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Wildcats Wire
Jayce Tharnish's heroics lift Kentucky over Wake Forest
- Story byWildcats Wire
- Jayce Tharnish's heroics lift Kentucky over Wake Forest
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Jayce Tharnish had been thoroughly neutralized all afternoon. The Kentucky Wildcats junior centerfielder stepped to the plate four times against Wake Forest's formidable pitching staff and had nothing to show for it. Then came the ninth inning, the score knotted at five, and the Wildcats' season hanging in the balance of a double-elimination regional opener.
Tharnish made them all pay. With one out and the game on the line, Tharnish slapped a single to right field, promptly stole second, then swiped third for good measure. Moments later, reliever Will Ray uncorked a wild pitch, and Tharnish never broke stride—racing home to give Kentucky a 6-5 victory and a commanding position in the Morgantown Regional. Tharnish delivered when it mattered most. Ray (2-1) absorbed the loss. Digging Out of an Early Hole
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The win didn't come easily. Wake Forest jumped out to a 3-0 lead early, forcing Kentucky to spend the better part of the afternoon chipping away. The turning point came in the sixth inning, when the Wildcats finally wore down Demon Deacons ace Chris Levonas. The right-hander was sharp, allowing just one run on two hits, but needed 96 pitches to navigate five innings, leaving the door open for Kentucky's lineup to pounce on his relief.
They did exactly that against hard-throwing lefty Rhys Bowie, Wake Forest's top bullpen arm. Kentucky erupted for four runs off Bowie, capped by a two-run double from Braxton Van Cleave, to take a 5-3 advantage. Caeden Cloud added a double, and Carson Hansen drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to round out the Wildcats' contributions. A Resilient Deacons Squad Fights Back
Wake Forest (38-20) refused to fold quietly. The Deacons answered with solo home runs by Andrew Costello in the sixth and Dalton Wentz in the eighth to pull even at five, providing a late-game jolt that pushed the game to its dramatic conclusion.
Three of Wake Forest's 10 hits left the yard, but those four home runs were all the Deacons could muster.In the end, that power came up one run short. The Pitching Lines
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Kentucky starter Jaxon Jelkin battled through six innings, surrendering four runs on nine hits while striking out five and issuing no walks. The outing was far from dominant but kept the Wildcats in the game long enough to rally.Nile Adcock (5-1) earned the win, working a clean seventh and eighth with just one run allowed. Jackson Soucie closed it out with a tidy 1-2-3 ninth, earning his second save of the season and slamming the door on Wake Forest's comeback bid. Small Ball Wins the Day
Kentucky's offensive output was a clinic in manufacturing runs. The Wildcats collected only five hits but added seven more baserunners via walks and hit-by-pitches, forcing opposing pitchers to work deep into counts all afternoon. The result: a game where Kentucky's patient approach converted into six runs despite minimal hard contact.Tharnish's game-winner—a single, two stolen bases, and a mad dash home—perfectly embodied that approach. On Deck
Wake Forest drops to the elimination bracket and will face the loser of Saturday's West Virginia–Binghamton matchup at noon ET. Kentucky advances and will face the winner of Saturday's West Virginia–Binghamton game at 5 p.m. ET, with a spot in the championship bracket on the line.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky baseball gets dramatic victory over Wake Forest
