Tag: Mitchell Daly

Where Kentucky finished in final 2024 USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll

Here’s where Kentucky placed in the final USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released this week.

By all measures, the 2024 college baseball season was a success for the Kentucky Wildcats and coach Nick Mingione.

After being swept in both games of the Baton Rouge Super Regional by eventual national champion LSU a year ago, the Wildcats had one of the biggest breakthrough seasons in the SEC in 2024.

They reached the College World Series for the first time in school history. The program’s first win in Omaha was also a thriller, featuring a walk-off home run from Mitchell Daly to defeat North Carolina State, 5-4, in 10 innings. Kentucky’s season, which featured a school record 46 wins, came to an end when the team was eliminated by Florida.

After Tennessee was crowned national champions following a 6-5 victory over Texas A&M in Game 3 of the CWS Finals on Monday night, the final USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll was released Tuesday. Kentucky (46-16 overall) finished at No. 3 behind the Volunteers and Aggies.

No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 North Carolina rounded out the top five. Florida finished at No. 6 with Virginia, North Carolina State, Clemson and Georgia ranked Nos. 7-10.

Kentucky finished No. 13 in the final coaches poll in 2023.

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Mitchell Daly walks it off for Kentucky baseball in the College World Series

Mitchell Daly hit a game-winning homerun in extra innings at the College World Series for Kentucky baseball.

Kentucky baseball made it to the College World Series for the first time ever this season. They faced North Carolina State in their first game, and would need more than nine innings to decide it. In a post-season where the Cats have already had magical moments, Mitchell Daly added one more.

As has been the case several times, Kentucky got on the board early with a Nick Lopez RBI single in the first inning. Nolan McCarthy hit a two-run homer in the fourth to make it 3 – 1, but the Wolfpack answered with a blast of their own.

In the ninth, NC State took a 4 – 3 lead on a wild pitch, setting the stage for some drama. Ryan Nicholson has been a hero for Kentucky multiple times, and he did it again in the bottom of the ninth, with a solo shot to send it to extra innings.

Related: Outfielder Jackson Strong transferring to Kentucky

In the tenth, it was Mitchell Daly’s turn. With two outs, and nobody on base, he got a pitch he liked and smoked it to deep left-center field, leaving the yard for a walkoff homerun. He gave the Wildcats a 5 – 4 win.

Nicholson was 3-for-4 on the day with the game-tying homer. McCarthy and Daly had two hits, and both also hit homeruns.

On the mound, Trey Pooser was solid, going 6.2 innings with three runs given up. The bullpen gave up just one run the rest of the way.

Kentucky will get a day off to enjoy the dramatic victory, then will face either Florida or Texas A&M on Monday. The time will be announced later.

Texas Baseball: Predicting the 2023 opening day lineup

Dylan Campbell and Eric Kennedy lead the 2023 Longhorns.

Texas begins the 2023 season at Globe Life Field in Arlington this weekend at the College Baseball Showdown. The Longhorns face a bit of a reset year after losing significant production to the MLB draft and two assistant coaches.

While replacing everything Texas lost after last year is a difficult task, the Horns have some exciting players primed for impact seasons.

Outfielder Dylan Campbell broke out down the stretch last season. He worked his way into the starting lineup by hitting .320 in Big 12 play and finished with 10 home runs. Campbell’s postseason heroics helped lead Texas to another College World Series trip.

Eric Kennedy is back for his senior season to pair with Campbell in the outfield. Kennedy has been a mainstay in Texas’ lineup the past three seasons. The speedster looks to go out with a bang in his final season as a Longhorn.

The infield consists of returners Mitchell Daly and Jack O’Dowd up the middle and the freshman duo of Jalin Flores and Jared Thomas at the corners. USC transfer Garret Guillemette is likely to start behind the plate.

Here is a prediction of what Texas’ lineup is going to look like as it takes the field against Arkansas on Friday night.

Texas outfielder Eric Kennedy to return for the 2023 season

Huge news for Texas baseball!

Big news for Texas baseball as outfielder Eric Kennedy is set to return for the 2023 season.

The senior was not selected in the 2022 MLB Draft but turned down free agency opportunities to return to the Longhorns for another year.

The return of Kennedy serves as a massive boost for the Texas program who lost eight players to the MLB Draft and saw multiple seniors move on.

Kennedy has played a key role in helping Texas reach the College World Series in back-to-back seasons. He is a rock solid defender in the outfield and constant threat on the base paths. Kennedy is a career .285 hitter with 14 home runs and 45 stolen bases.

David Pierce’s 2023 roster is starting to take shape. Kennedy, Dylan Campbell and Mitchell Daly bring back tons of experience in the lineup along with a solid group of incoming transfers joining the program.

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Senior day heroics end Texas’ regular season on a high note

Texas capped off the regular season on a high note with a thrilling 11-6 victory over Kansas. 

No. 22 Texas (39-17, 14-10) capped off the regular season on a high note with a thrilling 11-6 victory over Kansas. Continue reading “Senior day heroics end Texas’ regular season on a high note”

No. 7 Texas beats No. 23 TCU 2-0 behind a gem from Pete Hansen

Pete Hansen turned in a magnificent start as Texas took game one over the Frogs.

It was a masterclass of pitching from both sides on Friday but it was Texas who came out on top over TCU, 2-0.

Pete Hansen was absolutely brilliant from start to finish in the ballgame. The Longhorns ace kept the Frogs offense off balance, attacking the strike zone early and often. Hansen spotted his fastball well along with a wipeout slider.

The only real trouble Hansen faced came in the sixth inning after TCU put runners on second and third with one out. A strikeout then this great backhand from Mitchell Daly got Texas out of the jam.

The lefty painted the corner with a 90 mph fastball to end the night with strikeout No. 12.

Two runs on four hits was all the Texas offense needed behind Hansen. Silas Ardoin and Mitchell Daly each drove in a run in the middle innings.

Tristian Stevens will take the mound for the Horns in game two on Saturday. Texas is looking to win back-to-back Big 12 series in front of a sold-out home crowd.

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No. 2 Texas avoids sweep with a run-rule win over No. 16 Texas Tech

Lucas Gordon and the bats shine as No. 2 Texas avoids the sweep in Lubbock.

No. 2 Texas showed a gritty response on Sunday after heartbreaking losses in back-to-back games. The Longhorns dominated the series finale against No. 16 Texas Tech winning by a run-rule score of 12-1.

Lucas Gordon gave Texas a magnificent start on the mound to set the tone. The sophomore lefty held the Red Raiders to just one run across six innings in the most important start of his career. Gordon will play a major role in the starting rotation the rest of the season.

The Texas offense continued its hot stretch with 12 more runs in the game. Mitchell Daly and Skyer Messinger got the ball rolling with back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning. Those shots opened up the floodgates for the rest of the lineup.

The Longhorns would explode for a seven-run seventh inning aided by a three-run home run from Trey Faltine, No. 8 of the season for him.

Up next Texas will welcome in Texas A&M for a midweek affair on Tuesday.

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Highlights from Saturday’s Alumni Game as the Texas Exes show out

The Texas Alumni held off the current Longhorns in an offensive slugfest.

No. 1 Texas baseball welcomed back 15 former players for the annual Alumni Game on Saturday.

The Texas Exes jumped out to an early lead on the current roster and held on for an 8-6 victory. Both offenses swung the bat well as the teams combined for 14 runs and 21 hits.

The star of the show was Sophomore Dylan Campbell, who started for the Alumni team. Campbell went 4-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. His three-run bomb off Pete Hansen in the second inning put the Alumni squad up 4-0.

David Hamilton (2017-2019) added on to the alumni lead going 2-3 with two runs scored.

The current squad started to heat up in the middle innings.

Murphy Stehly launched a solo home-run to lead off the third inning. Mitchell Daly and Ivan Melendez followed with extra-base hits to make the score 6-2.

Texas scored runs in the next three innings to cut the lead to 7-6 on an Eric Kennedy two-run single.

The Alumni squad would respond with a run of their own as last season’s centerfielder Mike Antico (2021) hit a moonshot over the right-field wall to extend the lead to 8-6.

The current Horns would threaten in the bottom half of the seventh but Duke Ellis (2018-2020) would rob Trey Faltine of a game-tying base hit.

Here are some of the highlights of Saturday’s ballgame:

Texas Baseball: Seven Longhorns named to preseason All-Big 12 team

Texas has the pieces to have another great season in 2022.

The 2022 Texas Longhorns are ranked preseason No. 1 by most publications and for good reason. This team has a loaded roster stacked with elite pitching depth and experience.

The preseason All-Big 12 team shows how talented Texas’ roster is.

The Longhorns have seven of the 18 players named to the list. The most in the conference by a wide margin.

  • C Silas Ardoin
  • 2B Mitchell Daly
  • SS Trey Faltine
  • 1B/DH Ivan Melendez
  • P Pete Hansen
  • P Tristian Stevens
  • P Aaron Nixon

Junior pitcher Pete Hansen was named Big 12 preseason pitcher of the year. An honor awarded to former Longhorn Ty Madden a season ago. Hansen appeared in 19 games in 2021 finishing 9-1 with a 1.88 ERA.

Hansen will be joined in the weekend rotation with 2021 first-team All-Big 12 pitcher Tristian Stevens and freshman All-American Tanner Witt.

Texas will open the season at home against Rice on Feb. 18.

Click here for a full 2022 schedule breakdown.

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Texas Baseball: Horns rank No. 1 in preseason poll

Expectations are high for David Pierce and the Longhorns this year.

The college baseball season is just around the corner and expectations in Austin are as high as ever.

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper ranked Texas as their No. 1 team in the county in a preseason poll they released on Monday.

After a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals of the College World Series a year ago, the Horns will return a major core of that team. Seven position players and four key pitchers will all be back at the Disch in the spring.

The 2022 Longhorns will be stacked with MLB talent. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper has seven Longhorns on their preseason All-American teams:

  • LHP Pete Hansen
  • RHP Tristen Stevens
  • RHP Tanner Witt
  • RHP Aaron Nixon
  • 1B Ivan Melendez
  • SS Trey Faltine
  • 2B Mitchell Daly

David Pierce has done a masterful job with the program since taking over for legend Augie Garrido. Since the start of the 2020 season, Texas is 67-20 with a Big 12 championship and an Omaha appearance.

Click here for a full breakdown of Texas’ 2022 schedule.

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