Nick Mingione’s Kentucky baseball program advanced in the 2023 Lexington Regional by beating the MAC champs before facing a Big Ten program. The Bat Cats would lose game two to Indiana, but won three games in a row to advance to super regionals.
That same potential path is on the table again.
On Friday evening at Kentucky Proud Park, No. 3 seed Illinois advanced to the winner’s backer after defeating No. 2 seed Indiana State 4-1. The Illini picked up their first NCAA Tournament win since 2015. The Big Ten regular season champs advanced without needing much work from the bullpen.
Head coach Dan Hartleb got eight innings from starting pitcher Jack Crowder as the No. 2 Sycamores generated only three hits. Crowder struck out five batters with zero walks on 106 pitches. The innings eater helped save the bullpen for a pitching staff that entered the postseason ranked No. 133 overall in ERA (5.89).
Illinois (35-19) has now beaten Indiana State twice this season after notching their fifth Quad 1 game this season.
Action on Saturday at Kentucky Proud Park will begin at Noon ET when No. 2 Indiana State faces No. 4 Western Michigan. First pitch for Kentucky vs. Illinois is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET at Kentucky Proud Park. The Wildcats will look to win game two in the Lexington Regional this time around.
More Kentucky postgame coverage on KSR’s YouTube Channel
KSR’s Daniel Hager quickly posted a recap of Kentucky’s 10-8 win over Western Michigan on Friday afternoon. The story of the afternoon was the big 3.1 innings the Wildcats got from Robert Hogan out of the bullpen.
Before turning the page to Illinois, let’s take a look back at the first win of the NCAA Tournament for the Bat Cats. Press conferences and our latest Rapid Reaction video are now live on KSR’s YouTube Channel.
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