Ryan Nicholson hit his 23rd homer for UK's only run. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky’s remarkable season that has included a Southeastern Conference title and first College Word Series berth now has no more margin for error.
The Cats (46-15) face Florida tonight at 7 in Omaha in an elimination game after falling 5-1 to Texas A&M Monday thanks to 6 2/3 scoreless innings by Texas A&M ace lefty Ryan Prager.
Kentucky first baseman broke up the no-hitter with a single in the seventh and then broke up the shutout with a one-out home run in the ninth inning. It was his 23rd homer this season tying the school record.
“Give their starter credit, Prager, what an outing, what a time to pitch a game like that. Give him a lot of credit. He kept us off balance. It was the fastball, the breaking ball, the change-up. He just threw an absolute great game. Give them a lot of credit,” Kentucky coach Nick Mingione said.
“We had some opportunities and did not cash in. As you know, in a game like this, all those opportunities matter. The big inning (Texas A&M scored five runs in the sixth) is just about — maybe the biggest factor in whether you win or lose a game in college baseball. They were able to get one and we weren’t. That was the difference in the game.
“But give them a lot of credit. They had a great offensive approach, especially in the sixth inning, and it was too much for us to overcome.”
Kentucky now has to win three games to reach the championship game and that would include beating Texas A&M twice if it gets by Florida today.
“We just reminded the guys in the last five years, no team has swept through the College World Series. The last five national champions lost at least one game,” Mingione said. “Sometimes playing every day and back-to-back days you can get your momentum going, you can get in the rhythm and flow. If that’s what it takes, you’ve got to do it.”
Kentucky had two extra inning games when it played Florida about five weeks ago.
“They’ve played great of late. When you just think about what they had to do to even make the postseason, you give them so much credit. That last weekend what they did in Georgia, and obviously they’ve been playing really good since,” the UK coach said.
“They took the hard path here. They were on the road for both the Regional and Super. And this league, you know this, but every week and every — every week it seems like teams can change. And this is a team that we’re facing tomorrow that’s been there, done that. They’re well-coached as you know.
“We’ll definitely have our hands full. But they’re not the same team from when we played them a couple of weeks ago.”
Kentucky-Texas A&M Baseball
Photos by Vicky Graff
6 Responses
The Aggies pitching was out of this world, but we are not out of it yet. Regroup, beat Florida, and then get revenge on the Aggies. Go CATS!!!
Nicholson and Burks need to be flopped in the order..Burks is not the best hitter in the 3. You have got to get your best hitter up in the 1st inning
Too many first pitch faked bunts that resulted in called strikes and passive attitude versus A&M more aggressive and swinging for hits on first pitch. Too many UK poor bunts for a “small ball” team.
3rd inning (maybe 2nd?) – bottom 1/2 …
Failed bunts stopped UK when it had runners on 1st & 3rd in an early inning with only 1 out. I was shocked UK blew that opportunity by trying to bunt, especially when the 2nd out was Nicholson who is a very good hitter! Not capitalizing on those 2 runners in an aggressive manner altered the mindset of UK players.
5 innings of a pitching duel at 0-0.
THEN!!!
6th inning – top 1/2 …
THEN 3 consecutive pitches by UK’s Moore in the heart of the strike zone were called balls!!! resulting in walk followed by a double putting runners for the Aggies at 2nd & 3rd.
I believe that when those 3 strike zone pitches were wrongly called balls, the confidence and concentration of Moore was shattered and he questioned himself on why his excellent pitches were no longer strikes. Once the scoreless game was broken open, UK was riddled for 5 runs and the game was over.
Need to dig deep and STOP WASTING OPPORTUNITIES with bunts!!!
Waldschmidt ,Burks , Smith , Mccoy are 2 for 51 over last 4 games..thats not gonna cut it..
If you constantly take the first pitch strike it’s so detrimental. Now you’re a defensive hitter. Be aggressive.