UK bounces back from marathon
Wildcats stay alive in NCAA tourney in 8-1 win over Valpo.
Andrew Bain had three hits to lead the Crusaders (35-25), who were knocked out of their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1968. Kentucky eliminated Valparaiso from the NCAA tournament in both baseball and softball this season.
For as long as Friday night’s marathon between Kent State and Kentucky lasted, the game still fell four innings short of the Texas-Boston College affair in 2009. Alex Miklos hit a go-ahead RBI triple in the 21st as the Golden Flashes outlasted the Wildcats in the secondlongest game in NCAA tournament history.
“That might not have been the longest game in college baseball history, but it was certainly the best baseball game in college baseball history,” Kent State coach Scott Stricklin said Friday night.
The Golden Flashes held the lead in the ninth and 18th innings, but the Wildcats answered both times to extend it. Kentucky had numerous chances to end the game in extra innings, including having the bases loaded with one out in the 20th, but Kent State relief pitcher Michael Clark was able to get J.T. Riddle to bounce into an inning-ending double play.
“I got the one play that could get us out of that inning,” Clark said. “We would throw a punch and then they would throw a punch. It was a great game to be a part of.”
Each team used four pitchers that threw at least 60 pitches in the game. Kentucky reliever A.J. Reed started the game as the designated hitter and pitched the final nine innings of the game for the Wildcats. Clark threw the final three and two-thirds innings for Kent State and got the win while recording four strikeouts.
“It was a great game for the fans, two tremendous efforts out of the bullpen,” Kentucky coach Gary Henderson said Friday night. “Both sides pitched extremely well after the fourth inning. Forty-runners left on base, it was a very unique game.”
Miklos came to the plate in the 21st inning having gone 1-for-7 and striking out three times. He hit a shot to the center-field wall that drove in Koch with the go-ahead run.