Ryan Nicholson hits game-tying home run in College World Series opener vs. NC State

Kentucky was down to their final three outs against NC State on Saturday. It’s the program’s first-ever appearance in the College World Series, trending toward a disappointing start. But Ryan Nicholson had other ideas and decided to tie the game up.

Only down 1-0 in the count, a fastball came across the plate and Nicholson was able to fly it out to left field. The ball wound up falling just behind the 335 sign in the corner, barely getting out for an opposite-field home run.

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The Kentucky bench exploded while the bullpen got up and celebrated as well. With how crazy Omaha has already been through just two games, nobody should be surprised with dramatics unfolding in the late innings.

For now, the Bat Cats are alive and well, having the chance to walk off NC State. You can watch the full moment here.

THE MAGIC LIVES ON 🪄#MCWS x 🎥 ESPN / @UKBaseball pic.twitter.com/LXjZ6O6amj

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 15, 2024

Kentucky finally broke through to the College World Series after playing in the school’s third-ever Super Regional. They are certainly making Big Blue Nation sweat things out in the first game, with the heartrate certainly fluctuating.

Nicholson has Kentucky fans happy for the time being but another twist or two will certainly come.

Kentucky pitcher Johnny Hummel calls SEC best conference in baseball

With four teams out of the ACC and SEC each in the College World Series, there’s a worthy debate to be had over which conference is truly the top dog this season in college baseball.

Ahead of their first game against ACC foe, SEC representative Kentucky had a few players speak out on the conference discussion, of course taking up for their own league, which they won a share of in 2024. Pitcher Johnny Hummel didn’t take any reservations with his assertion.

“The SEC is the best conference in Division I baseball,” he declared. “So competing against these other teams that we’re going to play on our side of the bracket has really helped us. We’ve competed against I think two of them that are in our bracket. Maybe one of them.”

The ‘Cats have already faced No. 1 overall Tennessee, as well as this surging Florida team, in regular season series. According to Hummel, those experiences help them to prepare for these CWS games.

“Being able to play them again maybe is just going to help us because we know the ins and outs, and we’re also just going to play our game.”