Hearts of Wildcats: Kentucky Empties The Tank in Relentless Victory

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Kentucky emptied the tank and outlasted top-seeded West Virginia and its explosive crowd on Saturday night for an 11-9 victory that lifted the Wildcats into their fourth consecutive regional final.

The Wildcats now are 33-21 overall and will face the winner of top-seeded West Virginia and Wake Forest’s elimination game on Sunday.

Luke Lawrence could barely walk but willed himself into lineup before delivering two massive run-scoring hits that included the game-winner. Braxton Van Cleave, wearing a mask and a softball-style batting helmet with a face cage guard on it, pummeled a 417-foot home run. Hudson Brown, who is still trying to fully return from mononucleosis, hammered a back-breaking two-run single. And Jack Bennett gutted through a career-high 60 pitches and 4.0 innings to earn the victory and close out the win for his home state school.

It was everything that has come to define Kentucky baseball under coach Nick Mingione.

UK raced out to a 6-0 lead through two innings, saw the lead disappear, regained it on a two-run Owen Jenkins single, watched it get tied again and then deliver a three-run knockout blow in the eighth. Still, West Virginia brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth before Bennett slammed the door.

NOTES

• Kentucky is 33-21 on the season.
• UK Coach Nick Mingione is in his 10th season at the helm and now owns a 326-213 career record.
  • Mingione is the second-winningest coach in school history.
  • Mingione is 17-10 in the NCAA Tournament.
    • He is 15-4 in the regional round.
  • Mingione is 2-2 vs. West Virginia.

• This is UK’s fourth consecutive trip to the regional finals.
  • Mingione is 5-for-5 in doing so in his tenure.
• UK scored four runs in the first inning and three in the eighth. It is the 52^nd and 53rd time this season the Cats have scored three or more runs in an inning.
• UK was hit by six pitches and now has been hit 132 times this season.
• Every starter in UK’s lineup had a hit.
• IF Luke Lawrence went 2-5 with 2 RBI and a double.
  • He has reached safely in 55 of his past 57 games.
  • He had the game-winning RBI.
  • He has 24 multi-hit games this season and 45 career.
• OF Jayce Tharnish went 2-4 with three runs and a walk.
  • He has a hit in 27 of his past 29 games.
  • He has reached safely in 31 consecutive games.
  • He has 25 multi-hit games this season.
• OF Braxton Van Cleave had a two-run home run.
  • He has four RBI in two NCAA Tournament games.
• IF Hudson Brown went 1-2 with a run, two RBI, 2 HBP and a walk.
  • He delivered a clutch two-run 8^th inning single.
• IF Ethan Hindle went 2-5 with two runs and three RBI.
  • It is his 17^th multi-RBI game and 16^th multi-hit game of the season.
• RHP Jack Bennett was sensational, pitching the final 4.0 innings to earn the victory.

ON DECK

UK will face the winner of West Virginia/Wake Forest at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday.