2017 NCAA Baseball Super Regionals Day 1: Results, recaps, scores, updates

LOUISVILLE 5, KENTUCKY 2

The Kentucky Wildcats aimed to make something of it in the final inning, but ultimately fell short of their goal as Louisville took Game 1 5-2.

The Cardinals and Wildcats collided in an interstate showdown, reigniting a longstanding rivalry between the two athletic programs. They had met during the regular season, and the two teams split the meetings down the middle.

Friday’s matchup belonged to the Cards though. Thanks to an offensive outburst, Louisville sealed up Game 1 with relative ease. They jumped all over Kentucky in the first inning, putting up two runs after a few miscues sent things into a brief tailspin for the Cats. Kentucky wouldn’t answer back, but did keep their rivals grounded for the ensuing three innings.

Alas, it wouldn’t last long after that. Louisville put up a there spot in the fifth to widen the gap to 5-0. They would hold the Wildcats scoreless until the ninth, where UK attempted to rally back. They did plate two runs, but the Wildcats went down swinging and saw their comeback attempt go up in smoke.

Louisville’s Kade McClure pitched well in the outing, allowing three hits over 5.1 innings pitched. McClure struck out six UK batters, walked one, had a wild pitch but omitted no extra base hits. In fact, only one was amounted against UL pitchers all afternoon - a home run hit by Evan White in the ninth. Adam Wolf pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out three and walking none. Lincoln Henzman was responsible for the two runs allowed, but shut the door on the rally in the end.

Zack Thompson was smacked around in his four innings of work. While he had six strikeouts, he threw 90 pitches and was responsible for one of two earned runs. Chris Machamer and Zach Logue couldn’t get much done either, as they pitched a total of one inning and allowed three earned runs. Logue didn’t record any strikeouts and Machamer punched out just one and walked two. Brad Schaenzer pitched three scoreless innings, but by then it was too late.

The aforementioned Evan White went 2-4, including his home run, but was one of just two Wildcat batters to record a multi-hit game. The other was Tyler Marshall, who also went 2-4, but all others couldn’t amount much, if anything at all. The rest of the team combined to go 3-25 against the three pitchers that their archrival used.

Game 2 will be played at the same time (Noon) in the same place (Louisville) on Saturday.

TEXAS A&M 7, DAVIDSON 6 (15 INNINGS)

What a weird game.

After leading 6-0 going into the sixth inning, the Texas A&M Aggies gave up six runs over the final four innings of regulation to head to extras knotted at six.

That would remain the score for almost another full game.

By the time the bottom of the fifteenth inning rolled around and the Aggies had left an astonishing 17 men on base, many of which came in extra innings, George Janca decided enough was enough. With the bases loaded and two outs, Janca sent a single through the right side, scoring Braden Shewmake and giving A&M a 1-0 lead in the Super Regional.

How will this marathon, in which nine total pitchers were used, affect both sides for the rest of the weekend? We’ll have to wait and see. Game two will be Saturday at 6 p.m. ET in College Station.

OREGON STATE 8, VANDERBILT 4

As the Commodores made their way to Corvallis to take on the nation’s top team, the Beavers proved to be too much for Vandy to handle, en route to a 8-4 victory.

Commodores starting pitcher Patrick Raby got smacked around to the tune of eight hits and six runs in six innings of work. The biggest blow came in the very first inning when Raby served up a three-run home run to KJ Harrison.

To Vandy’s credit, they notched three of their own in the second inning to tie the game up, but Raby’s struggles continued, as he gave up a two-run double to Nick Madrigal.

After that, Raby was able to settle down and get through six innings, but the damage was done. On the other side, Oregon State’s Jake Thompson did a great job limiting the Vandy offense aside from their second inning outburst. Thompson went 7.2 innings and struck out seven, allowing four runs.

The series will continue Saturday evening.