Nick Mingione calls Oregon State, 'as well-rounded a team as we'll face'

No. 2 seed Kentucky hosts the first Super Regional in program history this weekend when the Wildcats welcome in No. 15 seed Oregon State to Kentucky Proud Park on Saturday.

The Beavers enter the weekend boasting a 45-14 record and are coming off a 3-0 sweep of their competition at the Corvallis Regional. On a hot streak, UK head coach Nick Mingione explained the threat that Oregon State poses to Kentucky’s World Series hopes.

“They are legitimately as well-rounded a team as like we’ll face,” Mingione said ahead of the Super Regionals. “I think they’ve only lost 14 games all year when you think about that. They pitch at a super high level. They have a unique guy on the back end who can throw a sidearm. They’ve got all the different arm slots, they defend the field. They bunt, they steal, and offensively, they can score in a bunch of different ways.

“And as I mentioned, they have a pitching staff that really knows how to pitch — which is to be expected, right? Like, when you get to this point this is what you would think the teams the teams that are super well rounded are going to be able to do all of those things well.”

The Beavers are led by Travis Bazzana, who is considered one of the best players in college baseball and was named a finalist for the 2024 Golden Spikes Award on Wednesday. Batting .415 with 28 home runs, 66 RBIs and 86 hits on the year — he’s playing his best baseball of the season coming into the weekend.

The first pitch for Saturday’s opening game of the best two out of three series is scheduled for a late 9 p.m. ET start time. However, Mingione is sure the Big Blue Nation will come out in droves to support their Wildcats no matter the time.

“I’ve been here for eight years, and I’ve sat in Rupp Arena and, Tom, you’ve been in there at nine o’clock at night on a Tuesday, and there are 24,000 people there,” Mingione said of UK’s fan base. “Twenty-four! You’ve been there. You’ve been there. You’ve seen it. You’ve been in our football stadium; we’ve had over 50,000 people.

“So, look, a nine o’clock start, I’m really not concerned one bit, because I’ve seen what our fan base has done.”

The game will air live on ESPNU and the ESPN app.