Nick Mingione explains what went wrong for Zack Lee in Game 1 loss vs. LSU

Saturday night’s game versus LSU will be a performance Kentucky starting pitcher Zack Lee will like to forget.

The senior right-hander got battered and bruised to the tune of nine runs — albeit only six earned — and five home runs allowed over just four innings of work in a 14-0 Tigers victory in Game 1 of the Baton Rouge Super Regional. His previous high this year for runs allowed in a game was four, and his previous career high was seven.

“The thing about Zack is he’s really bright,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said after the game. “Even me walking out there and doing the visit on the mound, he’s already telling me what he did wrong. That’s how you get to that spot. That’s why you get the ball when it matters the most is because you understand, and this game comes down to execution, and we didn’t execute well enough. He knows that. He knows the pitches. He knows everything as it relates to what he did wrong and what he needs to do better. That’s why he gets the ball.”

Saturday was an unusal day at the ballpark as a weather delay pushed back the start of the game from 2 p.m. CT to 9:06 p.m. CT.

However, Mingione said the delay and anything surrounding it would not be used by his team as an excuse.

“One thing we do in our program, we talk all the time about we will not whine, complain or make excuses,” Mingione said. “He won’t do that. I won’t do that. You don’t get to this spot by allowing your players and yourself to make excuses. We don’t do that. We’re Kentucky Wildcats and do not do that.”

Lee has pitched very well this season, especially over the past two months or so. His last poor outing had, ironically, been against LSU on April 15.

Since that game against the Tigers — which was also the only appearance this season where Lee did not start — the senior has done well. Last week against Indiana wasn’t her best performance with four runs allowed over seven innings but it did give the team a chance to win.

“Zack has been starting for us and he’s been throwing the ball exceptionally well, as well as anybody on our team, so that was an easy decision for us based on how well he’s throwing and the role we’ve been using him in coming into this weekend,” Mingione said.