Kentucky baseball controls its postseason destiny entering final regular-season games
This is it for Oraj Anu, and perhaps for the Kentucky baseball team.
The Wildcats could have as few as three games left in the 2022 season, which for some players like Anu means as few as three games left in their college careers.
The good news? UK controls its destiny to prolong its season.
Kentucky, 28-23 overall and 10-17 in Southeastern Conference games, enters its final regular-season series with the ability to secure a spot in next week’s end-of-season SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
The top 12 teams in the SEC (all 14 schools field a baseball team) qualify for the SEC Tournament, and Kentucky is projected in the field with its 10-17 conference record.
It’s a perilous position though.
The Cats are the 12th and final team in the tournament field. The two teams set to miss out on Hoover are defending NCAA champions Mississippi State (9-18 in conference play) and Missouri (8-19 in the SEC).
Mississippi State closes the regular season with three home games against Tennessee (the No. 1 team in the nation, and a team UK took two of three games from this month), while Missouri ends things with three games at Georgia (another top SEC team that UK won a series against).
Kentucky hosts No. 19 Auburn for three games, starting Thursday night, at Kentucky Proud Park to end the regular season.
Kentucky’s magic number to clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament is two.
It’s in UK’s hands as to whether or not the season, and the college careers of players like Anu, are extended to next week.
“We all know this is a big series for us and we have to win it,” Anu said after Tuesday night’s 13-0 run-rule victory over Tennessee Tech. “It would be ideal to sweep it and head into the SEC Tournament with a lot of momentum and win a couple games and make a regional.”
“Our team is at our best when we’re playing with freedom and we’re laying it all out there,” added UK head coach Nick Mingione, as Kentucky chases its first SEC Tournament win (and its first NCAA Tournament berth) since 2017. “When we’re loose we’re competing every single pitch, we have a sense of urgency. When we do that, we’ve played really well.”
Anu looks to close college career strong
Anu’s backstory and college baseball journey is approaching its final days or weeks
It began in Orlando, where Anu was born. His father, Linzey, played football at Florida and his mother, Oralee, ran track at UCLA (where she was roommates with Florence Griffith Joyner) and Florida.
Oralee also competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics with the Bahamas track team.
Anu arrived at Kentucky ahead of the 2020 season after two seasons at Wallace Community College in Alabama, and following a 2019 summer spent with the Cotuit Kettleers of the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League.
Cotuit won the title that summer, during which Anu had 10 multi-hit games, in between enjoying the area’s renowned seafood, particularly its crab legs.
“Going into the playoffs we were like, ‘Man, screw it. If we win, we win. If we lose, we lose. So at least we get to go home early,’” Anu recalled from his time with Cotuit. “The funny thing is, we lost the first game (of the playoffs) and I was like, ‘All-right bet. We get to go home.’ Then we ended up winning the next (six) games. We just played free, we had nothing to lose.”
Anu hopes to use that mindset should Kentucky secure a spot in the SEC Tournament.
“We need to channel that, just go out there free and loose because we have nothing to lose,” Anu added.
A potential postseason berth to cap Anu’s time in college would be welcomed after an injury-riddled end to his productive UK career.
Anu played in 17 games in 2020, his first season as a Wildcat, before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the season.
Anu was a regular for UK in 2021, playing in 50 games with 49 starts at designated hitter and in left field, recording 50 hits, including a .307 batting average against right-handed pitching.
But after recording 15 hits in the opening three weeks of the 2022 season, Anu missed more than six weeks after having surgery to repair the hamate bone in his hand.
During that extend period out, Mingione challenged Anu to be an alert and attentive teammate.
“In our meetings I would talk more, (say) what I thought. . . . After we got swept (at Arkansas) I talked to the team and said, ‘From what I saw, it looked like you guys had no energy,’” Anu said. “I was challenging them to bring the energy, no matter where we are on the road or whatever, just bring it. You have nothing to lose, this is a game.”
How valuable was it to have a veteran player speak up in the clubhouse?
“The guys know his heart and they know how much he cares,” Mingione said. ‘He’s a guy that brings it every day. For him to be able to speak up and share his mind, guys obviously respect it.”
While out injured, Anu looked forward to the day when he could walk into the trainer’s room and declare himself ready to play. When that day came, Anu said he was almost in tears.
He returned near the end of April with Kentucky in the thick of SEC play, and has become a key offensive presence for the Cats at a crucial time.
Since returning on April 22, Anu (who primarily has played as a DH) has 13 hits in 12 games, with 11 RBI, including four RBI in Tuesday’s blowout win.
Anu is now hitting .368 for the season. Since returning to the starting lineup on April 26, Anu has a hit in nine of 10 games.
“When he was out he was a great teammate. He had an opportunity to lead which he did a good job of and really see baseball and watch it,” Mingione said after Anu tied his career high in hits (three) and RBI (four) against Tennessee Tech. “Now that he’s been back, I just love the way he’s used the entire field. He’s used the middle of the field great … he’s been a run producer for us, that’s why he’s in there.”
Next games
Who: Kentucky vs. No. 19 Auburn
When: Thursday (6:30 p.m.), Friday (6:30 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.)
Where: Kentucky Proud Park
Notes
▪ Kentucky controls its postseason destiny when it comes to qualifying for next week’s SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama.
▪ The top 12 teams in the SEC make the tournament field.
▪ The projected starting pitching matchup for Thursday is UK’s Zack Lee against Auburn’s Mason Barnett.
▪ On Friday, Auburn is expected to start pitcher Trace Bright, while UK’s starter is still to be decided.
▪ On Saturday, Auburn is expected to start pitcher Joseph Gonzalez, while UK’s starter is still to be decided.
This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 2:09 PM.
