The No. 11 Kentucky Wildcat baseball squad (43-16) will make the trip north to Gary, Ind,. to participate in its seventh NCAA regional tournament. No.1 seed Purdue, regular season and tourney champion from the Big Ten, will serve as host of the event, although the games will be played at U.S. Steel Yard, home of the American Association's Gary Southshore Railcats. This is only the second NCAA baseball tournament the Boilermakers have played in.
The other two teams of the field include No. 3 seed/25th ranked Kent State (41-17), who is playing in its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament after winning the Mid-American Conference, and Valparaiso (35-23), winner of the Horizon League.
Kentucky's last appearance in the NCAA tourney was 2008, when they finished as regional runner-up, tying the best finish in Bat Cat history. The 2012 NCAA Tournament bid is UK's third since 2006, after having received only four bids between 1949 and 2005.
UK's record against this year's tournament field is 14-13, and the Bat Cats boast a 10-5 mark against top-10 competition.
Kentucky opens the double-elimination tournament Friday at 4:00 ET (game-time is tentative) as they take on Kent State.
For the full story, go here to UK Athletics.com.