Kentucky Wildcats News: The End for Rachel Lawson?

Kentucky head coach Rachel Lawson coaches against Mississippi State in the SEC Softball Tournament Tuesday. May 5, 2026 | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The Kentucky Softball team lost in the SEC Tournament yesterday in a way that really encapsulated the whole season. The Wildcats were up 3-1 entering the bottom of the 7th, but Mississippi State came back and won in walk-off fashion as Kentucky finished with 3 critical errors in the game.

The Wildcats dropped to 1-24 in conference play with an overall record of 26-29. In 2025, the Wildcats finished with a 7-17 mark in conference play, and were 8-16 the year prior. The Wildcats have not finished above .

500 in conference play since 2022 and haven’t been to the NCAA Super Regional since 2021. Rachel Lawson has certainly done great things for the UK Softball program. She’s the winningest coach in program history, which certainly should be noted.

However, one has to wonder what the next steps are for Lawson and the softball program as Kentucky has now lost 24 consecutive SEC games, and UK will soon have a new AD. Tweet of the Day “When I watch the film it’s hard to not be impressed with @CoachWillStein ” – @CoachDanCasey on what @UKFootball is getting with Stein/Sloan pic. twitter.