With Kentucky baseball’s season on the brink, Nick Mingione looks for repeat of 2017 magic

Kentucky baseball coach Nick Mingione has at least been here before.

It would be impossible to spin the Wildcats’ 5-3 loss to Indiana, which featured a seventh-inning three-run home run from an Indiana catcher that entered the day with just three career homers in 85 games, as a positive. Falling into the loser’s side of the double-elimination bracket essentially guarantees Kentucky will now need contributions from pitchers not in the original game plan for the weekend to advance to a super regional.

But Mingione has already accomplished the improbable in a regional once as Kentucky’s coach.

In 2017, Kentucky won its regional opener as host then lost game two. The Wildcats then won three consecutive elimination games to advance to the first super regional in program history.

“The bad news is we lost,” Mingione said Saturday. “The good news is I’ve been here and done this. This is exactly what happened in 2017.”

Of course, the fact that Kentucky survived from the loser’s bracket in 2017 does not mean the 2022 Wildcats can accomplish the same feat.

Two of the three winning pitchers in Kentucky’s 2017 elimination games have pitched in the big leagues this season. No one likely to take the mound for Kentucky on Sunday or Monday is considered a top draft prospect.

Kentucky has already used its two best starting pitchers and two best relievers. Sophomore reliever Mason Moore, who threw 50 pitches across five innings on Friday, and seventh-year senior reliever Darren Williams, who threw 27 pitches in one inning Saturday, have told Mingione they can throw again in the regional, but other arms will be needed to navigate three games.

Mingione was not ready to name a starter for Sunday’s elimination game against West Virginia, but junior right-handed pitcher Austin Strickland seems likely to play a key role. Strickland’s 5.01 ERA on the season does not look the part of a potential season-saver, but he impressed in his most recent appearance by surrendering just three runs while striking out seven batters in 6 2/3 innings against No. 2 Florida.

Junior Ryan Hagenow, senior Logan Martin and graduate student Tyler Bosma might also be needed for multiple innings to survive two games Sunday. If Kentucky can win two games Sunday, redshirt freshman Travis Smith might be available for an inning on Monday after throwing 76 pitches in the Friday win over Ball State.

“You’ve got to go,” Mingione said. “Every game, this is it. There’s not a lot of strategy involved. You gotta do whatever you can to win that first game, then whatever you can to win the second game.”

While Kentucky has now lost 16 of its last 23 games against Power Five competition, the Wildcats did not look like a team ready to roll over late in the 5-3 loss to Indiana on Saturday.

Even after falling behind on catcher Peter Serruto’s home run, Kentucky rallied in the ninth inning. After two batters reached via hit-by-pitch, catcher Devin Burkes flew out to the warning track in right field. Second baseman Emilien Pitre then just missed a three-run home run to left field that landed a few feet foul before popping out to shortstop to end the game.

“What I told the guys, it’s going to take 18 innings (Sunday),” Mingione said. “The way we’re going to do that is one at a time. We’ve got to get our bodies ready. We’ve got to get focused on that. They’ve obviously got to get something to eat and get some rest, make sure they stay hydrated.

“We have to do it literally pitch by pitch. I know that sounds like coach-speak but that’s how it works.”

A refusal to quit is step No. 1 in surviving the loser’s bracket of a regional.

Mingione instructed his players to not leave the dugout Sunday until they were confident they had flushed the disappointment of the Indiana loss. A daunting task lies ahead, but Mingione and company have proof it is not insurmountable.

“We’ve got the right guys in the locker room,” senior first baseman Hunter Gilliam said. “We have a whole bunch of older guys, we love playing together. Every moment we have with each other is super important.

“So, I guess people could look at this as a bad thing. But we’re excited.”

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