Kentucky baseball beats Illinois to move one win away from NCAA super regional

john clay

Sat, Jun 1, 2024, 7:01 p.m.·5 min read

Kentucky defeated Illinois 6-1 on Saturday to move one step closer to its second consecutive super-regional berth in the NCAA Baseball Tournament.

Seeded No. 1 in the Lexington Regional and No. 2 overall in the 64-team tournament, the Cats got a strong pitching performance by starter Trey Pooser at Kentucky Proud Park. The right-hander gave up just one run over seven innings as UK improved to 42-14 on the season.

The Wildcats defeated Western Michigan 10-8 in Friday’s opener at Kentucky Proud Park. The Wildcats will next play Sunday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Sunday’s first game between Illinois and Indiana State.

A victory and Nick Mingione’s team will return to the super regional, after losing to eventual national champion LSU last year. A Kentucky loss on Sunday would force a winner-take-all game Monday.

Key moment

After Kentucky jumped to an early 2-0 lead on a two-run homer by Ryan Nicholson, UK’s Pooser found himself in a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the second. But the Cats’ starting pitcher worked his way out of it to not just preserve the lead but keep Kentucky in early control.

Illinois’ first two batters reached in the second before Pooser fanned Jacob Schroeder. Brody Harding followed with a single to load the bases. But Coltin Quagliano hit a topper back to the mound. Pooser got the force-out at home before striking out No. 9 hitter Connor Milton to end the inning.

At the plate

Nicholson’s two-run blast was his 19th home run of the season. Doubles by James McCoy and Ryan Waldschmidt in the fifth inning extended UK’s lead to 3-1. Grant Smith singled to lead off UK’s seventh. He advanced to third base on Waldschmidt’s single, then scored on a fielder’s choice by Emilien Pitre to make it 4-1. Waldschmidt then delivered the icing on the cake with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth.

Kentucky managed just two hits through the first four innings off Illinois starter Payton Hutchings, who entered the game with a 7.99 ERA. The Cats wound up with eight hits. Hitting .356 coming into the game, Waldschmidt had three hits. Mitchell Daly collected two.

A base-running blunder cost the Cats in the seventh when Pitre was doubled off first base on a line drive by Devin Burkes to deep center field. Pitre was heading to third base when Milton, the Illini’s center fielder, tracked the ball down. Second baseman Brody Harding’s relay throw to Drake Westcott doubled up Pitre.

Kentucky’s Ryan Nicholson circles the bases after putting Kentucky on the scoreboard with a two-run homer in the second inning Saturday.

On the mound

UK coach Nick Mingione went with Dominic Niman as his starting pitcher on Friday, saving Pooser for Saturday. That proved to be a savvy move as Niman pitched well enough for the Cats to earn the Friday victory and Pooser was outstanding on Saturday.

Pooser, a graduate student who transferred to UK from the College of Charleston, entered the game with a 5-1 record and a 4.02 ERA, including 4-1 with a 3.86 ERA as a starter. He allowed Illinois five hits and one run over seven innings. He walked two and struck out seven.

Besides working out of that one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the second inning, Pooser quelled several other threats. After giving up a run in the fourth inning, he struck out the Illini’s Quagliano to stop the bleeding. Illinois’ Milton hit into a line drive double-play to stop a possible threat in the fifth.

After Illinois’ first two batters reached in the seventh, Pooser coaxed Quagliano into a 4-6-3 double play, then watched right fielder McCoy track down Milton’s line drive to end in the inning with UK still holding a three-run lead.

After Pooser departed, Ryan Hagenow pitched two scoreless innings to close out the win.

Kentucky-Illinois box score

What’s next

After losing the second game of its previous two regionals under Mingione, the Cats now advance to Sunday’s game needing just one victory to advance to the super regional. As the No. 2 overall seed, that regional would likely be played in Lexington.

UK’s Sunday opponent will be the winner of Sunday’s noon game between Indiana State and Illinois. The region’s No. 2 seed Indiana State bounced back from an opening-game 4-1 loss to Illinois to defeat Western Michigan 6-4 in Saturday’s first game. Dominic Listi went 4-for-5 as the Sycamores improved to 43-13 on the season.

Regardless of the opponent, Kentucky is expected to start pitcher Mason Moore, who is 8-3 with a 5.40 ERA.