No. 1 seed Kentucky will face No. 2 seed Indiana State in Sunday night’s Lexington Regional Final.
A Kentucky victory would wrap up the Lexington Regional for the Cats in just three games, ending the weekend early ahead of its first ever home Super Regional next week. An Indiana State win however would move the Final to Monday night.
The Sycamores need to win back-to-back games over the Cats, a feat that teams have accomplished just twice (Kennesaw State and Tennessee) this season.
Indiana State and Illinois clashed in an Elimination Game Sunday at noon EST, where the Sycamores completely dominated the Illini. Indiana State scored seven runs in the third inning and blasted a grand slam in the eighth, leading to a dominant 13-2 victory.
Indiana State right-handed pitcher Brennyn Cutts, who was named 2024 Missouri Valley Pitcher of the Year, delivered a stellar performance for the Sycamores. He allowed just two earned runs in nine innings on the mound, earning his first complete game of the season.
Kentucky was given a scare in the opening game by Western Michigan (10-8), but bounced back on Saturday with a complete 6-1 victory over Illinois. The Cats were just one of three SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament (Tennessee, Texas A&M) to win their first two Regional games.
Vanderbilt and Alabama were eliminated in two games.
Many believed Indiana State never even should have been in this position, and should have been hosting a Regional of its own in Terre Haute.
As of May 26, both D1Baseball (No. 15) and Baseball America (No. 13) projected Indiana State as a Regional Host in its final Field of 64 Projections. However, eight teams with a lower RPI than the Sycamores were rewarded Regionals (Arizona, East Carolina, NC State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, UC Santa Barbara, and Virginia).
Arizona has already been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.
With the 10th best RPI in the country, Indiana State was the second highest team snubbed of a Regional. No. 9 Wake Forest did not receive a Regional and was given the No. 2 seed in the Greenville Regional, where it was eliminated in two games.
Kentucky and Indiana State last clashed in 2023, where the Cats swept ISU at home. First pitch Sunday night is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.
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