In a back and forth offensive battle, the Kentucky Wildcats survived a relentless West Virginia rally to secure an 11-9 victory to end day two of the Morgantown Regional. Read more:Wildcats hold on in high-scoring slugfest, defeat Mountaineers 11-9 in day two of regional.
Fast start for the Wildcats
Nate Harris got the start on the mound for the Wildcats Saturday evening. Harris sat down the Mountaineers in order in the top of the first with three straight fly outs.
Maxx Yehl got the start on the mound for the Mountaineers. He walked Jayce Tharnish to open the bottom of the first. Yehl then faced Tyler Bell. Bell smacked a ball to Brodie Kresser, who bobbled it, allowing both runners to reach base safely.
Luke Lawrence grounded out to first, advancing the runners to second and third with one out. Yehl then hit Hudson Brown with a pitch to load the bases. Ethan Hindle hit a ball into the gap in left field to score two runs for the Wildcats, though West Virginia was able to record an out at third base. Braxton Van Cleave followed by blasting a two-run home run to extend Kentucky’s lead to 4-0.
Carson Hansen was hit by a pitch to give the Wildcats another baserunner, ending the day for Maxx Yehl.
The Mountaineers then turned to Ian Korn. Korn faced Caeden Cloud and sat him down on a fly out to left, ending a poor first inning for WVU.
Mountaineers fight back
Sean Smith was hit by a pitch to start the top of the 2nd, giving WVU their first baserunner of the day. Matthew Graveline struck out in the next at-bat.
Armani Guzman gave the fans something to cheer about, singling to right-center to put runners at first and third with one out. Guzman then stole second base.
Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, the excitement didn’t last. Brodie Kresser hit a ball back to the pitcher, who retired Smith at third for the second out. Ben Lumsden grounded out to end the inning with no runs scored for the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers struggled again in the bottom of the second. Korn faced Owen Jenkins, who flew out to second base for the first out. Tharnish singled to right, and Bell followed with another single to right, putting runners at first and second with one out.
Lawrence hit a single over the head of Lumsden in right field to score a run, making it 5-0 Kentucky. Korn then hit Brown with a pitch to load the bases. Hindle hit a grounder to shortstop; WVU got the out at second but couldn’t retire Hindle at first, allowing another run to score (6-0). Van Cleave grounded out to first to end the inning.
Tyrus Hall started the third inning with a 4 pitch walk. Hall stole second base during the Ineich at-bat. Following a strike out to Ineich, Kelly ignited the crowd with a two-run home run to center, cutting the Wildcat lead 6-2.
Schoenfeld followed with a single to left but the rally ended after Smith and Graveline both struck out to end the inning.
Korn retired Hansen on strikes to start the bottom of the third. Following a single by Cloud, Jenkins hit into a double play to end the inning.
Mountaineers cut lead to one
Following a fly outs to Guzman and Kresser to open the fourth, Lumsden singled to right. Hall found the gap in right-center to bring Lumsden home and cut the Kentucky lead in half (6-3). Hall reached third on a wild pitch to Ineich. Hall scored on a balk call to make the score 6-4.
Ineich walked on five pitches.
The Wildcats went to the bullpen to bring in Ryan Mullen. Mullen walked Kelly on five pitches to put runners at first and second with two outs. Schoenfeld was hit by the pitch to load the bases for Sean Smith.
Kentucky went to the bullpen again, this time bringing in Jack Sams.
Smith got hit by the pitch to score another run for WVU, cutting the Kentucky lead 6-5. Graveline flew out to shallow center to end a thrilling inning for the Mountaineers. Korn retired the Wildcats in order in the bottom of the fourth. Guzman led off the fifth with a walk. Kresser followed with a sacrifice bunt to advance Guzman to second. Guzman stole third and scored thanks to a wild throw to third to tie the game at 6. Lumsden followed with a walk.
Kentucky made another pitching change, this time bringing in Ira Austin. Austin retired Hall on strikes then Ineich on a fly out to end the inning.
Related:Wake Forest survives Binghamton, sends Bearcats home.
Pitching changes, further action
Brown led off the inning for the Wildcats and reached first base after a bad throw to first from Kresser. Hindle followed with a single to left to put runners at first and second. Korn answered by retiring Van Cleave on strikes for the first out. Hansen hit to the short stop Ineich and beat the throw to first to load the bases with one out.
WVU went to the bullpen to bring in Reese Bassinger. Bassinger retired Cloud on strikes. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, Kentucky reclaimed the lead with a Jenkins double to left to score two, making the score 8-6. The Mountaineers were able to keep the third runner from scoring, tagging him out at the plate for the final out of the inning.
Pitcher Jack Bennett came into the game for the Wildcats to start the sixth inning. Kelly led off the inning with a solo shot to left to cut the Wildcats lead to just one. Bennett retired the next three Mountaineers in order to end the top of the sixth. Bassinger retired the Wildcats in order to end the sixth inning.
Guzman led off the top of the seventh with a bloop double to left. Kresser followed with a sacrifice bunt to advance Guzman to third with only one out. Following a Lumsden strike out, Hall tied the game at 8 with a bloop double to right to score Guzman. A ground out from Ineich ended the inning.
Setting up the final stretch
Bassinger walked Brown to start the bottom of the seventh, but the Mountaineers were able to turn a double play the next at-bat. Bassinger hit Van Cleave with a pitch but was able to retire Hansen on a ground out to end the inning.
Related:Demon Deacons rolling in Morgantown.
The Mountaineers were retired in order in the top of the eighth. Cloud flew out to right for the first out. Jenkins reached on a hit-by-pitch and stole second. Tharnish bunted to advance the runner to third and reached safely. Bassinger hit Bell with a pitch to load the bases with one out. Lawrence lined one over Kresser to score a run, making it 9-8 Kentucky. Following the score, WVU made a pitching change, this time bringing in Ben McDougall. Brown smoked a ball to right to score two more for Kentucky and make the score 11-8. Hindle bunted to McDougal who flipped the ball to Kelly to record the out at home. Van Cleave popped out to left to end the inning.
Wildcats shut down the Mountaineers in the ninth
Graveline beat out a throw to first, giving WVU a leadoff runner in the top of the ninth. Guzman followed with a walk, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Kresser grounded into a double play, moving Graveline to third. Lumsden reached on a bobbled ball at shortstop, and Graveline scored to cut the lead to 11-9. Zahir Barjam pinch-hit for Hall (with Maxwell Molessa pinch-running for Lumsden) but popped out to end the game. The Wildcats held on for an 11-9 win.
