Nic McCay’s outing against Mississippi State is a microcosm of his resilient and defiant career. 

Kentucky baseball struggled in game one of a doubleheader as it was blown out 14-4 in seven innings.

With the pitching struggles in game one, the Wildcats handed the reigns in game two to the seventh-year man McCay and he started off with a three-up, three-down frame including two strikeouts.

The right-hander came back to the mound and gave up a single along with a home run in a blink and was now down 2-0. 

McCay limited the damage to just the pair of runs and when he came back to the mound, the game was tied 2-2 after his shortstop Tyler Bell launched a two-run home run. 

Despite the game now being tied, things did not get any easier for McCay in the third as he surrendered back-to-back home runs that gave the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead. 

Unlike the second inning blunder, McCay was unable to limit the damage of this rally. 

After a mound visit following the second homer, McCay gave up a double before getting a groundout and surrendering a walk.

It looked like McCay was going to get out of the frame after Bell covered a lot of ground to reach a grounder, but he could not make a clean throw to third and the ball rolled into the Bulldogs dugout. The error brought home another run and gave Mississippi State a 5-2 lead.

This type of outing could have caused someone to crumble and just throw in the towel. However, if McCay had done that with some of the other hurdles in his career, he probably would have never been on the Starkville mound in the first place. 

McCay is a product of South Dakota State, where he pitched his freshman season in 2019. 

The final outing of his freshman season was in May of 2019, but he did not return to the mound until 2022, and it was an entirely new world when he did.

One of those reasons was because the right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery and the other was due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The adversity was not over for McCay as he pitched the entire 2022 season but had to undergo a second Tommy John surgery after something healed incorrectly from the first operation that cost him the entire 2023 season.

McCay chose to go with a quicker healing process so he could pitch the 2024 season, which he thought was his last. 

Nonetheless, he threw his name into the transfer portal and landed in Lexington. However, adversity has found him in blue and white as well. 

McCay was incredible in his five non-conference starts as he went 21 1/3 innings and only allowed one earned run. 

Once the calendar turned to SEC play, McCay’s season turned around. 

In his first three SEC starts, McCay was tagged for 12 earned runs in 11 1/3 innings of work. 

Just like every other time in his career, McCay bounced back in his next three outings giving up just four earned runs in 17 innings.

That trio of outings was capped off by a sensational 7 2/3 innings against then No. 4 Tennessee. 

Following the outing in Tennessee, McCay lasted three innings in his next start against South Carolina and gave up three earned runs. 

When McCay trotted out of the dugout for the bottom of the fourth in Starkville, the game had been reset as his offense rallied for three runs to tie the game 5-5, which also reset the righty. 

The senior tossed a three-up, three-down frame in the fourth and repeated this in the fifth. 

McCay was back on the mound for the sixth and extended his retired streak to nine straight before giving up a two-out walk. 

The walk was stranded as McCay forced a groundout to end what turned out to be his final inning of work.

Overall, McCay finished with six innings of work in which he gave up four earned runs and struck out four in 96 resilient total pitches. 

His resilience and determination on the mound in Starkville are something that has fueled him in his career thus far and will continue to do so as his days on a college diamond wind down.