Kentucky walked off NC State 5-4 in its first ever College World Series game Saturday afternoon to advance to the winner’s bracket. Quite the first impression for the Cats in Omaha.
Kentucky held a 3-1 lead until the seventh inning, where NC State’s Alec Makarewicz tied the game with a two-run home run. After the Cats failed to respond, the Wolfpack scored a go-ahead run in the top of the ninth on a wild pitch.
Down to its final three outs however, Ryan Nicholson belted a solo home run to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Mitch Daly then hit Kentucky’s biggest home run in program history, a solo shot to walkoff the Wolfpack in the 10th.
Holy. Moly.
Kentucky will now face the winner of Saturday night’s Texas A&M/Florida matchup Monday at 6:00 p.m. CT/7:00 p.m. ET in the winner’s bracket.
Players of the Game:
- 1B Ryan Nicholson: Nicholson went 3-4 at the plate with two singles and a game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
- RHP Trey Pooser: Pooser pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just three runs.
- OF Nolan McCarthy: McCarthy belted a two-run home run in the fourth inning, his eighth of the season.
Cats score first run in MCWS history
After a scoreless top of the first for Trey Pooser, Kentucky scored its first ever run in the College World Series in the latter half inning.
Ryan Waldschmidt continued to slump with a strikeout to open the game, but Émilien Pitre ripped a double to left field after a 12-pitch at-bat for the first Kentucky hit in College World Series history.
With Pitre on second, All-American Nick Lopez stepped up to bat with a chance to make history. That he did.
Lopez jumped on the first pitch he saw for an RBI-single up the middle, bringing home Pitre from third following an errant pickoff attempt by NC State right-hander Sam Highfill. The Canadian scored the first ever Wildcat run in the MCWS, giving the Cats a 1-0 lead.
Expect that as a Kentucky sports trivia question in 10 years.
NC State however responded with an RBI-single from Jacob Cozart in the top of the third, tying things at one apiece.
McCarthy’s home run reclaims Kentucky lead
Following Cozart’s game-tying single, it seemed as if the Wolfpack had gained all the momentum. The Cats hadn’t notched a hit in two innings, and had its six, seven, and eight hole batters up to hit in the fourth.
However, Nolan McCarthy continued his hot streak in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim the Wildcat lead.
Ryan Nicholson led off the inning with a single through the right side, bringing up the RS junior who made waves last weekend with his “Pete Rose” esque slide home to beat Oregon State.
With two strikes in the count, McCarthy belted a 357-foot two-run home run down the left field line, giving Kentucky a two-run lead. The Cats still had never trailed during the duration of the NCAA Tournament.
McCarthy’s long ball was his eighth of the year and first since April 21 (Tennessee).
NC State longball ties game in seventh
Kentucky was one pitch away from getting out of the seventh with a two-run lead, but one bad decision tied the game in an instant.
Right-hander Trey Pooser returned to the mound in the seventh and responded with back-to-back strikeouts after allowing a leadoff single. Prior to facing NC State home run leader Alec Makarewicz, Pooser had allowed just one earned run in 25 2/3 postseason innings.
Makarewicz quickly doubled that total, as he belted his 23rd home run of the season to tie the game at two. Pooser, who had just touched pitch number 100 on the day, left a fastball right down the middle that was taken 414-feet to right field.
Pooser’s day came to an end following the home run. He lasted 6 2/3 innings, where he allowed nine hits and three earned runs. His nine allowed hits were the most allowed by Pooser in a single game this season.
He was relieved by right-hander Cam O’Brien, who ended the inning with a strikeout. Alas, the game was tied.
Kentucky forces extra innings
After scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth, Kentucky however failed to scratch across another run until the bottom of the ninth.
NC State came up to bat in the top of the ninth with all the momentum on its side. After a leadoff walk to Garrett Pennington, Cozart laced a one-out single down the right field line to put runners on the corners.
Right-hander Johnny Hummel took over on the mound for the Cats and bounced his first pitch, which catcher Devin Burkes lost sight of. Pennington was able to score from third, giving the Wolfpack a late lead.
NC State’s ninth inning score marked the first time Kentucky had trailed all NCAA Tournament. That didn’t last long however, as Ryan Nicholson continued his unreal run over the last month.
Nicholson led off the inning with a solo shot to left field, reigniting his flair for the dramatics. His solo Big Blue Bomb marked his 22nd of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Nolan McCarthy followed Nicholson with a single, bringing all of Big Blue Nation to its feet. He moved over to third, but was ultimately unable to score. The Cats were headed to their fifth extra-innings game of the season.
Cats walk it off in the 10th
Hummel returned to the mound in the 10th and sat the Wolfpack down in order, giving the Cats to walk it off once again.
Mitch Daly ended things with two outs in the ninth with a walkoff solo home run, the biggest in Kentucky history.
It is the first time in College Baseball history that the first three games of the Men’s College World Series have been decided by a walk-off hit.
What’s next for Kentucky?
Kentucky will face the winner of Saturday night’s Texas A&M/Florida matchup Monday at 6:00 p.m. CT/7:00 p.m. ET in the winner’s bracket.
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