Nick Mingione collects win No. 150 as Kentucky secures series sweep

There’s history all around Lexington today. Thanks to Kentucky’s 16-5 win over Western Michigan on Sunday afternoon, Nick Mingione recorded his 150th win as head coach of the ‘Cats. Mingione continues to climb up the career ladder as his team elongated their undefeated start.

“It means we’ve had a lot of good players. Without them, you don’t win games.” Mingione laughingly noted after the win. “We’re thankful for the players who’ve been a part of this… just the opportunity to be here that [athletic director] Mitch [Barnhart] has given us. But those wins are because of those players, you don’t get wins if you don’t have really good players.”

Wildcat bats refuse to cool down

As we’ve seen now for seven victories, this iteration of Kentucky’s offense has the potential to be scary good. Granted, you have to realize too that this is coming against pitchers with astronomical ERAs. They’re not necessarily being tested all that much right now.

Still though, the returns so far this season are even better than expected. Over half of the starters are batting over .400 to begin the year — Ryan Ritter isn’t too far behind either. Many of the hitters who came into the year with questions around the plate have quelled those concerns so far. That matters. You could tell pretty early last season whether someone would be a good hitter or not. For this team, there’s not one person who is in a notable slump at the moment.

Ritter has recorded a hit in every game so far this season. So naturally, the All-American shortstop lined a single to lead off the game. Following a Jake Plastiak single that got Ritter to third, he raced home on a wild pitch from Nick Crandell to open up the scoring for the Wildcats.

More scoring followed suit in the second, coming from maybe Kentucky’s hottest hitter right now in Daniel Harris. The second-basemen ripped a double which scored Oraj Anu all the way from first base. He later scored on a sac-fly off the bat of John Thrasher. Harris, the grad transfer from Eastern Kentucky has arguably been the most valuable Wildcat into the season. He leads the team in hitting, slashing an absurd .500 early in the season while slugging near .600.

“He steals bases, he’s a phenomenal defender, but he’s a winning baseball player. I’m glad he’s a Wildcat.” Mingione said after the game.

More impressive though might be his passion and emotion out on the field. The man is all gas, no breaks at every single moment. Whether it’s him getting hype for himself or his teammates, it’s hard to not notice Harris. He’s the perfect ride-or-die teammate that you absolutely need on great teams. If his bat doesn’t cool down significantly, we could be watching a special type of player.

Chase Estep, who was barreling up balls all afternoon, launched a home run that barely cleared the right-field fence in the third. In the next inning, Alonzo Rubalcaba took advantage of the hit-and-run, ripping a double down the left-field line that allowed Harris to score from first.

Scoring stalled until the bottom of the eighth for the Cats. Hunter Jump led off the inning with a walk and was taken out in place of Nolan McCarthy to pinch run. Kirk Liebert was sent up to sacrifice himself for the cause, asked to bunt.

He did successfully, and should’ve been out at first, but the first basemen couldn’t corral the throw. In an incredibly savvy move, McCarthy busted off to third base the moment the ball fell out of the first basemen’s glove. If he waited even a second later, there was a good chance he could’ve been thrown out going to third.

Oraj Anu gave Kentucky the lead with a bloop single over the second basemen. He eventually injured himself rounding third after the Bronco center fielder dropped a fly ball, allowing the seventh run to come in. We don’t know anything at the moment, but it wasn’t great to see Anu gingerly limp off the field after the start he’s had to the season. John Thrasher added a double to put this game out of reach. Kentucky ended up scoring 11 in the inning, eventually leading to a mercy-rule victory.

“It shows that we just want to win,” Harris said of the team’s resiliency late in games “Everybody wants to win and it’s all we preach, winning.”

Starting pitching still a concern early

Seeing blistering offenses consistently is pretty cool and all, but having to score nearly double digits every game to win will eventually get old. And eventually feels like it’s coming soon as we were subjugated to watch another worrying start.

Tyler Bosma was on the bump today for his second consecutive Sunday start. Following his one run, five-inning performance in his debut, Bosma was looking strong until fading towards the end. The first run of the game really wasn’t his fault. Hunter Jump couldn’t get under a fly ball in right, allowing Justin McIntyre to score from first base, giving Western Michigan the lead in the top of the first.

The Miami transfer ended up allowing eight hits and five earned runs over five innings of action. What makes it strange is that he displayed moments of dominance. In both the second and fourth inning, he struck out the side, mowing guys down. It was a very up-and-down start for Bosma. He didn’t really disappoint until he allowed four straight singles in the fifth, allowing Western Michigan to tie the ball game at the time.

Kentucky’s bullpen keeps it close again

For all the struggles that the starting pitching staff has had this season, it is the complete opposite of the bullpen. The additions of Zack Lee, Darren Williams and Ryan Hagenow to the pen have made an immense difference. When the starters have begun to wear out and leave the Wildcats in bad spots, the guys running in from beyond left field have been exceptional.

On Sunday, Darren Williams was called on to stop the bleeding. He was phenomenal in his start. The grad transfer went three innings of scoreless ball, allowing three hits. He didn’t walk or strike anybody out, so he obviously got a little help from his defense. Particularly Ryan Ritter, who won’t stop making gold glove plays.

Yooooooo, @RyRit47 is absurd. @d1baseball #SCTop10

Watch: SECN+ pic.twitter.com/wixYgv9z2P

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) February 27, 2022

We’ll next see Kentucky at Kentucky Proud Park this Tuesday for a weekday matchup with Western Kentucky. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. EST and is scheduled to be broadcasted on the SEC Network+.