April 29, 2025 • 19 mins
Darren Headrick talks with Kentucky Baseball Coach Nick Mingione. Listen starting at 7:30pm ET.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
After winning six of their last eight, the Kentucky Wildcats
are back on the road this week, hoping to stay
hot as they take on Western Kentucky and Mississippi State.
You're tuned into the Nick menje Oon Show. Good evening, everybody.
I'm Darren Hedrick. Coach will slide in alongside coming up
in just a few minutes. Kentucky was impressive this past week,
winning three of four. They run ruled their rival at
(00:21):
Louisville on Tuesday night seventeen to five, came back on
the weekend and took two out of three from South Carolina.
Big starts on the weekend. They also had some big
time performances at the plate. We'll talk about all of
that with the head coach coming up next. Stick around.
This is the Nick Menjeon Show here on the UK
Sports Network. Well, welcome you back into the Nickmnjeones Show
(00:42):
as the Cats get ready for a four game road
trip this week, starting at Western Kentucky Tomorrow night at
seven o'clock Eastern. We'll be on the air at six
forty five with the pregame show from Bowling Green. But
Coach slides in here to talk about a three and
one week coach, your team defeats Louisville and run rule
fat comes back and wins the series from South Carolina.
(01:03):
What'd you like most about the way your team's played
this week?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
The wins, of course, you know, I just thought the
week started just in really the best way you could
start one against our in state rival, to ten run
them and not even play a full game, and just
did the crowd we had over five thousand people, what
a crowd, beautiful weather, and that really started us off
(01:27):
for a good week. And you know, we win the
first game of the doubleheader on Saturday, have the lead,
they hit a big home run, and you know, we lose,
and I think easily our guys could have just let
that suck the wind out of them and not come
back ready to go yesterday. But boy did they come
back ready to go, and same thing happened. They made
their run late and our guys just put them away.
(01:49):
And so for us to win three games and with
the opportunity to win for right, it was all right
there for us. So give you guys a lot of credit.
They're playing hard, we're getting better, and there's a vibe
going winning six of your last state games.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I know, We can talk a lot about the offense
producing big hits, but you're starting pitching. Coach Roseelle likes
to call him the tip of the spear. How special
have those guys been, whether it's been Nate Harris, Nick McKay,
Ethan Walker against Louisville and obviously Ben Cleaver on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah, you bring up a great point, and you know
me in my heart, it starts with pitching and defense
and when you sit there and you go through our guys,
and I thought Ewalk was fantastic on Tuesday, and he
really set the tone and attacked a really really good
lineup and just allowed our guys just to do what
we've been doing offensively, and that's really have offense. But
(02:42):
Ewalk was great. Nate Harris really set to tone. I
mean his best outing Todate and he just continues to
get better and better. I thought it started the last
couple weeks for Nate and it just carried over and Nick, Yeah,
he wasn't as sharp, but boy Ded Nial and some
of these other guys come in behind and really try
to help and give us a chance to win that game.
So and then Cleaver was just phenomenal. I mean his
(03:05):
competitive spirit, Darren, I say this week after a week,
but our guys love playing behind him. His energy, his effort,
and his competitive spirit is really one that makes it
easy to get behind. So yeah, proud of our starting pitching.
And then obviously I thought our bullpen was good as well,
but our starters have definitely carried a lot of the
load last two weeks.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Ethan Walker looks like he has really settled into that
midweek role and it looks like the confidence is really
building within him pitching against the midweks, and they've been
tough ones like Louisville.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, he's I mean, this is a guy who has
a lot of and you know this, but he has
a lot of college at bats, I mean innings underneath
his belt. I mean, this guy has just thrown and
thrown and thrown, and you know, I complimented him. I
pulled he Walk aside this week and just told him
how proud I was of him, because not only has Darren,
(03:56):
this guy thrown good in the midweek, he has made
himself availop on the weekends if we need them, so
he was available this weekend because he's been so efficient,
He's done such a good job with his body and boys,
he throwing the ball well. And I'm definitely super proud
of him because I mean you just think about, yeah,
he's throwing into midweek, but he's also available on the
weekends too. I mean, he's doing both roles for us,
(04:17):
and at the same time, he's gotten our weeks off
to a good start.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
When you talk about efficiency, over the last sixteen games,
eight times your pitching staff has limited opponents to three
walks or fewer, and in most of those other games
it's only been four or five walks. What can you
say about the way this team is limiting the free
bases for the opponents.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, and you know when we've gotten in trouble, it's
because we've kind of compounded some of those is what
we call takets, you know, the walks, the hvps, the
errors or whatever it may be. But this staff has
just continued to attack the strike zone. And you can
only do that if you have true belief in your stuff.
And you know we've mentioned the starters, that's who it
(04:59):
starts with. When you have his starting you have your
starting pitching attacking his own. As a reliever, you have
no choice but to come in and pound the zone
like Evan Byers did yesterday, like Tristan Hunter did earlier
in the week, right, Like these guys have just come
in Nile, and these guys have just come in and
just pounded in attacks. Simon gregorson what another great? I
mean what he did this past weekend. He threw twice
(05:19):
in a day. I felt like he was in the
big leagues. Right. You see that in the big leagues
all the time. So, but it starts with the starting pitching,
and our guys have come out of the bullpen and
to have attacked and it's been really good. Nate Harris.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I want to circle back to him real quick because
you threw him into the fire against lineups like Old
Miss Texas and Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
He's come out of.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
That for the better, coming off his best start against
South Carolina. Obviously his stuff plays at this level.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
What is it though.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
About his makeup that has allowed him to grow and
flourish against such a grinding, tough league.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
He's so consistent. He is just a consistent human being.
Every part of Nate Harris is so consistent. You see
him every day. I smile on what's up now, hey, coach?
Like I mean, he is just so consistent and goes
about his work. And you know, Coach Rosel I give
him a lot of credit. Early early in this fall,
I mean early this fall he called this. He was
(06:12):
just like man, Nate is just he's so easy to
communicate with. Coach Rosel does such a good job. Our
guys have journals that they have to do after every outing.
They have a sheet of paper. It's much like homework
and Coach Roseell marks it up and they have to
write their comments on there and he crossing stuff out
and he's like a teacher, you know what I mean.
But he just reading through some of the things in
(06:34):
the way Nate process things. Even back in the fall,
Coach Rozelle called it and just reading through it. He
has such a maturity and consistency about him that's really
helped him. Pitching has been fantastic.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
The hitters were on it against South Carolina this weekend.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
We'll talk about them when we come back.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
You're listening to the Nick Minjeone Show here on the
UK Sports Network. We welcome you back into the Nick
Menjeon Show as the Cats get ready to take on
Western Kentucky out in Bowling Green tomorrow night at seven clock.
But Kentucky's offense red hot against the game Cocks this weekend.
Scored eleven runs in the victory on Sunday, And Coach,
want to start off just asking you overall about the lineup.
(07:10):
How pleased were you with the way they performed, not
just getting the big home runs but executing the things
they needed to do to win.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, just super proud. And I thought it started on Tuesday.
It was just a quality app bat, just machine. I
mean that lineup and we were over eighty percent quality
at bats in the game, our highest total of the
whole year, and to do it against our in state
rival definitely felt good. I do need to put that
out there, but yeah, and you know, the amount of
(07:37):
production we've given a lot of guys opportunities. When you
think about the positional players that played this week, there
was a lot. But the guys have just produced so well.
You know. I can't say enough about Tyler and Patty
on Tuesday, and Devin was just so consistent throughout the week.
Raft what a game he had on Tuesday. Griff Cameron
has come in off the bench and done well. Luke
(07:58):
Lawrence cole Hage, I mean, and I'm just naming all
these guys. The job that Montoya played in right field
over the weekend, Hudey DH played first base. Swartz, I mean,
come on, like, we're getting everything we can out of
that guy. He has just been phenomenal. Carson Hanson, huge
home run, Caius, I know we'll talk about him. James Coons,
they have all these guys have all gotten opportunities, and
(08:20):
you know we're in this spot right now with our
guys in the personnel. I just think they know that
any at any game point and game, they could go
in the game, or they can start a game. And
that part has been fun just to watch all the
guys get all these opportunities that they're getting.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Coach, part of a big part of your offense is
the butt game, putting pressure on defenses, and over the
last week or so, we've seen some incredibly executed bunts.
Coons at Tennessee Hanson this past weekend, James McCoy really
deadned one to advance runners is on a Sunday in
baseball overall, it's almost like bunning is becoming a little
(08:56):
bit of a lost art.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
What makes your team so effective at it? Well, we had.
Let's thank you for bringing that up, and we haven't
been you know, this is one of those skills where
it's like we've had to keep teaching this team, and
we've spent an enormous amount of time on it. This
past week in practice, like we did our bunning what
we call bunning carousel. We did it off We usually
do them off machines. We did it off live arms
(09:18):
this week, just to continue. We had four coaches all
throwing at a time. We had four guys bunning. We
made it a competition. We're just like trying to teach them.
And you know, you've heard me say this a lot.
There's six components offense, and bunning is one of them.
And when you just I just go back to our
midweek game against Miami a couple weeks ago. We won
the game, you know, and against Texas on a walk
(09:38):
off buns, right, That's kind of how this whole thing started,
was off of bunning, and I just believing in my
heart that the guys at that point it's a whole
new team, as you know, basically it's like they're like, oh,
hopefully the light bulb thing went off for them, you
know what I mean it's just like, hey, so we
spent a lot of time on it, and there they're
(09:59):
willingness in their hearts to do it. You have to
be willing and you have to have a heart to
do it because in a lot of ways, it's called
a sacrifice bunt when a lot of times you're trying
to do hits. But let's use that word sacrifice like
they're making a sacrifice, Like they're doing this not for themselves.
They're doing it and if you were to ask any
one of our players, they're going to say for the team.
(10:20):
So it's like their hearts have been good to it,
and I'm thankful that we've gotten better at it. Actually
practiced it again today. It's so important.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
It's interesting our mutual friend Doug flann always tells me
to be an excellent bunter, you got to put your
face in there, right.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Oh man, honey did that? Honey? Honey said, real the
ball is coming out my face And I'm like, honey,
I'm so happy you like it hits your bat first?
Here is that? But yeah, you do. You got to
put your face in there. And we talk about being connected,
having your head connected to the barrel and how important
that is, and I mean, guys have done it in
the last couple of weeks and we definitely need to
(10:54):
keep that going.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Stolen bases have also been a big key for the
offense over the last six games thirty three swat pypes,
averaging over eight stolen bases a game in that stretch,
and Coach, we have seen a masterclass in how you
steal bases.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
The art of it.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I think back to Sunday, Ryan Schwartz and Luke Lawrence
on a double steal. As soon as the pitcher looked
home snapped, they were gone.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
And that's what you have to do. Be aggressive. You know,
this is interesting and I'm so happy to hear you
say this. And this was a good reminder for me, Darren,
because when we got to the end of the fall,
there were some things I shared with our staff. We
went through the entire fall, so many new players, especially
positional players, and one of the things I told them
that I was not comfortable with was our ability to
(11:38):
steal third base. And I just said, hey, we got
through the fall. I felt like they understood positioning. We
understood a lot of things, and we got better at
a lot of things. But I did not have peace
about our ability to steal third base. And as the
spring has gone on, to our players credit and coach
Kuzie and coach Sloan and writers, you know, these guys
have just spent a lot lot of time trying to
(12:01):
get our guys better at this from mastering head looks
and vaults and pregame running and all of it. It's
just it's been a part of our offense and the
team is getting better at it. So Schwartz did a
great job. I mean, Devin Berks did the same thing
with his back guy with him with Montoya, like, there
was a lot of guys that were able to do it.
And James I believe still third. So it's an area
(12:23):
that we're getting better at. We're still not where we
want to be, but thankful that the guys are getting better.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
How challenging can it be for a runner to read
when the right time is to go because these pitchers
have such great.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Moves, Yeah, they do, and they had very head looks
and there's different types of head looks, and there's so
many factors that go into it. The catcher, the lead,
how they're holding us at second. There's a lot that
goes into it. And you know, one of the things
that some teams have done is yeah, they've putting their
infielders there, but they've taken their defenders out of position too,
and it's cost them a lot of hits because of
(12:56):
the running game. So it also one thing it does
too is it stracts and divides the pitcher's attention when
he has to do that and he's worried about that, well,
sometimes maybe he doesn't get his head turned around and
pick up his target just as much, which could lead
to a ball. So there's so many factors. Even sometimes
I tell our guys this, the threat of the stolen
(13:17):
base sometimes is just as important as the stolen base
itself because it divides and it takes away from what
the pictures you're trying to do, and therefore that helps us.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Let's get to our final time out here on the
NICKNS Youon show. We'll chat about some of the individual
hitters when we come back for our final segment. This
is the UK Sports Network, Welcome back into the Nick
Mansion Show. The Cats have won six of eight as
they get ready to go on the road, facing Western
Kentucky tomorrow night and Mississippi State down in Starkville this weekend,
and Coach, let's talk about some of the big time
(13:48):
performers over this past week. I want to start with
Cole Hage over the weekend, seven hits, six RBIs even
his outs were loud. What kind of adjustments has he
been working on to get back to where he he
was early.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
In the season at the plate. Well, I just give
him so much credit because if you remember just a
week ago, he was not in the starting lineup, right,
I mean we're at Tennessee and he's not in the
starting lineup. And you know, we had a great conversation
the past weekend during batting practice at Tennessee, and then
(14:24):
you know, Coach Loan and him just got in there
and started working. And I give Cole so much credit.
One of his greatest gifts is his competitive spirit, Like
he loves to compete, and when Cole's at his best,
he's uber confident. And I would tell you that Cole
got to a spot this past week where he got
back to trusting his routine in his process, and when
(14:46):
he was at his best, he was like a machine
on everything he was doing pregame and as a result
by him being so committed to his drill work and
all the work he did prior gave him confidence and
he did that Cole. I just love his heart, Darren,
like we could have honest and open conversations about hey,
how do we get back to where you were? Like
(15:09):
what is off? What's different? How do we get you
back there? And he's just man, it was awesome. It
was so neat too, to hear him compliment Trevor fits
about how Trevor said, Oh, he kept telling him like,
let me see your teeth, like I can't wait to
see you smile, Like, Cole, you better have fun with this,
like I can't wait to see you smile in our
game on Tuesday, I can't wait to see you on
Friday and Saturday. Its just like having so much fun
(15:31):
while competing. And you know, to hear him say that
about Trevor, which is so awesome, but it just goes
to show you just how we all have a hand
in making an impact and Trevor's done that so many
times in so many ways for this team, and to
hear Cole recognize him just made me super happy. But
Cole's maturity, his toughness, his edge has been really good
and thankful and you know what I think if you
(15:53):
ask any one of our staff members that watched him
his preparation this week, the way he went about practice,
we give him some extra at bats early in the
middle of the week, just it was phenomenal and we
could all see it coming.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Also making an impact this past week and was Kius Gargett.
He was spelling Patrick Herrera who's banged up playing third base,
and also came up with some big hits. I think
it was six hits, four RBIs over the four games
last week.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Yeah, it just tells you everything you need to about Caius.
I mean, the guy that's just waited his turn has
been a phenomenal teammate, just worked at the entire time,
got opportunities the first game of the year and had
very limited and just kept preparing and getting better. And
you could just as the spring went on, as batting
practice started getting better and his confidence level. And the
one thing I've continued to say about Caius is his
(16:39):
competitive spirit has been so good for our team. It
starts in the box. He's that way in the dugout,
in between innings. He's just his competitive spirit has been
something to admire and for him to be able to
just step right into third. And you know, I know
Patty helped them, and you know, I'm sure Hindel was
in there helping him too, and just so neat to
see the guys just pull for one another. And his
(17:01):
role on this team especially have been laid has been
super super important for us.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
We can't go a show without mentioning Tyler Baill. He
had a three run double bases loaded on Sunday, came
away with eight RBIs over four games last week. If
he's not sec Freshman of the Year or at least
a contender, that I don't even know why we have.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
The award, right, Oh man, you know who I'm voing for. Yeah, right,
you know where my heart is. I mean yeah, just
his competitive I feel like I'm mentioning this over and
over about so many guys, but their competitive spirit, and
you know that is just so important. And his confidence level.
Why this is a guy that prepares. I mean, he
(17:41):
is so confident because he trusts his preparation and he's
going about it, and his preparation is well thought out
and planned, and so he's a guy that obviously huge,
hits great defensively, He's just been phenomenal, and you've gotten
big hits after big hits, and you know, I thought
that double was huge in that ball game yesterday, and
(18:01):
what a read by James McCoy at first base to
get all the way around the bases. And you know,
James is another guy, you know, just man, he's played
first What a job he came in yesterday and just pitched.
And James's competitive spirit and just vibe has been so
good for us. You know. So We've had so many
guys that have been in that role and helped in
(18:22):
so many ways. But Tyler, just man, you know, we
put him in the lead off spot and as much
like Waldy, you know, there's a first rounder and you
know in Walshmidt and I just told Tyler, like your competitiveness,
we want you at the top, like you need to
be setting the tone for offense, and he has certainly
done that.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Coach back on the road this week, your team has
won ten of sixteen away from Lexington.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Got a chance to win four more this week. We'll
talk to you tomorrow night in Bowling Green. Thank you
go Katz.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
That's head coach Nick Minjeona, and this has been the
Nick Benjeon Show. We'll join you tomorrow night from Western
Kentucky as the Cats take on the Hilltoppers at seven o'clock.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
We'll be on the air at six forty five. This
is the UK Sports Network.
After winning six of their last eight, the Kentucky Wildcats
are back on the road this week, hoping to stay
hot as they take on Western Kentucky and Mississippi State.
You're tuned into the Nick menje Oon Show. Good evening, everybody.
I'm Darren Hedrick. Coach will slide in alongside coming up
in just a few minutes. Kentucky was impressive this past week,
winning three of four. They run ruled their rival at
(00:21):
Louisville on Tuesday night seventeen to five, came back on
the weekend and took two out of three from South Carolina.
Big starts on the weekend. They also had some big
time performances at the plate. We'll talk about all of
that with the head coach coming up next. Stick around.
This is the Nick Menjeon Show here on the UK
Sports Network. Well, welcome you back into the Nickmnjeones Show
(00:42):
as the Cats get ready for a four game road
trip this week, starting at Western Kentucky Tomorrow night at
seven o'clock Eastern. We'll be on the air at six
forty five with the pregame show from Bowling Green. But
Coach slides in here to talk about a three and
one week coach, your team defeats Louisville and run rule
fat comes back and wins the series from South Carolina.
(01:03):
What'd you like most about the way your team's played
this week?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
The wins, of course, you know, I just thought the
week started just in really the best way you could
start one against our in state rival, to ten run
them and not even play a full game, and just
did the crowd we had over five thousand people, what
a crowd, beautiful weather, and that really started us off
(01:27):
for a good week. And you know, we win the
first game of the doubleheader on Saturday, have the lead,
they hit a big home run, and you know, we lose,
and I think easily our guys could have just let
that suck the wind out of them and not come
back ready to go yesterday. But boy did they come
back ready to go, and same thing happened. They made
their run late and our guys just put them away.
(01:49):
And so for us to win three games and with
the opportunity to win for right, it was all right
there for us. So give you guys a lot of credit.
They're playing hard, we're getting better, and there's a vibe
going winning six of your last state games.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
I know, We can talk a lot about the offense
producing big hits, but you're starting pitching. Coach Roseelle likes
to call him the tip of the spear. How special
have those guys been, whether it's been Nate Harris, Nick McKay,
Ethan Walker against Louisville and obviously Ben Cleaver on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah, you bring up a great point, and you know
me in my heart, it starts with pitching and defense
and when you sit there and you go through our guys,
and I thought Ewalk was fantastic on Tuesday, and he
really set the tone and attacked a really really good
lineup and just allowed our guys just to do what
we've been doing offensively, and that's really have offense. But
(02:42):
Ewalk was great. Nate Harris really set to tone. I
mean his best outing Todate and he just continues to
get better and better. I thought it started the last
couple weeks for Nate and it just carried over and Nick, Yeah,
he wasn't as sharp, but boy Ded Nial and some
of these other guys come in behind and really try
to help and give us a chance to win that game.
So and then Cleaver was just phenomenal. I mean his
(03:05):
competitive spirit, Darren, I say this week after a week,
but our guys love playing behind him. His energy, his effort,
and his competitive spirit is really one that makes it
easy to get behind. So yeah, proud of our starting pitching.
And then obviously I thought our bullpen was good as well,
but our starters have definitely carried a lot of the
load last two weeks.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Ethan Walker looks like he has really settled into that
midweek role and it looks like the confidence is really
building within him pitching against the midweks, and they've been
tough ones like Louisville.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, he's I mean, this is a guy who has
a lot of and you know this, but he has
a lot of college at bats, I mean innings underneath
his belt. I mean, this guy has just thrown and
thrown and thrown, and you know, I complimented him. I
pulled he Walk aside this week and just told him
how proud I was of him, because not only has Darren,
(03:56):
this guy thrown good in the midweek, he has made
himself availop on the weekends if we need them, so
he was available this weekend because he's been so efficient,
He's done such a good job with his body and boys,
he throwing the ball well. And I'm definitely super proud
of him because I mean you just think about, yeah,
he's throwing into midweek, but he's also available on the
weekends too. I mean, he's doing both roles for us,
(04:17):
and at the same time, he's gotten our weeks off
to a good start.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
When you talk about efficiency, over the last sixteen games,
eight times your pitching staff has limited opponents to three
walks or fewer, and in most of those other games
it's only been four or five walks. What can you
say about the way this team is limiting the free
bases for the opponents.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, and you know when we've gotten in trouble, it's
because we've kind of compounded some of those is what
we call takets, you know, the walks, the hvps, the
errors or whatever it may be. But this staff has
just continued to attack the strike zone. And you can
only do that if you have true belief in your stuff.
And you know we've mentioned the starters, that's who it
(04:59):
starts with. When you have his starting you have your
starting pitching attacking his own. As a reliever, you have
no choice but to come in and pound the zone
like Evan Byers did yesterday, like Tristan Hunter did earlier
in the week, right, Like these guys have just come
in Nile, and these guys have just come in and
just pounded in attacks. Simon gregorson what another great? I
mean what he did this past weekend. He threw twice
(05:19):
in a day. I felt like he was in the
big leagues. Right. You see that in the big leagues
all the time. So, but it starts with the starting pitching,
and our guys have come out of the bullpen and
to have attacked and it's been really good. Nate Harris.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I want to circle back to him real quick because
you threw him into the fire against lineups like Old
Miss Texas and Tennessee.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
He's come out of.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
That for the better, coming off his best start against
South Carolina. Obviously his stuff plays at this level.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
What is it though.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
About his makeup that has allowed him to grow and
flourish against such a grinding, tough league.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
He's so consistent. He is just a consistent human being.
Every part of Nate Harris is so consistent. You see
him every day. I smile on what's up now, hey, coach?
Like I mean, he is just so consistent and goes
about his work. And you know, Coach Rosel I give
him a lot of credit. Early early in this fall,
I mean early this fall he called this. He was
(06:12):
just like man, Nate is just he's so easy to
communicate with. Coach Rosel does such a good job. Our
guys have journals that they have to do after every outing.
They have a sheet of paper. It's much like homework
and Coach Roseell marks it up and they have to
write their comments on there and he crossing stuff out
and he's like a teacher, you know what I mean.
But he just reading through some of the things in
(06:34):
the way Nate process things. Even back in the fall,
Coach Rozelle called it and just reading through it. He
has such a maturity and consistency about him that's really
helped him. Pitching has been fantastic.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
The hitters were on it against South Carolina this weekend.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
We'll talk about them when we come back.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
You're listening to the Nick Minjeone Show here on the
UK Sports Network. We welcome you back into the Nick
Menjeon Show as the Cats get ready to take on
Western Kentucky out in Bowling Green tomorrow night at seven clock.
But Kentucky's offense red hot against the game Cocks this weekend.
Scored eleven runs in the victory on Sunday, And Coach,
want to start off just asking you overall about the lineup.
(07:10):
How pleased were you with the way they performed, not
just getting the big home runs but executing the things
they needed to do to win.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, just super proud. And I thought it started on Tuesday.
It was just a quality app bat, just machine. I
mean that lineup and we were over eighty percent quality
at bats in the game, our highest total of the
whole year, and to do it against our in state
rival definitely felt good. I do need to put that
out there, but yeah, and you know, the amount of
(07:37):
production we've given a lot of guys opportunities. When you
think about the positional players that played this week, there
was a lot. But the guys have just produced so well.
You know. I can't say enough about Tyler and Patty
on Tuesday, and Devin was just so consistent throughout the week.
Raft what a game he had on Tuesday. Griff Cameron
has come in off the bench and done well. Luke
(07:58):
Lawrence cole Hage, I mean, and I'm just naming all
these guys. The job that Montoya played in right field
over the weekend, Hudey DH played first base. Swartz, I mean,
come on, like, we're getting everything we can out of
that guy. He has just been phenomenal. Carson Hanson, huge
home run, Caius, I know we'll talk about him. James Coons,
they have all these guys have all gotten opportunities, and
(08:20):
you know we're in this spot right now with our
guys in the personnel. I just think they know that
any at any game point and game, they could go
in the game, or they can start a game. And
that part has been fun just to watch all the
guys get all these opportunities that they're getting.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Coach, part of a big part of your offense is
the butt game, putting pressure on defenses, and over the
last week or so, we've seen some incredibly executed bunts.
Coons at Tennessee Hanson this past weekend, James McCoy really
deadned one to advance runners is on a Sunday in
baseball overall, it's almost like bunning is becoming a little
(08:56):
bit of a lost art.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
What makes your team so effective at it? Well, we had.
Let's thank you for bringing that up, and we haven't
been you know, this is one of those skills where
it's like we've had to keep teaching this team, and
we've spent an enormous amount of time on it. This
past week in practice, like we did our bunning what
we call bunning carousel. We did it off We usually
do them off machines. We did it off live arms
(09:18):
this week, just to continue. We had four coaches all
throwing at a time. We had four guys bunning. We
made it a competition. We're just like trying to teach them.
And you know, you've heard me say this a lot.
There's six components offense, and bunning is one of them.
And when you just I just go back to our
midweek game against Miami a couple weeks ago. We won
the game, you know, and against Texas on a walk
(09:38):
off buns, right, That's kind of how this whole thing started,
was off of bunning, and I just believing in my
heart that the guys at that point it's a whole
new team, as you know, basically it's like they're like, oh,
hopefully the light bulb thing went off for them, you
know what I mean it's just like, hey, so we
spent a lot of time on it, and there they're
(09:59):
willingness in their hearts to do it. You have to
be willing and you have to have a heart to
do it because in a lot of ways, it's called
a sacrifice bunt when a lot of times you're trying
to do hits. But let's use that word sacrifice like
they're making a sacrifice, Like they're doing this not for themselves.
They're doing it and if you were to ask any
one of our players, they're going to say for the team.
(10:20):
So it's like their hearts have been good to it,
and I'm thankful that we've gotten better at it. Actually
practiced it again today. It's so important.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
It's interesting our mutual friend Doug flann always tells me
to be an excellent bunter, you got to put your
face in there, right.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Oh man, honey did that? Honey? Honey said, real the
ball is coming out my face And I'm like, honey,
I'm so happy you like it hits your bat first?
Here is that? But yeah, you do. You got to
put your face in there. And we talk about being connected,
having your head connected to the barrel and how important
that is, and I mean, guys have done it in
the last couple of weeks and we definitely need to
(10:54):
keep that going.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Stolen bases have also been a big key for the
offense over the last six games thirty three swat pypes,
averaging over eight stolen bases a game in that stretch,
and Coach, we have seen a masterclass in how you
steal bases.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
The art of it.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I think back to Sunday, Ryan Schwartz and Luke Lawrence
on a double steal. As soon as the pitcher looked
home snapped, they were gone.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
And that's what you have to do. Be aggressive. You know,
this is interesting and I'm so happy to hear you
say this. And this was a good reminder for me, Darren,
because when we got to the end of the fall,
there were some things I shared with our staff. We
went through the entire fall, so many new players, especially
positional players, and one of the things I told them
that I was not comfortable with was our ability to
(11:38):
steal third base. And I just said, hey, we got
through the fall. I felt like they understood positioning. We
understood a lot of things, and we got better at
a lot of things. But I did not have peace
about our ability to steal third base. And as the
spring has gone on, to our players credit and coach
Kuzie and coach Sloan and writers, you know, these guys
have just spent a lot lot of time trying to
(12:01):
get our guys better at this from mastering head looks
and vaults and pregame running and all of it. It's
just it's been a part of our offense and the
team is getting better at it. So Schwartz did a
great job. I mean, Devin Berks did the same thing
with his back guy with him with Montoya, like, there
was a lot of guys that were able to do it.
And James I believe still third. So it's an area
(12:23):
that we're getting better at. We're still not where we
want to be, but thankful that the guys are getting better.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
How challenging can it be for a runner to read
when the right time is to go because these pitchers
have such great.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Moves, Yeah, they do, and they had very head looks
and there's different types of head looks, and there's so
many factors that go into it. The catcher, the lead,
how they're holding us at second. There's a lot that
goes into it. And you know, one of the things
that some teams have done is yeah, they've putting their
infielders there, but they've taken their defenders out of position too,
and it's cost them a lot of hits because of
(12:56):
the running game. So it also one thing it does
too is it stracts and divides the pitcher's attention when
he has to do that and he's worried about that, well,
sometimes maybe he doesn't get his head turned around and
pick up his target just as much, which could lead
to a ball. So there's so many factors. Even sometimes
I tell our guys this, the threat of the stolen
(13:17):
base sometimes is just as important as the stolen base
itself because it divides and it takes away from what
the pictures you're trying to do, and therefore that helps us.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
Let's get to our final time out here on the
NICKNS Youon show. We'll chat about some of the individual
hitters when we come back for our final segment. This
is the UK Sports Network, Welcome back into the Nick
Mansion Show. The Cats have won six of eight as
they get ready to go on the road, facing Western
Kentucky tomorrow night and Mississippi State down in Starkville this weekend,
and Coach, let's talk about some of the big time
(13:48):
performers over this past week. I want to start with
Cole Hage over the weekend, seven hits, six RBIs even
his outs were loud. What kind of adjustments has he
been working on to get back to where he he
was early.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
In the season at the plate. Well, I just give
him so much credit because if you remember just a
week ago, he was not in the starting lineup, right,
I mean we're at Tennessee and he's not in the
starting lineup. And you know, we had a great conversation
the past weekend during batting practice at Tennessee, and then
(14:24):
you know, Coach Loan and him just got in there
and started working. And I give Cole so much credit.
One of his greatest gifts is his competitive spirit, Like
he loves to compete, and when Cole's at his best,
he's uber confident. And I would tell you that Cole
got to a spot this past week where he got
back to trusting his routine in his process, and when
(14:46):
he was at his best, he was like a machine
on everything he was doing pregame and as a result
by him being so committed to his drill work and
all the work he did prior gave him confidence and
he did that Cole. I just love his heart, Darren,
like we could have honest and open conversations about hey,
how do we get back to where you were? Like
(15:09):
what is off? What's different? How do we get you
back there? And he's just man, it was awesome. It
was so neat too, to hear him compliment Trevor fits
about how Trevor said, Oh, he kept telling him like,
let me see your teeth, like I can't wait to
see you smile, Like, Cole, you better have fun with this,
like I can't wait to see you smile in our
game on Tuesday, I can't wait to see you on
Friday and Saturday. Its just like having so much fun
(15:31):
while competing. And you know, to hear him say that
about Trevor, which is so awesome, but it just goes
to show you just how we all have a hand
in making an impact and Trevor's done that so many
times in so many ways for this team, and to
hear Cole recognize him just made me super happy. But
Cole's maturity, his toughness, his edge has been really good
and thankful and you know what I think if you
(15:53):
ask any one of our staff members that watched him
his preparation this week, the way he went about practice,
we give him some extra at bats early in the
middle of the week, just it was phenomenal and we
could all see it coming.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Also making an impact this past week and was Kius Gargett.
He was spelling Patrick Herrera who's banged up playing third base,
and also came up with some big hits. I think
it was six hits, four RBIs over the four games
last week.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Yeah, it just tells you everything you need to about Caius.
I mean, the guy that's just waited his turn has
been a phenomenal teammate, just worked at the entire time,
got opportunities the first game of the year and had
very limited and just kept preparing and getting better. And
you could just as the spring went on, as batting
practice started getting better and his confidence level. And the
one thing I've continued to say about Caius is his
(16:39):
competitive spirit has been so good for our team. It
starts in the box. He's that way in the dugout,
in between innings. He's just his competitive spirit has been
something to admire and for him to be able to
just step right into third. And you know, I know
Patty helped them, and you know, I'm sure Hindel was
in there helping him too, and just so neat to
see the guys just pull for one another. And his
(17:01):
role on this team especially have been laid has been
super super important for us.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
We can't go a show without mentioning Tyler Baill. He
had a three run double bases loaded on Sunday, came
away with eight RBIs over four games last week. If
he's not sec Freshman of the Year or at least
a contender, that I don't even know why we have.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
The award, right, Oh man, you know who I'm voing for. Yeah, right,
you know where my heart is. I mean yeah, just
his competitive I feel like I'm mentioning this over and
over about so many guys, but their competitive spirit, and
you know that is just so important. And his confidence level.
Why this is a guy that prepares. I mean, he
(17:41):
is so confident because he trusts his preparation and he's
going about it, and his preparation is well thought out
and planned, and so he's a guy that obviously huge,
hits great defensively, He's just been phenomenal, and you've gotten
big hits after big hits, and you know, I thought
that double was huge in that ball game yesterday, and
(18:01):
what a read by James McCoy at first base to
get all the way around the bases. And you know,
James is another guy, you know, just man, he's played
first What a job he came in yesterday and just pitched.
And James's competitive spirit and just vibe has been so
good for us. You know. So We've had so many
guys that have been in that role and helped in
(18:22):
so many ways. But Tyler, just man, you know, we
put him in the lead off spot and as much
like Waldy, you know, there's a first rounder and you
know in Walshmidt and I just told Tyler, like your competitiveness,
we want you at the top, like you need to
be setting the tone for offense, and he has certainly
done that.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Coach back on the road this week, your team has
won ten of sixteen away from Lexington.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Got a chance to win four more this week. We'll
talk to you tomorrow night in Bowling Green. Thank you
go Katz.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
That's head coach Nick Minjeona, and this has been the
Nick Benjeon Show. We'll join you tomorrow night from Western
Kentucky as the Cats take on the Hilltoppers at seven o'clock.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
We'll be on the air at six forty five. This
is the UK Sports Network.
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