Team Effort Lifts Kentucky Baseball to Series Win
After being stunned by a late Auburn rally in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, the Kentucky baseball team was in need of a lift in game two. And it came from the source that UK head coach Nick Mingione loves.
Mingione, Kentucky’s second-year head coach, is fond of saying that the strength of his team is his team. And his Wildcats proved that again on Sunday.
Auburn rallied to score four runs off Kentucky closer Chris Machamer, winning Sunday’s first seven-inning game 4-3. And the Wildcats could have let Auburn carry the momentum into Sunday’s second game.
Kentucky quickly put that thought to bed in game two of the doubleheader. A strong pitching performance from Justin Lewis and a big day at the plate from the entire UK offense led to a 13-3 win and a series victory for the Cats.
Mingione knew that it was a team effort that earned the Cats a victory in game two.
“Branch Rickey, the scout who signed Jackie Robinson, said the greatest attribute a player can possess is a desire to win that dominates,” Mingione said. “That was the challenge to our team. Do we have a team that has a desire to win that dominates. To do that in the second game was big. They didn’t stop competing.”
On the mound, Lewis struggled with his command, but made pitches when he needed them most. After retiring Auburn in order in the first inning, Lewis walked the first three batters in the second inning, giving the Tigers a prime scoring opportunity. But the junior pitched his way out of the jam, allowing just one run despite walking four total batters in the inning.
“I just couldn’t find the zone,” Lewis said. “I just wanted to minimize and giving up only one run was big.”
Mingione was proud of Lewis, who pitched in difficult cold and windy conditions.
“To his credit, he did what he does about every time out, he gives us a chance to win,” Mingione said. “Justin Lewis is a premier competitor. And that won us the series.”
While Lewis was holding Auburn at bay on the mound, his offense was providing plenty of runs for their starter. It began with a Pompey solo home run to start the game, giving Kentucky a 1-0 advantage. After the Tigers got the single run in the second to tie the game at 1-1, Kentucky scored twice in the bottom of the second inning to take a 3-1 lead. The Wildcats added five runs in the bottom of the third to blow the game open, 8-1. Kentucky would score in all six of its at-bats, plating 13 runs on 15 hits in total.
It was a team effort on offense, with all nine starters reaching base. Seven of those nine had hits in the game, led by Pompey’s four knocks. The junior left fielder drove in a career-high five in the win.
“I thought Tristan had a phenomenal day today, I thought he paved the way,” Mingione said. “When he’s going like that, our offense is really, really difficult to stop because he is the table-setter.”
Pompey used his anger from game one to have a huge second contest.
“Honestly, I kind of got angry at the plate,” Pompey said. “I kind of went up with that whole approach the whole game, just go up angry and try to hurt the ball. That was my mindset.”
The team effort led to a series victory for the sixth-ranked Wildcats against the ninth-ranked Tigers. And for Kentucky to reach its goals this season, a team effort will continue to be the formula for victory.
