Kentucky Facing Elimination in Win-Or-Go-Home Matchup Against West Virginia
Kentucky was just seven outs away from keeping their place in the Winner’s Bracket on Saturday night.
With their ace on the mound in Zack Lee and Indiana’s nine hitter up to bat, nobody could have expected what would happen next. IU’s Peter Serruto slugged a go-ahead three-run home run on the sixth pitch of the at-bat, propelling Indiana to a crushing victory for Big Blue fans in attendance at Kentucky Proud Park, a record crowd of 6,094.
Now, it’s win or go home for coach Nick Mingione’s squad. Kentucky will be facing West Virginia in an elimination game on Sunday at noon ET, where the loser’s season will come to an end. The winner of that game will then have a crack at Indiana on Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. ET. If the winner of Kentucky/West Virginia is able to knock off Indiana on Sunday night, the teams will square off once again on Monday for a Super Regional bid. The ‘Cats must win three games in two days for the chance to head to just their second Super Regional in school history. It all comes down to this.
West Virginia Impact Players
The Mountaineers are the first of three roadblocks standing in the way of a Kentucky Super Regional berth. 2023 Big 12 Coach of the Year Randy Mazey’s squad stands in the way of a rematch between the ‘Cats and Hoosiers on Sunday night. Indiana took down West Virginia 12-6 on Friday night, sending them to the loser’s bracket where the Mountaineers walloped Ball State 13-5 on Saturday to keep their season alive.
Four different West Virginia players homered on Saturday, including Big 12 Player of the Year JJ Wetherholt. Wetherholt was phenomenal in Saturday’s eliminator, going 3-5 with a homer and four RBI. Wetherholt was one of the best players in all of college baseball this season, earning All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball earlier this month. Logan Sauve and Dayne Leonard were sensational as well, as both homered and drove in three RBI in the win. WVU is a power-hitting team, as they sported four players with more than 10 home runs hit this season.
Some good news for Kentucky is that they won’t have to face West Virginia’s top two starting pitchers in Blaine Traxel and Ben Hampton, as they were used up in WVU’s first two Regional games. RHP Grant Siegel is third on the team in games started and has yet to be used this weekend, so don’t be shocked if that’s who Mazey sends out to start. Siegel has started eight games this season and boasts a 5.18 ERA over 41.2 IP.
Just like Kentucky, West Virginia would have to win three games in two days for the right to play in the Super Regional. It’s not totally impossible, but it’s going to take a great effort from one of these teams to make a run to Baton Rouge.
Kentucky Impact Players
The Kentucky offense has suddenly gone missing in the final few weeks of the season.
The ‘Cats mustered just six hits in both Regional games and wasted a stellar start from Zack Lee on Saturday night. If your starter can go seven innings allowing just four runs, you 100% take that. Your offense should put you in a better position to win that game. No Wildcat hitter notched more than one hit in their loss to Indiana as they left 10 runners on base. That’s a perfect blueprint for a loss.
Devin Burkes’ 11-game hitting streak was snapped on Saturday night and Ryan Waldschmidt struck out three times against Indiana’s bullpen. West Virginia has one of the deepest pitching staffs in the entire country, so this is definitely a problem to be concerned about. Baseball is a game of inches. If Devin Burkes’ warning track fly ball got just a little more wind under it or if Émilien Pitre’s foul ball was just a few more inches right we wouldn’t be having these concerns, but that’s how the cookie crumbles.
A loss for Kentucky on Saturday was devastating as they could have had a near-full rested pitching staff to try and win just one game on Sunday night or on Monday to advance to the Super Regional. Now, they must win three games with a rotation that just burnt its best-starting pitcher on Saturday and hardest-throwing pitcher on Friday. The ‘Cats may need a little magic if they want to advance to just their second Super Regional in school history.
First pitch between Kentucky and West Virginia is scheduled for Saturday at noon ET on ESPNU and ESPN+.
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