GRANVILLE — The Morgantown Regional started off with a bang, and Kentucky won the battle to come out on top.
The No. 3-seeded Wildcats had a four-run sixth inning to edge out No. 2-seeded Wake Forest to win 6-5, advancing to the winners’ bracket of the region. Kentucky (32-21) awaits the winner of No. 1-seeded West Virginia and No. 4-seeded Binghamton, who play later in the afternoon. Wake Forest (38-20) now plays the loser in a win-or-go-home game, having to come out of the losers’ bracket to win the region.
“What a fun college baseball game,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said. “Different leagues, tie game, every little detail mattered in that game. It showed just two incredibly talented baseball teams just competing their hearts out.”
After going down 3-0, it seemed like Wake Forest was pulling away with a lot of hard contact. Kentucky knew it needed a run and punched back. The Wildcats scored a run off of Wake Forest’s ace Chris Levonas, ending his day after five. It was still 3-1 Wake Forest.
Rhys Bowie came in relief for the Demon Deacons, who also threw hard, but he couldn’t find the strike zone, and Kentucky took advantage. He loaded the bases after walking two batters and hitting another. Head coach Tom Walter kept him out, letting him get out of the mess himself.
Braxton Van Cleave doubled on a dink hit down the line to score two and tie the game. He picked up two big RBIs after Van Cleave didn’t know if he’d play in the regional. In early May in the regular season, Van Cleave collided with an Arkansas shortstop, putting his availability in question. Friday, he hit with a cage on his helmet and went to the press conference with a big purple mark around his eye. The banged-up Wildcat delivered the hit of the game.
“I knew that they were attacking me a lot with heaters, especially early in the at-bat,” Van Cleave said. “He threw me two in a row. He beat me with them. He was kind of fueling me on the mound… I was like, bring it on. He threw me another one, so. Just the ability to put a ball in play, our team does a great job in that. Helped us out a lot there.
Bowie’s next pitch went past the catcher to bring in another Kentucky runner. The Wildcats had the lead 4-3. Kentucky added another from a sacrifice fly.
Wake Forest tied it with two solo shots in the sixth and in the eighth. But Wake Forest’s pitching still struggled, and Kentucky’s Jayce Tharnish scored on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth, taking the lead and the game.
Kentucky won by scoring six runs on five hits. While Wake Forest had 10 hits on the afternoon. The Wildcats couple of dink hits and working bases paid dividends. Van Cleave led the team with two RBIs and had a hit. Jayce Tharnish, Tyler Bell, Caeden Cloud and Ethan Hindle all had a hit.
Wake Forest took an early 3-0 lead after four innings. Wake Forest’s Matt Conte hit the scoreboard at Kendrick Family Ballpark for a two-run homer. The Demon Deacons also scored in the first inning to set the tone. Kade Lewis singled to bring in Javar Williams.
The Demon Deacons went all in on Friday, too. Wake Forest pitched ace Levonas, who is a top 10 prospect for the 2027 MLB Draft. He showed his power on the mound, gunning over 100 miles per hour. Levonas was dominant, but he threw a lot of pitches. He went just five innings, throwing 96 pitches, allowed just two hits, struck out six and walked just one batter. The only run he allowed was the double in the fifth inning to give Kentucky some life.
“Lev certainly needs to do a better job at putting hitters away,” Walter said. “The hard part is he just doesn’t get enough contact, so his pitch counts typically run high.”
Kentucky went with junior journeyman Jaxon Jelkin on the mound. Jelkin started his career at Nebraska, played in JUCO, then transferred to Houston before arriving at Kentucky in 2025. Jelkin didn’t have as good as an outing as Levonas, but he worked his way out of a couple of jams. He didn’t throw nearly as hard, but he still struck out five batters. Jelkin let up nine hits and had four earned runs, including the rocket from Conte, and another homer from Andrew Costello. He pitched longer than Levonas, going six innings.
Nile Adcock came in relief and settled the ship a little. Dalton Wentz rocked a homer off of him, but he quieted the momentum Wake Forest had. He threw two innings, the only hit was on a homer, struck out two and didn’t have a walk. Jackson Soucie came in to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth. It was his second save of the season.
Now, Kentucky gets to sit back and watch WVU and Binghamton duke it out. The Mountaineers are the favorites to play Kentucky.
“You don’t get to host a regional without being a balanced, well-coached team,” Mingione said. “That’s what West Virginia is… I’m looking forward to watching them play a really good Binghamton team as well.”
