Kentucky realizes SEC crown is within reach

Kentucky Baseball could clinch its second ever SEC Regular Season Championship this weekend in its final regular season series against Vanderbilt.

Coach Nick Mingione and the team however are trying to remain as level headed as they can be.

“Yesterday when I spoke to the team, we went over exactly what this weekend entailed and what was on the line,” Mingione said at Wednesday morning’s press opportunity. “We reminded them ‘hey, when you’re climbing a mountain you don’t just stare at the mountain top, you go one step at a time.’ The reason we’re in this spot is because we’ve done an amazing job at just doing whatever’s next and whatever that day called for.”

Kentucky has won just one SEC regular season title in program history. In 2006, they shared the crown with Alabama (20-10). The Cats have an opportunity to win their second crown this weekend and set the program record for most SEC wins in a season with just one win over the Commodores.

“That team and this team, so competitive,” Mingione responded when asked about the similarities between 2006 and 2024. “I’m talking some of the highest level competitors with edge. And you watch our games and there’s been times where it’s chippy and there’s been warnings and you know from both sides. But man, those two teams, their competitive spirits are so similar.”

Heading into the final weekend of the regular season in College Baseball, Kentucky sits at No. 1 in the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index). It’s 18 wins against Quad 1 teams are first in the country by a wide margin. Tennessee’s 13 wins against Quad 1 teams ranks second in the country.

The Bat Cats aren’t just winning, they’re winning against the best of the best. Because of this, they’ve positioned themselves as the No. 1 overall seed in D1Baseball’s latest Field of 64 Projections.

“Obviously if you can be number one you want it,” Mingione said. “If you can be the one, be the one. But I would say being in the top eight is super important, because now the path to Omaha is in your hands and it’s at your place. We experienced that last year having to go to Baton Rouge. There’s just no place like home.”

RS junior outfielder Nolan McCarthy joined Matt Jones and the KSR crew Wednesday morning, where he gave his thoughts on the weekend’s proceedings as well.

“I was gonna go out there and say it’s like any other game, but obviously we all know what’s on the line,” McCarthy said. “We know what it takes to win and it doesn’t really matter who we’re playing at that point, so we play our game. There’s a lot on the line and we’d like to say we have chips on our shoulders.”

All season long, many in the sport have expected a bit of a “coming back down to earth” moment from the Cats, but that just hasn’t happened.

“We love it. We play best as an underdog so the rankings can say what they want to say, but we know who we are and we love that people don’t respect us still. We’re starting to get more respect but I mean it just adds to the fire we have going on and all of our guys are unbelievable competitors. It’s fun.”

Kentucky’s final series of the regular season against Vanderbilt kicks off Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. EST at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington.

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