No. 1 seed Kentucky and No. 3 seed Illinois won their respective games on the opening day of the Lexington Regional on Friday, setting up a winner’s bracket duel on Saturday.
Kentucky was rolling 8-0 over Western Michigan through four innings on Friday before WMU put up five runs in the fifth inning. The Broncos pulled within two in the sixth, but right-hander Robert Hogan held WMU scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings to secure the Kentucky win.
Illinois was propelled to an upset win by right-hander Jack Crowder, who completely shutdown the talented Indiana State offense. Crowder pitched eight three-hit, one-run innings Friday night to give the Fighting Illini their first NCAA Tournament win since June 1, 2015 (Wright State).
Indiana State and Western Michigan will meet Saturday at noon EST, where the loser will be eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. The winner of Indiana State/Western Michigan would then face the loser of Kentucky/Illinois on Sunday.
Due to impending weather, Saturday’s game has been moved up to 55 minutes after the completion of Game 3 (approx. 4 p.m. EST). Game 4 ticket holders can enter the stadium during Game 3, but Game 3 ticket holders maintain all reserved seat locations until Game 3 ends.
Illinois (35-19, 18-6)
Illinois notched just six hits against the Sycamores, but two of them were RBI-singles. First baseman Drake Westcott went 2-4 at the plate with a two-run single in the third inning. Star players catcher Camden Janik and DH Jacob Schroeder were held at bay however, as they combined to go 1-6 with two walks.
Janik was just one of two Fighting Illini to be named All-Big Ten First Team. The Illinois native hit for a .368 batting average, which ranked fifth in the conference. He also hit 15 doubles, seven home runs, and drove in 49 RBI. He made just one error all season behind the plate, sporting a stellar .997 fielding percentage.
Schroeder shared catching and DH duties with Janik all season long. Schroeder was named All-Big Ten First Team as well after batting .314 with seven doubles, 14 home runs, and 41 RBI. He hit three home runs and drove in eight RBI in Illinois’ 21-11 win over Northern Illinois on April 14.
The Illini played Friday night’s game perfectly, as they used just two arms and kept their ace ready for Saturday’s game.
Illinois will throw left-hander Cooper Omans against Kentucky, who compiled a 4-1 record with a 3.73 ERA in 60 1/3 innings pitched this season. Omans was shutdown over his last three starts of the season, allowing just two earned runs while striking out 12 batters in 13 2/3 innings (1.36 ERA).
Illinois entered the weekend with 12 wins over Top-100 RPI opponents, and added a 13th win over the Sycamores Friday night.
Kentucky (41-14, 22-8)
Kentucky got a bit of a scare on Friday, but it was ultimately able to hold off Western Michigan to head to the winner’s bracket.
The Cats totaled 10 runs and 13 hits in the win. Seven different players drove in an RBI, and eight notched at least one hit. Right fielder James McCoy led the way with a two-run home run and an RBI-double, breaking out of his 0-21 slump at the plate.
“I was about three hours down here with Coach Mingione just working on a bunch of feels,” McCoy said postgame. “Doing a bunch of crazy stuff. I thank him for everything he pours into us — and Reeves [Mingione] was down there with us too. That was really cool.”
Right-hander Robert Hogan turned in one of the best outings of his career Friday night, holding Western Michigan scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings to secure the Wildcat win.
Hogan was just one of four Kentucky arms that pitched Friday (Niman, O’Brien, Byers). Right-handers Ryan Hagenow, Johnny Hummel, Travis Smith and left-handers Jackson Nove and Ben Cleaver will be good to go out of the pen in Saturday’s game.
By making the move to start Niman, right-handers Trey Pooser and Mason Moore will be ready to go in the next two games as the Cats will look to wrap up the Regional in three total games. Pooser, who will start Saturday, has blossomed into Kentucky’s most reliable starter, posting a 4-1 record with a 3.86 ERA in 56 innings pitched.
The second game of the Regional has been a bit of a curse for Nick Mingione at Kentucky however, as the Cats have lost it in both 2017 and 2023. Coach is all too aware of this “trend” and addressed it on Friday.
“Game two has been our deal,” Mingione said. “In ’17 we won the first game, lost the second one. In ’23, won the first one, lost the second one. To win a Regional, you know this, you can win it three games or you have to do it in five. So we haven’t done — in those two years — we have not won the second game. That has been our biggest challenge. So now we have [Trey Pooser] and [Mason Moore] both available on good rest to try to win the second game against a really good team.”
Probable Starters
ALL-TIME SERIES: Series tied 3-3
Saturday, June 1, 2024 (Kentucky Proud Park – 4:00 p.m. EST) SEC Network
UK: RHP Trey Pooser (5-1, 4.02 ERA, 69.1 IP) vs ILL: LHP Cooper Omans (4-1, 3.73 ERA, 60.1 IP)
The post Kentucky to face Illinois in Lexington Regional on Saturday appeared first on On3.