#2 Kentucky wins opener of Lexington Regional 10-8 over WMU
Wildcats give up an 8-0 lead after four innings to a surging Broncos team
LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW)- Number two overall seed Kentucky outlasted Western Michigan on Friday 10-8 in the Lexington Regional opener.
Kentucky got out to an 8-0 lead through four innings behind pitcher Dominic Niman’s 44 strikeouts and a consistent offensive start.
But, in the fifth inning, Western Michigan scored five runs to cut the Wildcat’s lead to three. Niman was taken off of the mound and Kentucky’s hitters responded with two runs in bottom of the fifth to make the score 10-5.
That cushion was needed for the Bat Cats and reliever Robert Hogan, who stepped up and pitched three scoreless innings to close out the victory.
The Wildcats will play Illinois on Saturday at 6 p.m. in round two of the weekend. The Illini beat Indiana State 4-1 in the late game on Friday.
