KSR Today: Still recovering from Kentucky Baseball's NCAA elimination

Good morning to you, KentuckySportsRadio.com readers, although it could be a better morning. Sunday night was a tough one for Kentucky Baseball and its fans, presumably you. The Wildcats were on the cusp of a third straight win in the NCAA Tournament, on the verge of forcing an extra game with West Virginia in the Clemson Regional, leading the Mountaineers late in the evening of the longest day of baseball in UK history. Kentucky was four outs from playing a winner-take-all regional championship game today, but couldn’t finish the job on Sunday. We’ll start there…

Kentucky blew a five-run lead in the eighth

Kentucky was in a great spot in its second elimination game on Sunday, leading West Virginia by five runs in the top of the eighth inning after Devin Burkes smashed a solo home run to extend UK’s lead. Then, it all came crumbling down in the bottom of the eighth when the Mountaineers scored six runs with two outs in the inning to come from behind and win. Kentucky used five pitchers in the bottom of the eighth, part of one final bullpen collapse for the Wildcats in 2025.

Even worse, Kentucky’s five-run lead in the eighth wasn’t the only blown five-run lead of the game. West Virginia also scored six runs in the fourth to erase an earlier five-run deficit.

Had Kentucky held onto either lead, the regional final would’ve been held tonight in a rematch. Instead, the Wildcats’ season came to a heartbreaking end. Final record: 31-26 (13-17).

Kentucky dominated Clemson earlier in the day

Before Kentucky was eliminated at the hands of West Virginia, the Wildcats won the Sunday afternoon elimination game against Clemson to set up the night game with the Mountaineers. It was a battle of two one-loss teams in the Clemson Regional, playing for a shot at West Virginia in the regional final. Kentucky won it relatively easily, defeating the home team Tigers with a 16-4 finish.

Freshman right-hander Nate Harris earned the win in his first career NCAA Tournament start, throwing six innings with a career-high seven strikeouts, six hits allowed, and three earned runs. Harris’ teammates gave him a nice cushion on the scoreboard. The Wildcats led 16-3 when Harris sat down for the day, despite trailing 2-0 in the top of the first.

Kentucky totaled 16 runs on 13 hits in the game, highlighted by a six-run fourth inning. Pitchers Evan Byers, Nile Adcock, and Leighton Harris each threw an inning to protect the win.

Tennessee lost on a walk-off walk in Knoxville

It’s called a shrimp when a game ends with a walk-off walk, and it happened last night in the Knoxville Regional. Facing elimination, Wake Forest had bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, tied with Tennessee, when the Vols threw four straight balls to walk in Wake’s game-winning run.

A SHRIMP TO FORCE AN ELIMINATION GAME 🦐

Wake Forest wins on the walk-off walk😮 pic.twitter.com/kCkVfiPy8K

— ESPN (@espn) June 2, 2025

They’ll meet again for the regional championship tonight at 6 p.m.

Monday’s NCAA Baseball schedule

If you care to watch more NCAA Tournament baseball, here are today’s winner-take-all games:

• 3:00 p.m. (5) North Carolina vs. Oklahoma – Chapel Hill Regional (ESPNU)
• 6:00 p.m. USC vs. (8) Oregon State – Corvallis Regional (ESPN+)
• 6:00 p.m. Murray State vs. (10) Ole Miss – Oxford Regional (ESPN+)
• 6:00 p.m. Wake Forest vs. (14) Tennessee – Knoxville Regional (ESPN2)
• 9:00 p.m. (6) LSU vs. Little Rock – Baton Rouge Regional (ESPN2)
• 9:00 p.m. Miami vs. (16) Southern Miss – Hattiesburg Regional (ESPN+)

The NBA Finals schedule is set

If you’re done with NCAA Baseball, you can turn your attention to the NBA Finals beginning later this week. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, and the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 on Thursday night, laying nine points in the desert.

• Game 1 (OKC): Thursday, June 5, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
• Game 2 (OKC): Sunday, June 8, 8:00 p.m. ET (ABC)
• Game 3 (IND): Wednesday, June 11, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
• Game 4 (IND): Friday, June 13, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
• Game 5 (OKC): Monday, June 16, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
• Game 6 (IND): Thursday, June 19, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
• Game 7 (OKC): Sunday, June 22, 8:00 p.m. ET (ABC)

ESPN’s new college basketball rankings

Over at ESPN.com, Jeff Borzello updated his preseason top 25 in college basketball to reflect any roster changes since the draft withdrawal deadline. Kentucky climbed two spots in the new 25, moving from No. 11 to inside the top 10 at No. 9.

“Kentucky is absolutely loaded on the perimeter next season, with the arrivals of transfers Jaland Lowe (Pitt), Kam Williams (Tulane) and Denzel Aberdeen (Florida) and five-star prospect Jasper Johnson, to go along with the return of leading scorer Otega Oweh and reserve Collin Chandler,” Borzello writes.

“Mark Pope also revamped the frontcourt with defense in mind, with the additions of Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama) and Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State). Quaintance could miss time after suffering a torn ACL in late February, so a step forward from Brandon Garrison will be needed.”

One of Kentucky’s preseason opponents, Purdue, is ESPN’s No. 1-ranked team, followed by defending champ Florida, Houston, UConn, and St. John’s.

It’s a busy month for college football recruiting

This past weekend marked the beginning of official visit season in college football recruiting, one of the busiest times of the year. Kentucky hosted several prospective student-athletes on officials in Lexington on opening weekend, but did not lock down any new commitments in the 2026 class. However, there was negative movement on Kentucky’s big board, with two offensive tackle targets picking Rutgers. Keep up with UK recruiting scoop with us over on KSBoard.

Watch a new KSR Happy Hour later today

Later today, KSR will livestream another Happy Hour presented by Country Boy Brewing over on KSR’s YouTube channel. Watch and comment live at 4 p.m. as KSR’s Happy Hour winds down from Monday with a round of cold beverages and talk of the latest news and views in Kentucky sports and beyond. Send in any topics you’d like to hear discussed, too. You can leave them on KSBoard or send them to me at @DrewFranklinKSR on X/Twitter.

KSR’s morning show is in the studio(s) today

Tune in to Monday’s KSR show from 10 a.m. to noon, broadcast live from the iHeart studio. The crew is scattered across cities but together via radio technology. Go Cats.