Big Blue Nation heads south: Fans rally behind Kentucky baseball in LSU super regional

BATON ROUGE, La. — Brent and Becky Renfroe have been Kentucky baseball season ticket holders since 1999. They share their two tickets with their daughter. But prior to the 2023 season, their daughter suggested they decline renewing.

Becky would have none of it.

"I said, 'No. Let's give them a little more money that they can possibly use to beef up things and to show them that people give a you-know-what about baseball,'" Becky said.

Now, with the Wildcats competing in only their second NCAA super regional in program history — and a College World Series berth and trip to Omaha, Nebraska, squarely in their sights — Becky joked she felt "vindicated" for holding on to their seats for one of the Wildcats' most successful seasons ever.

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"Everybody said (to us), 'That's just dumb. They're giving those (season tickets) away,"' she said. "And I'm like, 'No, that's not the way to go.'"

Brent and Becky, who live in Lexington, made the trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this weekend to see the Wildcats take on No. 5 national seed LSU in just their second super regional appearance ever and brought their grandson, Decklan Stewart.

"It's really good to be here (at LSU's Alex Box Stadium)," Brent said. "This is probably the premier stadium in college baseball."

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"I think (this series) absolutely will change everything," Becky Renfroe said. "We think that this will give us a national spotlight. There's no better than LSU baseball, let's face it. They're the (pinnacle)."

After more than two decades of watching UK baseball — with countless nights spent at the team's former home, Cliff Hagan Stadium — Brent said showing up for the super regional was a no-brainer.

"It was great to see the attendance at the end of the year at the regional," he said. "It was just a lot of fun. … We just really enjoy this team."

Another UK fan, Jason Carlberg, of Upton, drove south to Baton Rouge with his close friend, Josh Hess, of nearby Glendale. Carlberg admitted he can't recite every result of the baseball team's 2023 slate, but he keeps tabs on Kentucky sports. So as soon as UK won its NCAA regional Monday — beating Indiana 4-2 — he and Hess decided they were Baton Rouge-bound.

"And if they go to Omaha," Carlberg said, "we're going to Omaha, too."

That's the last step for the only program in the SEC yet to appear in the College World Series.

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"UK seems like it's always been right there, but we've never broken through. But this might be it," Carlberg said. "Hopefully (they) can keep it rolling. … Baseball is getting to the level where us Kentucky fans want it to be."

Though Jason Smith had been in the stands for more than a dozen UK games this season, it was far from a certainty he'd book a trip to Louisiana this weekend. That's because the super regional coincided with his one-year wedding anniversary to his wife, Sky. Originally, the couple was headed to Michigan to see the Great Lakes State's beaches. But as soon as UK dispatched Indiana, the Smiths changed plans.

They'll once more be cheering on their nephew, Wildcat pitcher Travis Smith.

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"It's nice to see the baseball team have success," said Jason, who hails from Walton. "I think (Kentucky coach) Nick (Mingione) gets players who really fit here. Small ball works — get on base, steal second base, bunt them around, get runs and hopefully the pitching holds up."

The Tigers are the SEC's most prominent program, and the Wildcats are a heavy underdog. But that fact, even as fans endured a nearly seven-hour weather delay before Game 1 started after 10 p.m. ET Saturday — UK went on to lose 14-0 — made Jason Smith no less hungry for the Wildcats to plant a flag alongside the country's elite programs.

"You look across the field and you see all of (LSU's) national championships. We don't have that. We want that," he said. "You've got to beat the best to be the best. So here we are in Baton Rouge, ready to take a series."

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @RyanABlack.