Kentucky Baseball “feeds off” nine hit-by-pitches vs. Indiana

Kentucky Baseball dominated both its games yesterday, beating West Virginia 10-0 and Indiana 16-6 to stay alive in the NCAA Tournament Regional. The big day didn’t come without some big bruises. Kentucky players were hit by 14 pitches yesterday, nine vs. Indiana. That’s just one shy of the NCAA Tournament record of ten, which Iowa actually tied in its loss to Indiana State.

Over the course of the regional, Kentucky has been hit by 21 pitches, 14 in 17 innings vs. Indiana. If you add in the regular season game vs. the Hoosiers, Indiana has hit 20 UK batters in 24 innings this season. As you might expect, those hit-by-pitches (HBPs) were a big topic of last night’s postgame press conference.

“Just really proud of our guys’ toughness,” Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said in his opening statement. “Obviously to play two games in one day with your back against the wall and I think it was no more evident than the way our hitters stood in there and wore HBPs. How many times did we get hit? Nine times. Real toughness.”

Five different Wildcats were hit by pitches on Sunday: Jase Felker (4), Devin Burkes (3), Reuben Church (3), Jackson Gray (2), and Grant Smith (2). Outfielder Nolan McCarthy and infielder Hunter Gilliam told reporters that after being hit by five pitches vs. West Virginia, Kentucky switched up its batting practice to prepare for a chippy game vs. Indiana.

“We actually changed our BP [batting practice] up a little bit before the second game today,” Gilliam said. “We worked on some HBPs. And it’s part of our game. And we feed off of it.

“There’s grown men up in that locker room who aren’t afraid — you could throw it 150 miles an hour and we’ve got dudes, I promise you, who will stand in there. It doesn’t faze us. It fires up the boys and we love it.”

“Kendall rolled some of the best BP out there,” McCarthy added. “It was our last round. And we said, one guy up and he’s throwing it at our legs and we’re turning into it, gonna let it hit us. It’s a free base. Why not take whatever they give us.”

“Is this not incredible, the unselfishness?” Mingione said. “They asked me about that on air. Was that your idea?”

“That was Chase Stanke,” McCarthy replied.

“This is player-driven,” Mingione said. “They’re going to stand in there and in batting practice they’re just going to get hit. Real baseballs or –“

“Real baseballs,” McCarthy said.

“Come on,” Mingione said. “This is not normal. This is not normal. Like, I’ve told you, these guys are very unselfish.”

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Preparing for HBPs, keeping emotions in check

How exactly does one prepare to be hit by a pitch?

“There is a technique,” Gilliam said. “We asked the BP thrower to just throw it at us and then there were about 10 guys behind the net fired up when one dude would wear one. It was pretty interesting. It’s cool. I’ve never been part of something like that. It was fun. We’ll do it tomorrow.”

“If anyone was tired before that second game, they were after they got hit,” McCarthy said. “We’re ready to go.”

“I love my team,” Gilliam said, laughing.

Emotions will be high again tonight as the Cats and the Hoosiers square off for a spot in the Super Regional, which would be only the second in Kentucky Baseball history. Mingione said he thought his team handled yesterday’s HBPs well but will keep a close eye on them tonight to make sure they’re not too amped up.

“Everybody handles things differently. Some of them get fired up. Some of them get mad. They all kind of handle it a little differently. But I think they did a good job today. But if one guy goes too much the other way, we’ll kind of coach him up.”

Someone needs to keep an eye on Mingione and Mitch Barnhart. After last night’s game wrapped, Mingione had words with an Indiana assistant, prompting Barnhart to step in and be the get-back coach; however, judging by the look on Mitch’s face, he was ready to throw down as well.

Mingione with some words with the IU Assistant

Look at the end as Mitch is READY TO GO!!!! pic.twitter.com/VZQfGLC1HG

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) June 5, 2023

“Guys, there’s a lot at stake here,” Mingione said when asked about the encounter after the game. “We’re all playing for a lot of really important things. And when you have a group of competitive coaches, players, that happens.

“So I give the umpires a lot of credit. I think they’ve done a great job handling and managing everything. So kudos to the umpires, you know. I think they’ve done a great job.”

Round three, tonight at 6 p.m. at Kentucky Proud Park. Can’t wait.