KSR Today: A nightmare ninth inning, a second chance, and still waiting on Milan

Welcome to June, KSR readers. The summer calendar flipped overnight, but Kentucky fans are still thinking about what happened in Morgantown on Sunday night. Fortunately, the Wildcats get another shot in the NCAA Baseball Tournament this evening. Meanwhile, the Milan Momcilovic watch rolls into a new month. We’ll cover both stories and more in today’s rundown. Let’s get to it.

Kentucky Baseball was three outs from hosting the Super Regional and blew it.

We witnessed an excruciating meltdown in the NCAA Baseball Tournament last night. Kentucky led West Virginia 9-6 in the top of the ninth inning, needing only three outs to win the regional on WVU’s home soil. No. 1 overall seed UCLA was eliminated from its regional early in the evening, so Kentucky was also three outs from stealing the Bruins’ place as host of the super regional next weekend. Three outs away from advancing and heading home to play for Omaha.

Then came the collapse. It began with an error at third base on a routine ground ball, putting a lead-off man on first. Then a walk, a single, a bases-loaded walk, a sacrifice fly, and a balk (a balk!) tied the game up at 9-9.

After the balk (a balk!) tied it, WVU’s Paul Schoenfeld crushed a two-run homer to right field, giving the Mountaineers the lead for good. Kentucky put a runner on second in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn’t add any runs to punch back. Tyler Bell, who hit two home runs on the night, was left on deck.

[West Virginia stuns Cats with five-run 9th to force Monday title game]

After the game, Nick Mingione gave a “no comment” when asked if ace pitcher Jaxon Jelkin was available to close out the game in the top of the ninth, rather than turning to a bullpen that has blown games all season. Mingione instead put the game in the hands of relief pitcher Oliver Boone, who hadn’t appeared in a game in a month. Boone allowed one run on the balk and then gave up the two-run shot.

One for the ages‼️ pic.twitter.com/22FbNqRoeq

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) June 1, 2026

Nick Mingione said he was sick to his stomach, but UK has to move on.

After the game, Nick Mingione put on a smile and said he was sick to his stomach about the loss, but he had confidence in his guys and in the game plan he stuck with. “You have to move on. This is what you do in life… You have to move on.”

Hear his postgame comments below.

A second chance to win the West Virginia Regional tonight.

Today, the Wildcats get a shot at redemption, a chance to forget all about yesterday’s loss. Kentucky and West Virginia will meet again in a winner-takes-all game, scheduled for 6 p.m. tonight on ESPN2. It’s an elimination game for both sides in the double-elimination regional. Kentucky was 2-0 before Sunday night’s game, while West Virginia already had a loss going into that game.

As Mingione said many times, Kentucky has to move on from Sunday’s meltdown, leave what happened behind, and get ready for the championship. The super regional dream is still alive.

The wait for Milan Momcilovic is getting uncomfortable.

The weekend came and went without any news on the Milan Momcilovic front. Kentucky has been the presumed leader since Momcilovic withdrew from the draft last week, but he has yet to make a move from the transfer portal. Big Blue Nation hoped the news of a commitment would come last Thursday, then Friday, then, surely, by the end of the weekend. However, here we are on Monday morning, wondering how and why Mark Pope hasn’t closed the deal on the best available player in college basketball.

Adding to the tension, Louisville is Kentucky’s competition in the Momcilovic sweepstakes, with Arizona also in the mix. Kentucky reportedly has the higher offer on the table, but Pat Kelsey’s pitch still has Momcilovic mulling over his decision, which could come at any time.

Take 50% off the Ultimate Fan Bundle.

If you’re sweating out Kentucky’s NCAA baseball run and Momcilovic’s recruitment, join us over at KSBoard, where we are sweating it all out, too. Starting today, the Ultimate Fan Bundle is 50% off for new subscribers, giving access to all content on KSR+, On3, and Rivals. Sign up here at half off.

Kentucky Football goes camping today.

The beginning of June marks the beginning of summer football on campus. Will Stein‘s Wildcats took the month of May off to rest up from the spring and ahead of the summer. Today, they’ll clock back in at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility for summer workouts.

Additionally, summer camps for potential future Wildcats begin today. The first “Wildcat One Day Camp” is today, and KSR will have Nick Roush in attendance, not as a camper, but to document the event and the first day of summer. The One Day Camps are open to grades 9-12.

Tune in to a new KSR at 10 a.m.

Matt Jones and I will broadcast live from the Lexington studio from 10 a.m. to noon. There’s lots to say coming out of the weekend, and we’d love to hear from the listeners, too. Give us a call at 859-280-2287. Go Cats.