Stayin' Alive: Cats break out big bats in 16-6 romp over Indiana
Nolan McCarthy's Kentucky teammates greeted him at home plate after his three-run homer in Sunday's (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
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@JDrumUK
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Looking the end of its season squarely in the eye Sunday with 18 innings of winning baseball needed to stay alive, Kentucky answered the challenge in impressive fashion.
Just three hours after beating West Virginia 10-0 in the elimination bracket of the NCAA Lexington Regional, the Wildcats followed that up with a 16-6 rout of Indiana at Kentucky Proud Park.
Kentucky (39-19) and Indiana (43-19) will square off for a third time this weekend and the fourth time this season on Monday at 6 p.m. ET in the championship game. The winner will advance to the super regional next weekend against the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional.
To set up a decisive Game 7 at the Lexington Regional, the Cats broke out the big bats. Four different players went deep for UK, including Nolan McCarthy, who also bashed a home run in Sunday's early game against West Virginia.
Devin Burkes, Hunter Gilliam, and Ryan Waldschmidt also hit home runs for the Cats, who are not known for their power hitting. They finished last in the SEC in round-trippers this season, but flexed their muscles a bit when it mattered most.
Gilliam, a senior first baseman, led the onslaught with a 3-for-5 day at the plate and drove in five runs. McCarthy and Waldschmidt each drove in three, while Burkes added two RBI.
"It's tough playing 18 innings, but I feel like we had the advantage going into the second game today because we'd already seen pitching, we'd already put up some good runs," McCarthy said. "We were ready to go from the jump."
Added Gilliam: "I think playing 18 innings was good for us. It kind of got our groove back, and you got a bunch of animals up there, and we don't do tired, so 18 innings was nothing for the boys. We were ready to go."
Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer concurred.
"You can slice it both ways. You can say you play 18 innings and get worn down or you can play 18 innings and get a bunch of good swings in and we're feeling really good going into it," he said. "Life's about your perspective, typically... I'm sure they were thinking, hey man, we're cookin', we scored 10 runs (against WVU) and we got the bats rolling."
In addition to its 14 hits, Kentucky took advantage of four walks and nine batters hit by the IU pitching staff.
"Really proud of our guys' toughness," UK head coach Nick Mingione said. "To play two games in one day with your back against the wall... And I think it was no more evident than the way our hitters stood in there and wore HBPs... Real toughness."
Kentucky used four pitchers in the victory. Logan Martin started and went three innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits and a walk. Evan Byers, Ryan Hagenow, and Ryder Giles closed it out for the Cats, combining to hold Indiana to four runs.
Hagenow (3-1) ate up 4.2 innings, saving some of UK's strongest arms for the championship game on Monday. Mingione said it will be an "all hands on deck" situation for the Cats, with every pitcher on the roster available to throw at some point with the exception of Hagenow.
Ben Seiler started and took the loss for Indiana, allowing four runs on four hits, a walk, and three hit batsmen in only 1.1 innings on the mound. All five Hoosier pitchers who appeared in Sunday's game surrendered at least two runs.
