Kentucky Unravels in 9th Inning as West Virginia Forces A Game 7 on Monday

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — After dispatching of West Virginia on Saturday night, Kentucky secured a spot in Sunday's regional final. Just one win stood between the Wildcats and a super regional appearance. But to get there, Kentucky needed one more win against the Mountaineers.

UK head coach Nick Mingione has honed in on making the winning plays all season long. In the 9th inning, Kentucky couldn't find the final winning play.

West Virginia tallied five runs in the top of the final inning to earn a dramatic come from behind 11-9 victory against Kentucky forcing a decisive game 7 on Monday.

Ben Cleaver got the start for the Wildcats, but couldn't find the strike zone whatsoever. Kentucky's left-handed starter saw just six batters, walking three and hitting two others to give away three early runs. Ira Austin IV came out of Kentuck's bullpen with one out in the top of the first inning and helped the Wildcats get out of the jam with limited damage. West Virginia led early 3-0.

Kentucky responded immediately, after getting its first two base runners off West Virginia throwing errors on relatively routine plays. Ethan Hindle walked with the bases loaded to give the Wildcats their first run of the day. Then, Braxton Van Cleave continued his hot streak, spraying a RBI single into left field to plate Tyler Bell. The Wildcats cut the deficit to 3-2 after a marathon first inning. Kentucky would go on to tie the game in the bottom of the second after Luke Lawrence beat out an infield single.

West Virginia responded in the top of the third inning, knocking Tommy Skelding out of the game after a pair of singles and a trio of runs scored. Chase Alderman entered the game in relief with the bases loaded. Kentucky's fourth pitcher of the day helped get the Wildcats out of the jam.

Down 6-3, Kentucky once again threatened in the bottom of the third inning. Hindle scored on a fielder's choice, and then Jayce Tharnish pulled a single past the infield to put even more pressure on. The Mountaineers came up with a big defensive play, though, and threw out Carson Hansen at home on Tharnish's single to end the inning.

That defensive play left Tyler Bell stranded in the on deck circle. Just one inning later, Bell jacked a solo home run to right field.

Luke Lawrence followed Bell's power surge up with an extra base hit of his own, and scored off a Hindle single to tie the game 6-6. Kentucky wasn't done in the bottom of the fourth inning, with Van Cleave delivering his third hit of the day to plate Hindle and helped the Wildcats take a 7-6 lead.

That's when Kentucky's bullpen took over. Chase Alderman delivered 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball, and was then relieved by Nile Adcock. The senior worked out of a bases loaded situation in the top of the sixth inning with a nasty breaking ball in the dirt.

Kentucky used a power surge in the bottom of the 7th inning to help extend its lead. First, Jayce Tharnish snuck over the fence with a solo shot. Tyler Bell, on the other hand, left no doubt. The Wildcats' star shortstop drilled his second home run of the day deep into right field to extend Kentucky's lead to 9-6.

It was all smoother sailing until Kentucky was tasked with getting the final three outs of the game.

Adcock started the inning, but couldn't record an out and loaded the bases. Jackson Soucie relieved him first, and also could not record an out. He walked in one run to narrow the West Virginia deficit to one.

Then, Oliver Boone came in relief for Soucie. Boone had not seen action since May 1st, and it showed. The redshirt sophomore balked in the game-tying run, and then allowed a go-ahead two-run home run to Paul Schoenfeld.

Kentucky and West Virginia match up on Monday with the Morgantown regional title on the line.

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