Postseason baseball is finally here as the Field of 64 is set. Day three of regional action took place on Sunday, with great baseball from early morning until late at night. There were six Big 12 teams in action on Saturday, and here are my six thoughts from the conference on Day 3.
Kansas Punches Their Ticket
Things didn’t look great for the Jayhawks early on as they found themselves down 5-0 going into the fourth inning. But things quickly turned around as Kansas caught fire with two home runs by Dariel Osoria and Tyson LeBlanc, and all of a sudden, Kansas took a 6-5 lead over Arkansas.
And the runs didn’t stop there. In the sixth, a couple of mistakes by the Razorbacks tacked on another pair of runs before Josh Dykhoff’s three-run blast broke the game wide open to make it 11-5.
Kansas would add some extra insurance in the eighth, but they didn’t need it. While Arkansas did put a few more runs on the board, this game was never in doubt after the sixth inning. With the win, Kansas becomes the first Big 12 team to punch their ticket to the Super Regionals.
Goodbye Cincy
Facing elimination against Louisiana on Sunday afternoon, Cincinnati found themselves in quite the battle down in Starkville, Mississippi. The Bearcats found themselves up by a run in the sixth inning, but it didn’t last long.
Donovan LaSalle’s solo homer tied the game, and the Cajuns took the lead when Blaze Rodriguez knocked in a run in the bottom of that sixth inning. Colt Brown’s solo blast put Louisiana up by a pair of runs, and unfortunately, the Bearcats couldn’t get anything going.
It sucks to see Cincinnati’s season come to an end, but what a late run they had. They struggled out of the gate but finished the regular season strong, giving themselves a chance in the postseason. Plus, this makes back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time in program history.
Goodbye UCF
The only good thing I can say about UCF’s game against Auburn is that they had a two-run lead. And that’s about it. After the Knights’ early lead, the Tigers started smashing, hitting a whopping six dingers throughout the game.
UCF simply couldn’t keep up, and it was disappointing to see because this was the second game in a row where the Knights’ pitching staff completely fell apart. Against Milwaukee on Saturday, they gave up 13 runs, and on Sunday, they gave up nine against Auburn. You can’t give up that many runs and expect to win these types of games.
The Shot Heard Around the World
After taking down Wake Forest in an elimination game, the Mountaineers had more work to do on Sunday as they faced Kentucky in a rematch from Saturday. Except this time, things went a lot differently.
Both teams were able to get the best of each other at the plate, but after a pair of homers by Kentucky late, the Wildcats were up 9-6 going into the ninth inning. And with just three outs left, West Virginia surged back.
A bases loaded walk brought in a run, and a sac-fly made it a one-run game. And of all things, a balk helped tie the game. As wild as that was, nothing was crazier than Paul Schoenfeld’s two-run bomb that gave the Mountaineers the lead.
The crowd went nuts, I went nuts, and just about everyone else watching that did too. It truly was one of the best postseason moments in recent memory when it comes to Big 12 baseball. With the win, the Mountaineers will face Kentucky in a winner-take-all game on Monday for a chance to advance to the Supers.
Tough Times in Tuscaloosa
As great as it was beating USC Upstate earlier in the day to avenge their first loss of the weekend, the Cowboys suffered another tough loss against the regional host, Alabama. Oklahoma State did all they could and gave the Crimson Tide all they could handle.
With the game tied at six, neither team could bring in a run late. Then it was off to extras, where nobody scored in the tenth. But in the eleventh, Alabama’s Brady Neal crushed a three-run blast to give the Crimson Tide their first lead since the seventh inning.
The Cowboys managed to load the bases in the bottom of the eleventh but were only able to get one run across as Remo Indomenico struck out with the bases juiced. It was a good fight, but I still felt Oklahoma State could have won this game without going to extras.
Arizona State loses a Heartbreaker
It was bad enough that the Sun Devils had to play without reigning Big 12 player of the year in Landon Hairston due to a crap call in the game before. But for them to lose in extras with a chance to force a winner-take-all game on Monday was an even tougher pill to swallow.
I am not going to focus too much on this game in particular because it truly is pathetic that Arizona State had to play an elimination game without the best player in the Big 12 on the field. These college umpires have been on a power trip this postseason, and I am sick of it. It’s unfortunate that this happened and that we may have been robbed of another game.
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