MORGANTOWN, W.V. – Kentucky sits in the driver's seat of the Morgantown Regional. The Wildcats scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to break an 8-8 tie and held on in the ninth to come away with an 11-9 victory over No. 1 seed West Virginia to advance to a regional final for the fourth consecutive season.
With another victory – Kentucky, the No. 3 seed, will play the winner of an elimination game between Wake Forest and West Virginia – the Wildcats would be in a super regional for the third time in four seasons.
Second baseman Luke Lawrence, who went through treatment throughout Friday night and Saturday to be available for the game after fouling a bunt off his knee in the win over Wake Forest, broke an 8-8 tie with a bases-loaded single in the eighth inning. First baseman Hudson Brown followed that with a two-RBI single to tack on more insurance for the Wildcats.
West Virginia put the first two runners on against reliever Jack Bennett in the ninth inning, but a 1-4-3 double play left Kentucky one out away from the win. An error by third baseman Caeden Cloud led to a West Virginia run and brought the tying run to the plate once again, but Bennett got pinch-hitter Zahir Barjam to fly out to left field to secure the win.
"Just proud of our team for their fight and their ability to execute at a high level and show real toughness," Kentucky coach Nick Mingione said. "Up and down the lineup, up and down our pitching staff... just proud of our fight to finish off an amazing and really good, well-coached West Virginia team."
Kentucky could not have drawn up a better start. Facing a stout starting pitcher for the second straight day, the Wildcats chased left-hander Maxx Yehl from the game after just two outs in the first.
Center fielder Jayce Tharnish worked a nine-pitch walk to open the game. West Virginia second baseman Brodie Kresser committed his first of two errors by booting a routine grounder that should've been a double play off the bat of Tyler Bell. Following a groundout and a hit-by-pitch, Ethan Hindle worked a full count and delivered a two-RBI single to get Kentucky on the board. Freshman Braxton Van Cleave launched a homer deep to right field to make it 4-0. Yehl fell behind 3-0 to Carson Hansen before plunking him, ending his outing in the first inning.
Kentucky scored two more runs in the second to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
But West Virginia battled back. A two-run homer by star sophomore catcher Gavin Kelly made it a 6-2 game in the third inning, and the Mountaineers tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning to chase Kentucky starter Nate Harris from the game.
Junior reliever Ryan Mullan and freshman Jack Sams had shaky outings out of the bullpen. Mullan faced just two batters and did not record an out. Sams entered with the bases loaded and hit cleanup hitter Sean Smith with a pitch to make it 6-5, but he got Matthew Graveline to fly out to end the threat.
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The Mountaineers rallied all the way back to even the game in the fifth inning after a throwing error to third base by catcher Owen Jenkins brought Armani Guzman home. But Jenkins made up for it in the bottom of the inning.
With two outs, Jenkins delivered a two-RBI single to put the Wildcats back in front 8-6. That hit guaranteed that every hitter in Kentucky's order collected at least one base knock. The Wildcats finished with 12 hits in the win.
"Our whole year, the hitting is contagious," Lawrence said. "We just kind of pass the bat one guy to the next. It's not just hits, it's also playing the game of baseball and getting quality at-bats. Eight or more pitches, if you have to lay down a bunt in a situation, you have to get somebody in, it's just our mentality as an offense and I think that really brings us together. That's where the momentum comes from."
But West Virginia once again fought back. Kelly welcomed Bennett to the game with his second home run, this one down the line in left field. In the seventh, WVU opened the inning with a shallow fly into left field that fell in for a double. With two outs, No. 9 hitter Tyrus Hall hit a blooper into right field that tied it and led to his second RBI double of the contest and tied the game.
Kentucky rallied in the eighth, however, and finds itself in an advantageous position going into Sunday. Of the nine NCAA tournaments Kentucky has appeared in since 2006, the Wildcats have won the first two games in a regional just once. That was the 2024 team that swept the Lexington Regional before winning the Lexington Super Regional 2-0 over Oregon State.
"Any time you have a chance to play one less game than your opponent, it actually does matter," Mingione said. "But I reminded our team. I told (the media) yesterday that I was really hard on this team. I've coached them harder than I've ever coached them, and I told them that I was really upset and frustrated with the fact that we weren't able to finish games that I thought we should've in our league. Every weekend in our league feels like this... In order to do it, you just have to make the winning play. We kept talking all week about doing what it takes to win.
"I'm at my best when I'm encouraging. God has gifted me with the gift of encouragement. We had guys in the dugout taking notes of every winning play of every scrimmage prior to coming here, and we just focused on doing what it takes to win. And so far we've barely, but we have, made enough winning plays to put us in this position."
