Nick Mingione credits Jay Johnson for building what he has at LSU

Kentucky‘s College World Series hopes dwindled away on Sunday as they lost the second game of their three-game Super Regional series to LSU falling 8-3 to the Tigers. The tough, elimination loss would leave anyone in a bad mood, but Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione had nothing but kinds words to say about LSU skipper Jay Johnson following the loss.

“Guys you know this, but Jay Johnson’s an amazing coach, he is an amazing coach,” Mingione said. “You look at his track record and everywhere that guy goes they win and they win championships.”

Mingione pulled back the curtain on his long-standing friendship with Johnson, which dates back to their days coaching at the NAIA level in the early 2000s.

“You know, I first ran into him at the NAIA College World Series. He was at Point Loma Nazarene and I was at Embry–Riddle and we played against each other in the College World Series,” Mingione said. “And then fast forward a couple years later, we’re out working a baseball camp in Las Vegas, Nevada of all places and he’s at USD and I’m at Kentucky. I’m the volunteer coach and we chatted and we talked and we’ve been friends ever since.”

Both coaches made their way up the coaching pedestal to the SEC coaching ranks, now coaching at the level and in the conference that many regard as the top of Division I baseball. But even given the change of scenery for both coaches, the two still keep in touch and keep tabs on each other.

“We have followed each other, I check on him throughout the year every game, every single day I check on his team and everywhere that guy has been he has won. Everywhere. Everywhere. And LSU is lucky to have him, I really believe that with all my heart and he’s not only a great coach, he’s an amazing evaluator, he’s an unbelievable tactician, he’s a great recruiter, and that lineup is really long,” Mingione explained.

Johnson’s resume is hard to deny, as he’s led two teams to regular season conference title wins and four teams to postseason play in his 11-year head coaching career. His teams have never had a losing record up to this point either, and his current Tigers team that hasn’t lost since the SEC Tournament could be his most dangerous team to date.

“That’s a really long lineup and those guys at the bottom, (Brayden) Jobert, (Jordan) Thompson, and (Josh) Pearson have done really good for them. If you go back and look, I mean they were even responsible last night for I counted I think it was seven of the 14 runs, half their runs. That bottom of that lineup is really good and it’s hard to exploit much of them, they’re a super well rounded team and there aren’t many weaknesses there,” Mingione admitted.

The season is over for the Wildcats but not the Tigers, who now await their College World Series opponent between Southern Miss and Tennessee, two teams squaring off in a winner-take-all elimination game Monday at 6:00 p.m. ET airing on ESPN2.