LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The University of Kentucky baseball team will have to do it the hard way now.
Instead of needing to win one game to reach the finals of Bracket B in the College World Series, the Wildcats need to win three straight.
That became the formidable path for coach Nick Mingione’s team after Texas A&M defeated Kentucky, 5-1, Monday night at Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. It was UK's first loss in seven NCAA Tournament games.
Kentucky (46-15) could not solve Texas A&M ace Ryan Prager or overcome a miserable sixth inning where the Aggies scored five runs.
Prager limited the Wildcats without a hit until Ryan Nicholson lined a single to right field with two outs in the seventh. Nicholson, a product of St. Xavier High School, generated UK's only run with a home run with one out in the ninth. It was his 23rd, tying the UK record.
Kentucky will play an elimination game against Florida Tuesday at 7 p.m. Lose and the Wildcats’ historic season will end.
Win and UK will have to beat A&M (51-13) Wednesday and again Thursday to advance to the final series on Saturday.
Kentucky won two of three at Florida on the second weekend of May, although they were outscored, 26-20, in that series. The Gators lost their World Series opener to A&M before eliminating North Carolina State Monday afternoon.
For five innings it looked as if only a run or two would win this game.
Prager, a redshirt sophomore who won eight games this season, worked like the guy who was the Aggies’ top pitcher all season. A tall (6 feet, 3 inches) left hander, Prager changed speeds and worked both sides of the strike zone.
The Aggies were the first team to threaten. They put runners on first and third with two outs in the second before UK starter Mason Moore retired Kaeden Kent on a pop out.
Kentucky, meanwhile, managed only two baserunners in the first five innings. Both came in the second when Nick Lopez reached on an error and Mitchell Daly was hit by a pitch.
Neither advanced. The inning ended quietly with a fly out, a strike out and an athletic fielding play by A&M catcher Jackson Appel. He pounced on a soft grounder between the plate and third, spun and threw out James McCoy by a millimeter.
In fact, that was merely the opening stretch of Prager retiring 13 consecutive Kentucky hitters, a streak that ended with a one-out walk to Ryan Waldschmidt in the sixth.
Prager pitched into the seventh, exiting after allowing the two-out single by Nicholson and a double by Nolan McCarthy.
But A&M reliever Josh Stewart struck out Patrick Herrera on three pitches to end the UK rally. The Wildcats put two more runners on in the eighth but Lopez struck out to end the threat.
Moore had his best control of the post-season. In UK’s first two NCAA Tournament games, Moore walked nine guys in 9 1/3 innings. Against A&M, Moore walked one while allowing three singles in the first five innings.
He limited his pitch count. He puzzled A&M hitters with his off-speed pitches. He appeared to be in complete control.
Then, in the sixth inning, Moore lost his ability to find the strike zone and control the Aggies’ offense.
A 5-pitch walk. A double into the right-field corner. A single to left scored two runs. Moore walked the next hitter before UK coach Nick Mingione removed him with runners on first and second and nobody out.
The pitching change, to right-hander Cameron O’Brien, did not help. O’Brien struck out the first Aggie he faced.
Then McCoy, the Wildcats’ right fielder, moved forward toward the plate instead of retreating to the wall — and a line drive by A&M shortstop Ali Camarillo sailed over his head, scoring the Aggies’ third and fourth runs.
A single by Kent, the son of former major league all-star Jeff Kent, put the Wildcats behind 5-0. Ten Aggies batted. Seven reached base on two doubles, two singles and three walks.
It was more than Kentucky could overcome — forcing the Wildcats to win three straight games if they want to extend their magical season.
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