today. The fight,” Mingione said. “The way they fought back, and we get to keep playing.”

Second baseman Luke Lawrence thought Gargett did an outstanding job replacing Bell on Saturday.

“I think Kyuss has done a great job all year just staying ready. I think he did a great job today at short, he had a couple of key plays in the game,” Lawrence said. “Not only that, but his attitude out there is just awesome. He took charge, like a shortstop does. I think that shows his heart and his character.”

Bell may not have been on the field, but he was engaged in the game, according to Mingione.

“Let me tell you what kind of person Tyler Bell is,” Mingione said. “In the postgame huddle, (Ethan) Hindle said ‘Tyler Bell, when we were on defense, was locked in the entire time. He was looking at Kyuss, he was making sure his positioning was right, he was following along. He coached him the entire time. (Tyler) is a superstar.”

The adversity also came in the middle of the game. After UK took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a Carson Hansen home run, USC Upstate fought back to tie the game with three runs in the fourth inning. That’s when UK called on reliever Ethan Walker, who shut down the Spartans for the final five frames.

Teams often fall victim to adversity, especially in the postseason. That could have easily been the case for Kentucky on Saturday, but players like Gargett, Lawrence and Walker did not let that happen. And because that did not happen, the Cats live to play again on Sunday.