This Day in UK Athletics History: Baseball Advances to First Super Regional (2017)
Kentucky has waited decades for this moment, so a rain delay of more than two hours and then a nearly four-hour game wasn’t going to bother these Wildcats on June 5, 2017.
After a game that featured even more changes in lead than changes in weather, UK has reached a super regional for the first time in program history.
“If you were to ask me, ‘Hey, what’s your favorite thing as a coach as far as on the field goes?’ ” UK head coach Nick Mingione said. “It’s to watch my players celebrate a championship because I believe this with all my heart: They just did something that’s never been done before in the history of the baseball program. We’ve been playing baseball for over 100 years here and they’re going to be able to tell their kids, they’re going to be able to tell their wives.”
UK got it done by surviving a heart-stopping 10-5 showdown with North Carolina State that lasted into the wee hours of Tuesday morning after originally being slated for a 7:04 p.m. first pitch. That did nothing to slow the Cats or the record crowd of 5,005 cheering them on.
“It was amazing and it was so special to be able to be a part of such a great crowd and the atmosphere was something I’ll never forget,” said Logan Salow, who tossed 2.1 innings barely 24 hours after throwing 2.2 innings on Sunday evening. “It was truly amazing.”
Amazing doesn’t quite do it justice.
Undeterred by the rain delay, most fans returned to Cliff Hagan Stadium after being forced to leave and seek shelter from the storm. Those that did created an environment that anyone there will never soon forget, an environment that reached a fever pitch when Sean Hjelle came on in the seventh inning.
Three days removed from pitching seven innings in a UK win on Friday afternoon, Hjelle relieved Salow with two outs and runners on first and second. At the time, the Cats trailed 5-4 and could ill afford to fall any further behind, so Mingione turned to his best pitcher.
“Being his bullpen day and with everything on the line, when you have the SEC Pitcher of the Year and he’s set up to throw a bullpen anyway, you might as well use him,” Mingione said.
Hjelle proved Mingione’s move wise, needing only two pitches to escape the inning and set up the decisive rally in the top half of the seventh. The rally was headlined by a booming two-run opposite-field double by Kole Cottam, the scalding-hot catcher who had five hits and seven RBI in catching all three games on Sunday and Monday.
A two-run cushion is all Hjelle would need. He cruised through a perfect seventh, then took the mound in the eighth as the crowd was in the midst of a full-throated rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” that didn’t stop even when play resumed.
“Usually I try and kind of block that out, but when the entire stadium is singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ I kind of got chills,” Hjelle said. “That was another unforgettable moment.”
It turns out Hjelle pitches pretty well with chills. He struck out the first batter of the eighth, then erased an error by his defense by coaxing a double-play grounder turned as fans sang the “so good, so good” part of their singalong for at least the fifth time.
“If you don’t think the ‘bah, bah, bahhh’ and them cheering like that doesn’t help, man, you’re crazy,” Mingione said. “Because I’m confident that they helped us win that game today and I couldn’t be more appreciative.”
The singing continuing after UK added three runs in the top of the ninth, Hjelle – who didn’t allow a hit or walk in 3.1 innings to earn the win – struck out the side in the ninth to touch off a celebration both decades and months in the making. Decades because it’s never happened in UK baseball history and months because, well, UK actually practiced celebrating a championship in the preseason.
The celebration started with a dogpile. Being at the center of it all as battery mates, Kottam and Hjelle found the experience both painful and one of the best of their lives.
“Honestly, it hurt a little bit,” Kottam said. “It was incredible. We’re hoping for a few more down the road.”
“I got caught on the bottom of that and that’s a lot of weight coming down,” Hjelle said. “So I haven’t necessarily practiced that exactly, but I’ll never forget the image in my head of just looking at the dugout and seeing all those guys rush at me and the feeling of being crushed right there, it was so worth it.”
From there, the Cats made their way to the wall nearest the viewing deck in right center to acknowledge the fans supporting them there, many of them fellow students. As they meandered back to the field, Mingione took the microphone to thank the Big Blue Nation and acknowledge what his players had just achieved.
“This goes way deeper than just baseball,” Mingione said. “This makes them believe that they can do things that have never been done before, and that’s really powerful.”
Mingione been constant in his praise of the way his young team has bought in and embraced the ambitious vision they cast together last summer. Winning championships has been something the Cats have always believed they could do, even when no else did. They have one under their belt and now they’ll set their sights on the next, which will be on the line in a super regional pitting UK against its instate archrival, Louisville.
“We’re in position to do everything that we wanted to do and I couldn’t thank the coaching staff enough and the guys have bought in since day one,” Salow said. “It’s just very special.”
