By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
Kentucky Wildcats and West Virginia Mountaineers put on a show on Sunday in Clemson. The Mountaineers secured arguably their most significant victory of the season and returned to beat the Wildcats 13-12.
The Mountaineers advance to the NCAA Super Regionals for the second year.
It’s a crushing loss for Kentucky. The Wildcats had a comfortable 6-1 lead until the Mountaineers rallied and scored six unanswered runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Mountaineers led 7-6.
The Wildcats responded with a rally of their own, scoring five consecutive runs in the sixth inning.
Cole Hage made the best defensive play in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Mountaineers almost had a grand slam, but Hage made an incredible play to end the inning and kept the game 11-7.
Devin Burks went deep to make it 12-7 in the eighth inning. It’s his sixth home run of the season.
The Mountaineers never quit. With bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, the team drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit to 12-8. The freshman Kelly came to the plate and hit a 2-run single to make it 12-10.
After a wild pitch, the runners moved up. So with men on second and third, Ben Lumsden hits a single to right field to tie the game 12-12. Lumsden had four RBIs for the night.
Two at-bats later, with men in first and second, sophomore Armani Guzman hits a single to right field to give the Mountaineers a 13-12 lead.
Guzman was named the Regional MVP after going 8-for-12 on the weekend with six RBI. On Sunday, he was outstanding. He recorded three RBIs and four hits.
The Mountaineers swept the regional and improved to 44-14 on the season. They will face either LSU or Little Rock next. On Monday, the Trojans and Figers will square off in an intriguing Game 7.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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