Gunner Glad, Gary Henderson: UK Athletics photo

In the fourth post of the season review series we’ll look at the University of Kentucky. After finishing with a 31-25 record and top-40 RPI, the Cats are still reeling from the disappointment of being left out of the NCAA tournament. Check out highlights and awards from their season below:

• Hitter of the year: UT Gunner Glad — The senior infielder primarily played first base for the Cats but also spent time at third and outfield this season. Glad led UK hitters who qualified for the batting title with a .336 average, 12 home runs, 45 RBI and 49 runs scored. Glad played in all 56 games for UK, making all but one start.
• Pitcher of the year: LHP Taylor Rogers — When you break it down the pitching for UK was pretty dismal on the whole, but Rogers stood out early in the season and deserves recognition for holding his own in the Southeastern Conference as a freshman. The Colorado native finished the season at 4-7 with a 6.40 ERA, but was the only UK starting pitcher not to miss a start on the season. His 83 innings pitched also gave the bullpen a much-needed break.
• Season high point: Senior catcher Marcus Nidiffer launched a grand slam in his final home at-bat to send UK to a series sweep over defending national champion LSU. The win appeared to lock up a SEC tournament and NCAA tournament bid for the Cats, but the season low point ruined that.
• Season low point: Entering the season’s final weekend UK was tied for the final birth fort the SEC tournament with the ability to control its own destiny, but the Cats dropped the first two games of its series with last-place Georgia including a 20-0 blowout in game two. The series loss dropped them from SEC tournament contention and ended up being the death-blow to UK’s NCAA tournament hopes.
• Miscellaneous: Junior-college transfer Lance Ray was among the best hitters in the SEC after moving into the UK lineup on a full-time basis and finished the season with a .356 batting average, 10 home runs, 34 RBI, 29 runs scored and .720 slugging percentage in just 118 at-bats…The Cats were without one weekend starter for much of the season as sophomore Alex Meyer missed several weeks with mono and junior Logan Darnell missed time with shoulder tendinitis…Freshman outfielder Brian Adams, who is also a wide receiver on the UK football team, started every game in UK’s last two series and ended the season 17-36 (.472).