WATCH: Nick Mingione, Nate Harris recap Kentucky's big win over Clemson

University of Kentucky Head Coach Nick Mingione and Clemson Head Coach Erik Bakich shake hands before the NCAA baseball Clemson Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, S.C. Sunday, June 1, 2025.

Kentucky baseball found itself in a win or go home game on Saturday afternoon in the Clemson Regional. Nick Mingione’s club responded by delivering one of its best performances of the season in a 16-4 thrashing of a national seed.

The Bat Cats showed early who the more locked in team was at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in a matchup with Clemson. That victory sets up another win or go home situation tonight against No. 2 seed West Virginia. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET. Before that arrived, Mingione and starting pitcher Nate Harris met with the media in Clemson to recap UK’s big performance in an elimination game.

KSR’s Daniel Hager has you covered.

Nick Mingione and Nate Harris quickly talked about Kentucky’s 16-4 win over Clemson postgame.

Now, onto WVU. pic.twitter.com/s3eHIrzOpL
— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerOn3) June 1, 2025

“Want to start out by just congratulating Clemson on a great season. I said this yesterday when you had asked me about what I thought about Erik Bakich and a I meant what I said,” Mingione said in his opening statement. “He’s one of the premier coaches in the country. You don’t host a regional and do what you’ve done in his time here without being that good.”

“Proud of our team. I would just tell you that this was one of those games — and you’ve guys been around a long time — where it was just clicking on all cylinders for us. And give our guys credit, we battled. Proud of this guy (Harris) to my left. I thought it would’ve been really easy for a freshman in this environment to just fold after the first and he did not do that.”

Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

After a rocky first inning that saw Nate Harris give up two runs and struggle with control, the young righty settled in and delivered six innings allowing the Cats to save some bullpen arms. That could become the difference moving forward.

Kentucky will have to beat WVU twice to claim a third consecutive regional title. The only goal now will be to create a true play-in game on Monday night. That can only happen if the Cats beat the Mountaineers tonight.