UK eliminates Indiana, advances to rematch with NC State in regional final
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Facing elimination for the first time in this NCAA Tournament, UK had little trouble taking care of Indiana on Sunday at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The Wildcats scored six runs in the sixth inning, four of those runs courtesy of a Riley Mahan grand slam, and four more in the 8th inning to cruise to a 14-9 win.
UK will play NC State on Sunday night at 7 p.m. The Wildcats will have to beat the Wolfpack twice to advance to the super regional round.
Here are the main storylines from UK’s win over Indiana.
-UK played long ball several times. Mahan’s grand slam was the nail in the coffin for Indiana, but Marcus Carson and Kole Cottam also homered in the game. Carson’s homer on a 1-2 pitch in the top of the 2nd inning gave UK a lead it never relinquished. Cottam hit a solo home run with one out in the top of the 4th.
The Wildcats took a 4-1 lead into the 6th inning, but a six run, four-hit inning broke the game open. Connor Heady hit a ground-rule double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd base. Tristan Pompey doubled down the left field line to make it 6-1. Evan White walked and Zach Reks singled to load the bases.
Pinch-hitter Luke Heyer struck out for the second out of the inning. Then Mahan launched his 15th home run of the season in the next at-bat to make it 10-1.
Mahan is 8-12 through three games in the Lexington Regional. He finished the day 4-5 with five RBI.
-Bottom of the order shines. UK’s 6-9 hitters in the order struggled in the first two games of the regional. They entered the game 5-28 (.179) and were the clear weak point in the order the previous two games. All that changed on Sunday.
Tyler Marshall was the only one in the group not to have a hit, but he did score a run after drawing a walk. Carson and Heady both collected two hits, drove in one run and scored three runs. Cottam's home run provided another RBI for the group.
-Wildcats capitalize with runners in scoring position. UK was 0-9 in the regional with bases loaded after Heyer struck out. Mahan's grand slam made them 1-9, but the Wildcats were much better with runners in scoring position. UK finished the game 8-14 (.571) in that department.
-Thompson provides solid start. Pitching against Indiana for a second time, Thompson was tough to solve for most of the day. After allowing a leadoff home run to Matt Butler, Thompson settled in and retired 10 straight batters from the end of the 1st inning through the 4th.
Thompson appeared to run out of gas in the seventh inning. A solo home run by Logan Sowers started the inning and a two-run shot by Austin Cangelosi made it 10-4. He settled down and finished the inning.
The freshman finished the day with a career-high seven innings pitched, allowed six hits, four earned runs and struck out seven on 110 pitches.
Most importantly for UK is none of its top bullpen arms were used against Indiana. Colton Cleary pitched the final 1.2 innings for the Wildcats but was pulled after allowing five earned runs with two outs in the 9th inning. Alec Maley recorded the final out for UK.