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Kentucky baseball falls to Texas A&M in NCAA College World Series. UK vs Florida Tuesday

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Kentucky baseball falls to Texas A&M in NCAA College World Series. UK vs Florida Tuesday

OMAHA, Neb. — Kentucky picked an inopportune time to suffer its first loss in NCAA Tournament play.

UK was no match for Texas A&M on Monday, falling 5-1 in the College World Series matchup at Charles Schwab Field.

The Aggies’ pitchers — particularly starter Ryan Prager — so thoroughly vexed the Wildcats‘ batsmen, Kentucky didn’t record a hit until the seventh inning. By then, UK already trailed 5-0.

One inning made the difference: Texas A&M scored all of its runs in the sixth, a frame in which they batted around, sending 10 players to the plate. The Aggies finished the sixth with five runs on four hits — and it could have been even more productive if Kentucky reliever Cameron O’Brien hadn’t notched back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning and leave two men on base.

Ryan Nicholson belted a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to help UK avoid a shutout. It was Nicholson’s 23rd homer in 2024, tying the single-season program record.

The loss puts the Wildcats (46-15) in a bind.

With Monday’s loss, Kentucky now has a quick turnaround, facing Florida (which stayed alive by beating N.C. State earlier Monday) in an elimination game at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The winner of that contest moves on to face the Aggies (51-13) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. To emerge out of the bracket and clinch a spot in the best-of-three CWS championship series, UK will have to topple Texas A&M twice: Wednesday, followed by a winner-take-all tilt Thursday.

This story will be updated.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

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