Baseball Cats Continue to Make History

Since he was hired last summer, Kentucky baseball head coach Nick Mingione has talked about the program doing things that have never been done at UK before. Mingione has specifically mentioned hosting and winning a regional, winning a Super Regional and winning a national championship. 

The Wildcats have taken steps in the right direction in 2017. Kentucky led the SEC Eastern Division heading into Friday night’s game at No. 19 Mississippi State, and the Wildcats were ranked as high as eighth nationally (by D1Baseball.com) this week.

Kentucky continued its strong play on Friday night, rallying for a 5-2 win over Mississippi State at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville. In doing so, the Wildcats have now won their first four SEC road games, after sweeping Texas A&M in College Station two weekends ago. The Wildcats had not accomplished that feat since 1949. That’s 68 years ago, when Kentucky won at Georgia Tech twice (Tech was a member of the SEC until 1963), followed by two wins at Vanderbilt.  

“Just really proud of the way our team competed all night long,” Mingione said. “We were talking after the game with our team, there have been times where we bend but we don’t break. “

While that’s not something that the program has never done before, 68 years is a long time. Harry Truman was still the President and a first-class postage stamp cost all of three cents. In 1949, a gallon of milk was just 84 cents, and a loaf of bread cost just 13 cents.

Friday’s game was tied 2-2 heading into the ninth inning. But two on and two out, senior outfielder Zach Reks laced a triple to right-center field, scoring Connor Heady and Tristan Pompey, giving Kentucky a 4-2 lead. Reks later scored on a passed ball to provide the final scoring margin.

“The definition of a good offense is your ability to score runs when you’re not hitting,” Mingione said. “It doesn’t matter what inning you get your big inning, it can be in the first or the ninth, but the story was our ability to score runs when we weren’t hitting. Just can’t talk enough about how tough our young men are and how hard they compete.”

The Wildcats have a chance to claim the series with a win on Saturday night. Zach Logue, who is 5-1 on the season, takes the hill for the Wildcats against a Mississippi State starter that’s to be determined.

Kentucky also stretched its SEC East lead to 2.5 games on Friday. The Wildcats are now 8-2 in SEC play, tied for the league’s best overall mark. South Carolina and Vanderbilt are both 6-5 in league play. Kentucky is 22-9 overall.

As Mingione establishes the culture in the Kentucky program, Friday’s road win at Starkville was another step in the right direction.