Kentucky Baseball melts down vs. West Virginia: Game 7 on Monday

Leading 9-6 entering the top of the ninth, the Bat Cats were three outs away from advancing to the Super Regional. Then, just as what happened last year against West Virginia, disaster struck at the worst possible time.

Nile Adcock, entering his fourth inning of work, walked the bases loaded. The Cats’ bullpen, which had been excellent to that point, brought in the tying runs on a walk, a sacrifice fly, and a balk.

Yes, you read that correctly. It didn’t even take a hit to tie the game. The hit came after West Virginia tied the game, when Paul Schoenfeld homered deep to right field to give the Mountaineers an 11-9 lead.

Kentucky fell behind 3-0 in the first inning, took a 7-6 lead in the fourth, and it looked like they were on their way to a third straight win and regional championship.

What stings the most is that Kentucky was in a worse spot against West Virginia last year in the Regional round of the NCAA Tournament. Leading 12-7, Kentucky completely collapsed and lost 13-12 as their season came to an end.

That didn’t happen Sunday night this year. Kentucky will play West Virginia again on Monday. The winner of that game will advance to the Super Regionals.