Kentucky Baseball's Uneasy Postseason History Versus MAC Teams
LEXINGTON, Ky. — On Friday, June 2 at noon EST, Kentucky baseball officially makes its return to the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 12 overall seed Wildcats will take the diamond at Kentucky Proud Park to square off against Ball State, kicking off the road to Omaha and the College World Series. The Cardinals out of Muncie, Ind. won the MAC Tournament, punching their first ticket to the postseason since 2006.
Where did the Cards get shipped off to for that tournament? Lexington, of course.
Ball State entered Cliff Hagan Stadium and stunned the Wildcats in their first game as a Regional host in program history, finding a 3-1 win. Ace Ben Synder pitched eight stellar innings, allowing just the one run on four hits while striking out nine. Justin Rogers broke an eighth-inning 1-1 tie, driving a two-run knock down the left-field line off future big-leaguer Andrew Albers.
Kentucky got the tying run up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but closer Kyle Heyne slammed the door shut, sending the Cats to the losers bracket. They then beat Notre Dame and found themselves in a rematch with the Cardinals in a win-or-go-home showdown.
John Shelby and Antone DeJesus drove in a combined six runs, leading UK to a 12-9 win. Ball State made a late charge by scoring four runs in the eighth inning and even had the go-ahead run at the plate, but Albers avenged his loss by getting out of the jam.
College of Charleston then beat UK to advance to a Super Regional, but the Cats' pair of thrillers with Ball State began a back-and-forth tussle with the Mid-American Conference that has continued every time they've made the postseason.
In its next appearance in 2008, Kentucky skated by Eastern Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., winning 4-3 thanks to four hits and three RBIs from All-American Sawyer Carroll and Chris McClendon. Starter Greg Dombrowski and Albers bested EMU's Matt Shoemaker on the mound.
Then comes the historic 2012 showdown against Kent State at the U.S. Steel Yard in Gary, Ind.
It was a 21st-inning triple from the Golden Flashes' Alex Miklos that finally broke the extra-inning deadlock, downing UK 7-6 in a game that lasted six hours and 37 minutes, the second longest in college baseball's postseason history. An RBI single from Luke Maile tied things up 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth for the Cats, leading to the all-time marathon that saw Kent State come out on top.
Kentucky then beat Valparaiso and Purdue to get to the Regional final and rematch the Flashes, who then needed only nine innings to spoil the Cats' hopes. After seven scoreless, Evan Campbell belted a three-run home run in the eighth inning, propelling Kent State to a gritty 3-2 win to move on to a Super Regional. That team then went on to the College World Series, where it went 1-2.
UK was then sent to Louisville for the 2014 tourney, where it coincidentally had to play Kent State in another win-or-go-home battle. It looked like the MAC was going to yet-again best the SEC, as pitcher Nick Jensen-Clagg had carried a shutout bid into the ninth inning with a 2-0 lead.
An RBI double from Wildcat legend AJ Reed got the Cats on the board with one out, leading to a pitching change. With two outs, Michael Thomas and Storm Wilson each drew walks, loading the bases for first baseman Thomas Bernal, who connected for a two-run double, giving UK a 3-2 lead. Matt Reida then singled Bernal home to extend the lead, allowing Reed — who also started the game — to come back out for the ninth inning and finish his complete game 4-2 victory.
Finally in 2017, Kentucky found its way back to Lexington for a Regional in its first year under head coach Nick Mingione, where it began its run to its first Super Regional by besting Ohio, 6-4. Sean Hjelle pitched into the eighth inning, allowing three runs on a late home run, which cut UK's 6-0 lead in half. Riley Mahan led the charge for UK with three hits and two RBIs.
Entering this weekend, Kentucky is 4-3 vs. the MAC in the postseason since that 2006 NCAA Tournament appearance.
Ball State will now make the same drive this weekend that it made 17 seasons ago, fresh off a conference tournament win and an auto-bid. Rich Maloney's first stint as head coach had already passed then, but he's back in the postseason for the first time since coming back to Muncie in 2013, and will now look to follow the path of the '06 Cards.
In the regular season under Mingione, the Cats are 11-3 against MAC foes, most recently defeating Ohio 9-2 this season. The only team to beat UK in a series during that span? Ball State.
Update: Want to go one step deeper? Before beating Eastern Michigan in 2008, Kentucky lost the first game of the Ann Arbor Regional to the host, Michigan. The head coach of the Wolverines then? Current Ball State head coach, Rich Maloney. Kentucky later avenged that loss, knocking Michigan out of the tournament.
The Lexington Regional schedule can be found below:
- Day 1: Friday, June 2
- Game 1: Kentucky vs. Ball State (Noon EST)
- Game 2: West Virginia vs. Indiana (7 p.m. EST)
- Day 2: Saturday, June 3
- Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Noon EST)
- Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (6 p.m. EST)
- Day 3: Sunday, June 4
- Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (Noon p.m. EST)
- Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 (6 p.m. EST)
- Day 4: Monday, June 5
- Game 7: If necessary, same teams as in Game 6 (TBD)
More on Ball State, West Virginia and Indiana HERE.
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