WATCH: Nick Mingione Embraces Difficult NCAA Tournament Path for Kentucky

Kentucky had to wait until the end of Monday’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show to find out if the Wildcats would return to postseason play for the fourth-straight season. Once their fate was confirmed, the team celebrated. After a beat, it was time to examine their path back to the College World Series. It is not an easy one.

The Bat Cats will open NCAA Tournament play on Friday afternoon against Wake Forest in the Morgantown Regional. A win will likely secure them a date with West Virginia, the same team that bounced them from last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Nick Mingione was confident his team would receive a bid. Now, he’s embracing the difficult challenge that lies ahead.

“What I’ve learned over the years is they’re all hard. I like the fact that we have really good teams. I told our team yesterday, ‘This is an opportunity to win a really good regional,'” the Kentucky head baseball coach said on Tuesday.

“Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but when they announce us and we celebrate, I didn’t even hear who we were playing. Then I learned it was Wake Forest. Great deal of respect; awesome program. Then I realized, who are we paired up with in the Super? Okay, No. 1 UCLA. I wouldn’t have it any other way than the hardest. I want to play the best teams. In our region and in our tournament, those are the best teams in the country. I want us to have a path where we have to play the best teams, regardless of our regional, they’re all the best teams in the country.”

Good News for Kentucky

As challenging as it may be, the Bat Cats have a few things going their way ahead of the NCAA Tournament. Braxton Van Cleave suffered a scary injury about ten days ago. Mingione is expecting the breakout freshman outfielder back in the lineup this weekend.

“Braxton had surgery last week, and the doctors said they felt like he would be available this weekend,” said Mingione. “So, we’ll see.”

There is also plenty of familiarity between Kentucky and the regional host. In addition to last year’s postseason games, a pair of wins for the Mountaineers in Clemson, the two teams faced off in the fall. Kentucky beat West Virginia 26-10 in a 14-inning game.

“They have a balanced team,” said the Kentucky head coach. “They pitch, they defend, they can hit. I just saw a projection for next year that one of their players is projected the No. 1 college prospect in the 2027 Draft, so they’re extremely talented.”

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