Kentucky defeated NC State 5-4 in its first-ever College World Series game Saturday afternoon to advance to the winner’s bracket. Quite a first impression for the Cats in Omaha.
Kentucky held a 3-1 lead until the seventh inning, where NC State’s Alec Makarewicz tied the game with a two-run homer. After the Cats failed to respond, the Wolfpack scored a go-ahead run in the top of the ninth on a wild pitch.
However, until his last three outs, Ryan Nicholson hit a solo home run to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Mitch Daly then hit Kentucky’s biggest home run in program history, a solo shot to eliminate the Wolfpack in the 10th.
Holy. Moly.
Kentucky will now face the winner of Saturday night’s Texas A&M/Florida game, Monday at 6:00 p.m. CT/7:00 p.m. ET, in the winner’s bracket.
Players of the game:
- 1B Ryan Nicholson: Nicholson went 3-4 at the plate with two singles and a game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
- RHP Trey Pooser: Pooser pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just three runs.
- OF Nolan McCarthy: McCarthy hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, his eighth of the season.
Cats score first run in MCWS history
After a goalless first period for Trey PooserKentucky scored its first ever run in the College World Series in the second half of the inning.
Ryan Waldschmidt continued to collapse with a strikeout to open the game, but Emilien Pitre hit a double to left field after a 12-pitch at-bat for Kentucky’s first hit in College World Series history.
With Pitre second, All-American Nick Lopez took to the plate with a chance to make history. That’s what he did.
Lopez jumped on the first pitch he saw for an RBI single up the middle, bringing Pitre down from third following an errant putout attempt by NC State right-hander Sam Highfill. The Canadian scored the Wildcats’ first ever point in the MCWS, giving the Cats a 1-0 lead.
Expect this to be a Kentucky sports trivia question in 10 years.
NC State, however, responded with an RBI single from Jacob Cozart in the top of the third, tying the scores.
McCarthy’s home run takes Kentucky’s lead back
After Cozart’s game-tying single, it looked like the Wolfpack had all the momentum going. The Cats hadn’t had a hit in two innings and had their batters six, seven and eight holes in to strike in the fourth.
However, Nolan McCarthy continued its hot streak late in the fourth to regain the lead for the Wildcats.
Ryan Nicholson started the inning with a single to the right side, bringing up the RS junior who made waves last weekend with his “Pete Rose” home run slide to beat Oregon State.
With two hits total, McCarthy hit a 357-foot two-run homer down the left field line, giving Kentucky a two-run lead. The Cats had still never trailed throughout the entire NCAA tournament.
McCarthy’s long ball was his eighth of the year and his first since April 21 (Tennessee).
NC State’s longball ties the game in the seventh
Kentucky was one pitch away from exiting the seventh with a two-run lead, but a poor call tied the game in an instant.
Right-hander Trey Pooser returned to the mound in the seventh and responded with back-to-back outs after allowing a leadoff single. Before facing NC State’s home run leader Alec Makarewicz, Pooser had allowed just one earned run in 25 2/3 innings in the postseason.
Makarewicz quickly doubled that total by hitting his 23rd home run of the season to tie the score at two. Pooser, who had just hit pitch number 100 that day, left a fastball right down the middle that was taken 414 feet to right field.
Pooser’s day ended after the home run. He lasted 6 2/3 innings, during which he allowed nine hits and three earned runs. His nine hits allowed were the most allowed by Pooser in a single game this season.
He was relieved by the right-hander Cam O’Brien, who ended the inning with a strikeout. Unfortunately, the match was a draw.
After scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth, however, Kentucky was unable to score another run until the bottom of the ninth.
NC State came to bat in the top of the ninth with all the momentum on its side. After a leadoff walk to Garrett Pennington, Cozart hit a one-out single down the right field line to put runners on the corners.
Right-handed Johnny Hummel took over on the mound for the Cats and bounced his first pitch, what a catcher Devin Burkes lost view. Pennington was able to score from third, giving the Wolfpack a late lead.
NC State’s ninth-inning score marked the first time Kentucky trailed in any NCAA tournament. That didn’t last long, however, as Ryan Nicholson continued his unreal journey over the past month.
Nicholson led off the inning with a solo shot to left field, reigniting his knack for drama. His Big Blue Bomb solo marked his 22nd of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Nolan McCarthy followed Nicholson with a single, bringing the entire Big Blue Nation to its feet. He advanced to third place, but ultimately failed to score. The Cats were heading into their fifth extra innings game of the season.
The cats go away in the 10
Hummel returned to the mound in the 10th and sat the Wolfpack down in order, allowing the Cats to pull away once again.
Mitch Daly finished things off with two outs in the ninth with a solo home run, the biggest in Kentucky history.
This is the first time in college baseball history that the first three games of the Men’s College World Series have been decided by one hit.
What’s next for Kentucky?
Kentucky will play the winner of Saturday night’s Texas A&M/Florida game Monday at 6:00 p.m. CT/7:00 p.m. ET in the winner’s bracket.
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