Armani Guzman will forever haunt the dreams of Kentucky baseball, but he will also forever live as a West Virginia legend.
After playing the critical role with a walk-off hit in a comeback rally to eliminate the Wildcats in the Clemson Regional in 2025, Guzman stepped up to the plate with a tie game in extra innings against Kentucky on Monday night, with runners on first and second for the Mountaineers. Once again on the line was a trip to Super Regionals.
And then, for the second straight season, Guzman made the play at the plate that eliminated the Wildcats from the NCAA Regional, blasting a walk-off hit to centerfield to secure a victory.
SEND IT TO SUPERS!!!@mani_ftn pic.twitter.com/C7cwuFFrFK
— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) June 2, 2026
"It's just trusting the process at the end of the day," Guzman said on his late-game prowess. "It's never been easy for me, just like its never easy for anyone."
West Virginia Mountaineers to host first-ever Super Regional after walk-off win against Kentucky
It came after the Mountaineers sacrificed a four-run inning in the eighth to allow the Wildcats to tie the game, and then dug deep into the bullpen – utilizing Ian Korn, Chansen Cole, and Dawson Montesa in an 'all hands on deck' type of situation.
"It was one of those punches to the gut man for sure. But it doesn't matter," Guzman said regarding the eight-inning Kentucky rally.
And he's right – it doesn't matter now, as the Mountaineers move on to the Super Regional round for the third straight season. And with No. 1 overall seed UCLA being eliminated in the opposition regional, the Mountaineers will host an NCAA Super Regional in Morgantown next weekend for the first time in program history. And after the second-largest crowd in Kendrick Family Ballpark history turned out on Monday, the fans deserve it.
"It's beautiful, this freaking crowd is amazing," Guzman said. "You got people up on the hill you can't even see them."
The Mountaineers will advance to face Cal Poly in the Super Regional. If the Mountaineers can win, they will make more program history, with their first ever trip to the College World Series.
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