Kentucky baseball (30-25, 13-17 SEC) extended its season by defeating USC Upstate (36-25, 19-5 Big South) by a score of 7-3.
On the opening day of the Clemson Regional, The Wildcats fell 4-3 to West Virginia and the Spartans fell 7-3 to Clemson to set the stage for this elimination game.
Both teams threw their aces in game one trying to secure the win, so they sent their second-best rotation pieces to the hill in the form of Nic McCay and Chris Torres.
McCay started this win or go home game with a three-up, three-down first inning of work.
It seemed like Torres was going to match that feat as he got two quick outs, but he hit Cole Hage to extend the inning. James McCoy moved Hage to third on a single to bring up Carson Hansen.
The junior launched a three-run home run into the left field bleachers to give Kentucky a 3-0 lead.
McCay cruised through the next two innings as he extended his streak to nine-up, nine-down through three innings.
Hage and McCoy were right back in the spotlight in the third as Hage walked and stole second before McCoy singled, but Hage was thrown out rounding third to stop the potential rally.
McCay’s dominance came to a halt in the fourth as he gave up a leadoff double that was followed by a single and a walk to load the bases with no outs.
The right-hander struck out the next batter but gave up a double that shrunk the lead to 3-2. However, Gage Griggs hit a sacrifice to tie the game 3-3.
McCay limited the damage to the three runs, but the fourth served as his final inning of work as Ethan Walker took over in the fifth.
They lefty tossed scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth to give his offense a shot to retake a lead.
McCoy drew a one-out walk in the sixth and stole second before moving to third on a wild pitch.
Patrick Herrera laid down a sacrifice bunt to score McCoy and give the Bat Cats a 4-3 lead.
Now pitching with a lead, Walker continued his masterful outing by tossing back-to-back three-up, three-down frames in the seventh and eighth.
One-run games are certainly no stranger for Kentucky, but the nerves were eased a bit in the eighth as Hage singled to score Lawrence.
The Wildcats added two more insurance runs in the ninth on a single by Hudson Brown that extended the Cats lead to the decisive 7-3 score.
Walker stayed on to finish off the win to cap off his magnificent five innings in relief. The left-hander was given the win as he only allowed one hit during his outing.
Kentucky will now face the loser of West Virginia and Clemson in an elimination game on Sunday, June 1, at noon. If the Wildcats win the first game tomorrow, they will play the winner of West Virginia and Clemson at approximately 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.
