Nick Mingione confident Kentucky will rebound from run-rule loss vs. LSU
On Wednesday, the Kentucky Wildcats baseball team was hammered by the defending national champions, LSU, in their SEC tournament matchup. The Tigers beat the Wildcats 11-0, invoking the run rule, which resulted in the No. 3 seed conceding the game early.
After the game, in the postgame press conference, Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione discussed his team’s mindset, expressing confidence that they would bounce back from Wednesday’s loss.
“That’s the beauty of this team; that’s, in my opinion, one of the main reasons why we’ve been so successful this year,” Mingione said. “And this league is an absolute grind. To go wire to wire, lead the league, and to win it, that is a real, real challenge. In my 18 years, it’s the first time I’ve been a part of that. I’ve been fortunate enough to win it three times but never go wire to wire; the only way you do that is you can’t ride the roller coaster.”
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“This team, this league, this sport, this life— if you allow it, you better hang on… you’ve got to be able to move on. This team has done that as good as any team I’ve ever coached. I’m confident they will do the same thing.”
With the loss Kentucky enters the ‘losers bracket’ of the SEC tournament. However, their chances of winning the tournament crown are still very much real. But first, they will have to beat the No. 2 seed Arkansas Razorbacks on Thursday morning.
Mingione describes feeling of winning Kentucky’s second-ever SEC Championship
For just the second time ever, Kentucky won the SEC regular season championship in baseball. Sharing the honors with a couple of other teams, it’s still a huge accomplishment for head coach Nick Mingione. While they are now focused on the SEC Tournament in Hoover, he took some time to reflect on the journey.
Mingione traces the success to the backend of the 2022 season when Kentucky began to roll. Another step was taken forward last season by making the Super Regionals and being close to the school’s first-ever trip to Omaha. Everything has come together thus far in 2024 with plenty still to play for.
“It’s hard,” Mingione said on winning the SEC. “The one thing I’m super proud of is the staff and the players for what they’ve been able to do. It’s been trending. I think back to ’22. Late in the year, we started moving along, figuring some things out. And then last year, being two wins from Omaha playing these same LSU Tigers. And then this year.”