Terrific O'Donnell start can't overcome Ball State's cold bats in NCAA Regional opener

MUNCIE, Ind. — Nearly a four-hour drive south of Muncie, Trennor O'Donnell received a standing ovation.

Ball State baseball's ace walked to the dugout on Friday after throwing 7.1 innings of one-run ball against host and No. 12 overall seed Kentucky. Fans of both teams rose from their Proud Park seats to commend the Cardinal's effort, which gave his team every chance to pull off an upset in its NCAA Regional tournament opener.

But BSU's bats never truly threatened after putting two runners in scoring position in the top of the first frame, which accounted for two of the team's three total hits on the day as Wildcats sophomore reliever Mason Moore pitched five perfect innings to close out a 4-0 Kentucky victory.

"I thought Trennor O'Donnell was simply marvelous. He gave us a chance and that's what we needed, but we just couldn't get over the top," head coach Rich Maloney said. "It was a little frustrating because it was an opportunity. I mean, we were right there."

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Sometimes, one swing and a little luck can make all the difference in baseball.

If sophomore catcher Hunter Dobbins' hard-hit liner in the first inning wasn't directly at the second baseman, BSU scores two runs and the game would've felt completely different. Instead, Kentucky connected for a leadoff home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, which proved to be the separator as the Wildcats were unable to get any other runners past first base with O'Donnell on the mound.

O'Donnell's stellar showing (119 P, 4 H, 2 ER, 1BB, 5 K), his second straight after a complete-game effort in the Mid-American Conference tournament semifinals, maintained hope of a BSU comeback despite its absent production at the plate.

Ball State made plenty of hard contact off of Moore and starter Travis Smith but failed to lift many balls in the air. The Cardinals hit into 14 groundouts, and UK's quality defense meant no baserunners were gifted.

"I thought we had some good at-bats for about the first three or four innings," Maloney said. "And then when they brought the relief pitcher in, he was just outstanding and he stymied us.

"We just couldn't get the big hit. We got the big hit last week. This week, we weren't able to."

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For a while, a clutch BSU rally loomed and kept tensions high, but junior reliever Sam Klein's stint greatly diminished the Cardinals' chances of a comeback.

His bullpen appearance began strangely as Maloney visited the mound after O'Donnell hit the leadoff batter and ran the next count full in the bottom of the eighth inning. Maloney wanted to take O'Donnell out, and even hugged him, but O'Donnell, by rule, had to finish the at-bat and Klein was sent back to the bullpen midway through his jog to the infield.

O'Donnell got a final flyout before Klein re-emerged, only for the 2023 NCBWA Preseason Second Team All-American to struggle.

Klein yielded two hits, one walk and two earned runs, and also allowed an inherited runner to score from first base. A passed ball and a wild pitch also led to some of the Wildcat runs.

After a superb season-high 4.1 innings of one-run ball in the MAC tournament opener against Central Michigan, Klein has looked uncharacteristically shaky. Over his last two appearances, the 2022 All-MAC First Team selection has allowed six hits and six earned runs while recording just three outs.

"I think his command isn't real good. I don't think he's spinning his breaking ball as good as he has in the past. For whatever reason, it just doesn't seem like it has enough revolution on it. So it's something he's gonna have to work on all summer to get it back to where it was," Maloney said. "We know how good he can be. We've seen it. He's won so many games for us ... He's just been 50-50 this year, versus being 90-10 last year. He was pretty much money last year, and this year it's been an uphill climb for him."

Ball State needs Klein and its other go-to arms to be at their best in order to avoid elimination on Saturday at noon against the loser of Indiana v. West Virginia. The good news is that O'Donnell's length kept everyone except Klein fresh, and Klein only threw 21 pitches and could be used again if need be.

Junior Ty Johnson and fifth-year Ty Weatherly gave great starts in the MAC tournament, and junior reliever Jacob Hartlaub also looked solid in the final. Highly-touted junior reliever Ryan Brown was electric in Round 1 against the Chippewas, earning the save in his first game action since April 15, but failed to record an out when facing three batters in the championship.

No other Cardinals have pitched since the final regular-season series, so Maloney will likely ride that group of pitchers as long as he can.

Ball State's offense, however, has been a strength all season and is capable of carrying the team to victory, but it'll need to rebound from being shutout by Kentucky.

"We'll have someone that's capable (pitching) tomorrow. Hopefully, we get some hits and get some momentum," Maloney said. "Somehow, someway, we've got to get someone with a big hit like we did all last week. We just didn't do today."

Gus Martin is a sports reporter at The Star Press. Follow him on Twitter @GusMartin_SP, and contact him at gmartin@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Trennor O'Donnell Ball State baseball NCAA Regional tournament Kentucky