WILDCATS

Wildcat baseball comes up short against Cards

Kyle Tucker

LCJ

In addition to playing games that seem to take forever, say this for the University of Kentucky baseball team in the NCAA Tournament: the Wildcats are a tough out. They aren't, however, heading to the program's first Super Regional in eight tries.

It was one weekend and done again for Kentucky after a 4-1 loss to Louisville in the regional final at Jim Patterson Stadium on Sunday night. Along with the Cats' season, National Player of the Year A.J. Reed's career in blue and white is over.
"You become a family," he said. "It's tough to think that was your last game."

Although the Cards would've had to lose twice, both sides played like they were fighting for their postseason lives. The rivals staged an intense game, which saw the benches cleared and one ejection – but not before a nearly four-hour weather delay.

Kentucky (37-25) had three hours and 21 minutes of delays in its tournament-opening game Friday night. The Cats lost that one but scratched their way back through the losers' bracket to meet Louisville (48-15), which is now one step closer to a second straight College World Series.

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"We have a saying that some things are inevitable. So I guess it was inevitable that we were going to play Kentucky," Louisville coach Dan McDonnell said. "It's a fun rivalry for our kids, for our fans. Let's be honest: this is what you all wanted. Made for exciting baseball."

The Wildcats are accustomed to that in the postseason. They beat Kansas earlier Sunday in their second elimination game in as many days. They also rode a pair of superb pitching performances from rarely used freshmen – right-hander Zack Brown against the Jayhawks, then lefty Logan Salow against the Cards – to give themselves a chance.

Salow, who'd thrown just 25 innings all season, went six against the Cardinals and allowed only five hits and one run, striking out four. Salow's previous career highs were 3 2/3 innings and 63 pitches. He threw 95 pitches against Louisville.

"I don't think you could've drawn up better freshman starts than what we got," UK coach Gary Henderson said. "Pretty amazing. Makes me feel good about the direction of our program."

Salow (2-4) somehow worked out of two one-out, bases-loaded jams. Kentucky trailed just 1-0 when he exited the game despite the Cards getting 10 runners on bases and seven into scoring position with him on the mound.

Louisville star and leading RBI man Jeff Gardner had eight total runners on base in three appearances Sunday night and went hitless. Salow struck him out and got Gardner to ground into an inning-ending double play. Trouble was, Salow eventually had to come out and the Cats couldn't muster any offense against Cards lefty Josh Rogers.

Rogers went six innings and allowed just four hits. Salow's replacement, Sam Mahar, was considerably less effective. He gave up a walk and bunt single, air-mailed a throw to first, allowed a bloop single and then a double – recording just one out in between – to open the seventh inning. He left with UK in a 4-0 hole.

Zach Strecker relaced Mahar and stopped the bleeding but not the fireworks. The benches cleared briefly after the final out of the top half of the seventh when UK caught Alex Chittenden in a rundown at home plate and he took out first baseman Thomas Bernal's knee.

Bernal exacted his revenge when the Cats saw their rally snuffed out in the bottom of the seventh. After Matt Reida drove in one run, Bernal tried to score another by tagging on a line-drive out to center. He was easily thrown out, but Bernal lowered his shoulder and clobbered Cards catcher Shane Crane.

Bernal was promptly ejected, although Chittenden had not been.

"I don't think that's a lack of respect," Henderson said of the flare-ups. "It might be heightened respect. There's a lot on the line."
It was another frustrating finish for Kentucky.

This marks the fourth consecutive NCAA regional – 2006, 2008 and 2012 are the previous three – in which the Cats lost their opening game then won two in a row to make the final before bowing out. Louisville, meanwhile, is on its way to a fourth Super Regional in eight years.

"We use the word culture," McDonnell said. "There's a lot of trust. There's a lot of belief."

So how can Kentucky break through?

"You gotta win the first game. And that's no guarantee, but it just makes it a much easier path," Henderson said. "We'll do everything we can to work toward that."

The Cats earned another crack at it doing it the hard way, though, thanks to an 8-6 win over Kansas in Sunday's first game. Like Salow, Zack Brown delivered a surprisingly strong performance against the Jayhawks. He'd throw just 23 2/3 innings in his Cats career and had never won a game but allowed only two hits and no runs through his first five innings.

Kentucky's 11 hits and Kansas' half-dozen gaffes gave Brown an 8-0 lead.

But Brown stayed in one inning too many and gave up four consecutive singles to start the sixth, leaving the bases loaded for reliever Taylor Martin. The Jayhawks made a run at it, but the Wildcats closed them out to extend their season for a few more hours.

Extending it for another week remains elusive.

Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.