MUNCIE, Ind. — Nearly four hours 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.