The UK baseball team fought back from a loss to N.C. State to win two games Sunday and force a decisive game 7 tonight in the Lexington Regional.
After a disappointing 5-4 loss to State on Saturday, the Wildcats knocked off Indiana 14-9 Sunday afternoon in an elimination game. UK then defeated N.C. State 8-6 last night to force a winner-take-all game 7 tonight.
Here are details from UK:
LEXINGTON, Ky. – There will be Monday baseball at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
Top-seeded Kentucky forced another game in the Lexington Regional final with its 8-6 win over No. 3 seed NC State in front of 3,261 fans on a clear Sunday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium. It was the second do-or-die win of the day for the Wildcats, who again will face the Wolfpack on Monday night in a winner-take-all game to advance to the Super Regional in Louisville next week.
Monday’s game is set for 7 p.m. with NC State as the designated home team on the basis of having been the home team in fewer games during the regional.
The Cats (42-21) gave up two early runs in the second inning, but responded quickly in the bottom of the third when Connor Heady and Tristan Pompey crossed the plate on a one-out double from Zach Reks and a sacrifice fly from Kole Cottam. The Wolfpack tacked on another run in the top of the fourth inning, but Marcus Carson knotted the game back up in the bottom half of the inning with his second home run of the day.
Cottam barely missed another home run when he tripled off the top edge of the wall in right-centerfield. The sophomore catcher ended up scoring anyway when Riley Mahan singled, giving Mahan his 11th RBI in four regional games and the Wildcats their first lead of the game.
From there, the UK’s offense stayed steady and scored at least one run in each inning from the second through sixth. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cats were still able to push across four runs with three hits and three walks. Pompey and Reks finished with three hits each, while Reks and Mahan drove in four runs combined.
Brad Schaenzer started on the mound for UK, providing four innings of work before Chris Machamer entered. The freshman right-hander from North Canton, Ohio, settled in, struck out the side in the sixth inning, and nabbed four strikeouts. Logan Salow took to the mound with one out in the seventh inning, and it was over from there as the senior retired all eight Wolfpack batters that he faced paired with four strikeouts, earning his team-record tying 12th save of the season.
As of now, tonight’s game will only be aired live on WatchESPN:
Tonight's game is only available on ESPN3, so even more reason to come join your BBN friends at #TheCliff! pic.twitter.com/SKCJ99OVgC
— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) June 5, 2017
And students get in free:
STUDENTS: We're paying for your ticket to support @UKBaseball once again! We'll see you tonight at #TheCliff. pic.twitter.com/BhpT8SCeXw
— UK Ticket Office (@UKTix) June 5, 2017
