Cats top Hoosiers 4-2, win Lexington Regional
Kentucky's players celebrated with the traditional "dogpile" after recording the final out against Indiana in a 4-2 win over the Hoosiers to claim the NCAA Lexington Regional championship. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
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@JDrumUK
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- When UK Athletics decided to move its baseball program out of longtime home Cliff Hagan Stadium and invest $50 million into a modern, eye-catching Kentucky Proud Park, it did so with Monday night in mind.
Playing before a record crowd of 6,796, Kentucky defeated Indiana 4-2 to win the NCAA Lexington Regional and advance to the super regionals for only the second time in program history.
The Wildcats (40-19) will now travel to Baton Rouge, La., to face SEC rival LSU in a best-of-3 series this weekend with a trip to the College World Series at stake. Kentucky remains the last SEC program to have never been to the CWS, a point of emphasis in the UK team meeting room when Kentucky Proud Park was constructed.
"They're two wins away from taking a picture in front of that," UK head coach Nick Mingione said as he closed out his postgame press conference by pointing to a massive graphic of Ameritrade Stadium, home to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., spanning an entire wall.
"That's where you're supposed to go, and that's why we have it in here, as a constant reminder. Every detail of this facility was mapped out intentionally so that every day they walk in, they come in that door, they see Kentucky No. 1 (along the back wall) and they see Omaha as they walk to their seats."
To put themselves in that position, the Cats had to do it the hard way in the Lexington Regional. After being stunned by third-seeded Indiana 5-3 on Saturday, UK had to drop into the elimination bracket and win three consecutive games to advance.
The Cats pummeled West Virginia and Indiana by a combined score of 26-6 on Sunday to force a decisive, intense, and nail-biting championship game with the Hoosiers.
Indiana (43-20) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and managed to keep the game tied 2-2 going to the bottom of the sixth thanks to an impressive starting pitching effort from senior lefty Ty Bothwell, who kept the Cats almost completely off-balance after allowing two runs in the first inning.
Kentucky has only one hit entering the sixth inning but got back to back doubles from catcher Devin Burkes and first baseman Hunter Gilliam to take a 3-2 lead. A Ryan Waldschmit double extended the lead to 4-2, and that's all UK reliever Mason Moore needed.
The sophomore right-hander with a dominant "heavy" sinking fastball worked five innings of scoreless relief of Darren Williams to lock down the victory.
Moore (4-1) was named to the regional all-tournament team -- and made a strong run at MVP honors -- by working 10 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, walking only one batter, and striking out seven.
"Great stuff," Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer said of Moore. "Like trying to hit a 94-mile-per-hour bowling ball."
Added Mingione: "I'm thankful he's a Wildcat. I believe he's going to play baseball for a long time. To be able to manipulate the baseball like he does and land multiple pitches for a strike -- pretty special."
After recording the final out, a ground ball to second baseman Emilien Pitre who threw to Gilliam at first to end it, the Cats went into the customary "dogpile" celebration on the infield.
"When you get a chance to see pure joy," an emotional Mingione said, "it's one of the best feelings as a coach... I was soaking it in and loving every second of it."
Burkes was named the regional MVP after going 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in the championship game. The sophomore catcher from Florida caught all 45 innings during the regional -- including 18 on Sunday in 90-degree heat -- went 6-for-13 at the plate with two doubles, a home run, six walks, seven runs scored, seven RBI, and reached base as a hit batsman three times.
"You just gotta put it all out there, man. This is my favorite time of year," Burkes said.
"He's a warrior," Mingione added.
Mingione has now coached both UK teams that advanced to the super regionals. His first team at UK also had to win three straight games to win the 2017 Lexington Regional.
Kentucky also advanced to the equivalent of the super regionals in 1988 under head coach Keith Madison when it won three games in the Northeast Regional in New Britain, Conn., before dropping the final two games to Stanford.
Next up: LSU. The Tigers took two out of three from the Cats on April 13-15 in Baton Rouge, but the rubber match in the finale was a 7-6 thriller that came down to the last inning.
