Nick Mingione previews Lexington Regional, pitching plans

On3 imageby:Jack Pilgrim06/02/23

Kentucky‘s run to Omaha begins this afternoon, as Nick Mingione and the Bat Cats are set to open 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament play at Kentucky Proud Park at noon ET.

The Cats are set to take on Ball State in the Lexington Regional, followed by West Virginia vs. Indiana in game two starting at 7 p.m. ET. Today’s losers will meet in an elimination game at noon ET on Saturday, winners advancing to the Regional Finals on Sunday. Then, a winner-take-on championship game on Monday, if necessary. That will be for a spot in the Super Regional.

How is the team feeling ahead of today’s matchup?

“We’ve had a great week of practice, it’s been good,” Mingione said on KSR leading up to the opening-round battle against Ball State.

The veteran head coach gave a quick preview of the Lexington Regional and what fans in attendance at Kentucky Proud Park should expect to see this afternoon and throughout the weekend. He started with No. 4 seed Ball State, followed by No. 2 West Virginia and No. 3 Indiana.

“It’s an extremely difficult Regional, as you can imagine. They’re all tough, all 64 teams (in the field),” Mingione said. “We play Ball State, they won 35 games this past year and had a huge hit in their conference tournament to take the lead and win (the title). They’re here.

“West Virginia is the No. 2 seed (in our Region) and three weeks ago they were listed as the No. 6 overall national seed. A team that won over 40 games and stole 122 bases. They bunt, they run, they’ve got one of the leading hitters in all of college baseball in their lineup.

“Indiana is a team that won 41 games, they’re the No. 3 seed. Super talented, good arms on the weekends. Power, speed. They had a really good record in the Big 10.”

Kentucky sits at 36-18 on the year, but are joined by three other teams in Lexington that also hit the 35-win threshold, as well. Needless to say, it’ll take some work for the Bat Cats to advance — just like all teams competing in the NCAA Tournament.

“Those are three teams that won 35 games, two that won over 40 games in college baseball,” Mingione said. “Super talented teams and it’s certainly a tough Regional.”

Looking for a hint at what Kentucky will do on the mound? You’ll have to wait until first pitch to find out — and it’s for a reason. Mingione is looking for any advantage he can find ahead of the Bat Cats’ first appearance in the Big Dance since 2017.

“As far as starting pitching goes, you look at teams and try to find matchups. The beauty of our pitching staff is we have a lot of guys in different roles,” Mingione told KSR. “We have a guy in Logan Martin, who was our Friday night starter. He got hurt and was sidelined for a while so we used a couple of different guys. For us, we’re just going to use a bunch of different guys.

“I made the decision that as far as announcing starters, I wasn’t going to do that so our opponents have to prepare and make their best guess. That way they’re not just sitting there and studying one guy.”

First pitch coming at noon ET, live from Kentucky Proud Park. We’ll see you there, BBN.

———-UPDATE————

We now have our answer regarding Kentucky’s starter.

Right-handed pitcher Travis Smith will take the mound first for the Bat Cats this afternoon vs. Ball State.

Smith made 12 appearances for UK this season (all starts), racking up four wins and three losses with an ERA of 5.28 in 44.1 innings pitched.

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2024-03-28