LEXINGTON, Ky. – After trailing 8-0 at one point, the Western Michigan baseball team got the deficit all the way down to two and put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base in the ninth inning in a 10-8 loss at No. 2 Kentucky on Friday in the opening game of the Lexington Regional of the 2024 NCAA Baseball Tournament.
 
FINAL SCORE: No. 2 Kentucky 10, Western Michigan 8
LOCATION: Kentucky Proud Park (Lexington, Ky.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (32-22) | Kentucky (41-14)
W: Cameron O'Brien (2-0) | L: Brady Miller (6-6) | Save: Robert Hogan (1)
 
Kentucky opened the scoring with an unearned tally in the bottom of the first, and pushed across runs in each of the first four frames to build an 8-0 advantage.
 
Western Michigan's offense came alive with a five-run fifth. Grady Mee and Jackson Kitchen each beat out infield hits with the bases loaded to drive in WMU's first two runs of the contest. Cade Sullivan drew a free pass with the bases loaded, Dylan Nevar notched an infield single to plate a run and CJ Richmond capped the five-run frame with an RBI bounce out.
 
Nevar's RBI was his 69th of the season, breaking a tie with Tanner Allison's 2017 campaign for the Western Michigan single-season program record.
 
The Wildcats answered with a pair in the home half to push it back to a five-run margin, 10-5.
 
WMU came right back with three more in the sixth to close the gap to 10-8. Sullivan knocked in his second run of the game with a base hit right up the middle, and Richmond plated two more with a double to the opposite field.
 
Western Michigan's bullpen kept the margin at two in UK's final three offensive innings, as Hayden Berg tossed a pair of scoreless frames and Turner Doran posted a zero in the eighth.
 
The Broncos loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the ninth, but the Wildcats were able to halt the rally and hang on for the victory.
 
With the eight runs on Friday, Western Michigan surpassed the 1989 team's single-season school record of 410. The Broncos have scored 414 runs in 2024.
 
Western Michigan now awaits the loser of Friday's second game of the day between Indiana State and Illinois in an elimination game on Saturday. First pitch is slated for 12 pm on ESPN+.