Darren Headrick Stops By to Preview the Super Regional!

Darren Headrick joins the show to preview the first ever Super Regional hosted at home! We also recap the first couple of days for Track and Field and the NCAA Outdoor Championships!

Episode Transcript

(00:10):
Happy Friday, Big Blue Nation,and welcome inside the latest edition of the
UK Sports Network Today podcast. AndrewKapus here your host, and this is
a Super Regional preview as Kentucky getsset to host the Oregon State Beavers at
Kentucky Proud Park. First time ever, Kentucky Baseball is hosting a Super Regional

(00:30):
as they look to get to Omahafor the very first time in school history,
trying to capture a College World Seriescrown. Also the NCAA Track and
Field Outdoor Championships going on right now. Will have a three day recap of
Kentucky so far and a quick lookahead at what's coming on later today Friday
as the championships roll on through theweekend. But Darren Hedrick is here and

(00:55):
he will be by to talk Kentuckybaseball, not just the Super Rechi preview
that begins on Saturday at six pmagainst Oregon State, a best of three
series to determine who gets to goto Omaha. But we'll also look back
at the Lexington Regional in which Kentuckyran the table. They had three games,
they won three games minimum you cando in that double elimination format,

(01:17):
and they beat each team once WesternMichigan to get things started. Then they
took down Big Ten regular season championIllinois before taking down Indiana State, who
is a surprising addition to the LexingtonRegional despite many thinking they could be a
national seed and a regional host themselves. But despite that tough region, all
is well, that ends well forKentucky and now they have one of the

(01:38):
toughest Super Regional opponents as well,Travis Pizana, a potential number one overall
pick in the MLB Draft next monthin his Oregon State Beaver's role into town.
The UK Sports Network Today podcast isalways presented by the Big Blue Brew.
It's the official newsletter of UK Athletics. You can sign up today at

(01:59):
ukathletics dot com slash Big Blue Brew. The Big Blue Brew is completely free
and it hits inboxes every single weekdaymorning. Once again, that's Ukathletics dot
Com slash Big Blue Brew. DarrenHedrick, the voice of the Batcats,
had a fun weekend at the LexingtonRegional. He has an even more fun

(02:19):
weekend on tap with Oregon State.Here for the Super Regional and for that
preview, here's Darren Super Regional Action. Just a day away here in Lexington,
Kentucky, as the Cats get readyto take on Oregon State in a
best of three for their first evertrip to Omaha on the line. And
who better to have on to talkabout it than the voice of the Batcats,

(02:39):
mister Darren Hedrick. Darren, thankyou so much for your time on
what is a huge week for youand a big, big weekend for the
Cats. Yeah, Andrew, thanksfor the time as always, And you're
right, this is an opportunity fora historic run, something that Kentucky has
never done as a program. They'rethe last SEC team to try to make
Omaha. They're two wins away andthe first time they get to try and

(03:02):
do this at home, which makesit even more special. I can't be
more excited for this group of guysand I can't wait to see how it
goes this weekend. Just another testamentto the nickminge Own era, because you
look at the amount of Super Regionalappearances before he got here, it's like
a very dramatic graph going straight upever since he came in twenty seventeen.

(03:24):
Yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right, and he's been a part of program
history. Even when you go backto his assistant coaching days when he was
here under John Cohen. He's beenhere to see this historic rise and they
just keep checking off different milestones asa program. And so that next thing

(03:45):
now is to make it to oMahan. And here they are on the
doorstep looking back at the regional quickly. It's always interesting because the Superregional is
much more It seems clean cut.You know, you send your best guy
out here. It's a best outof three regionally, there's a little bit
of strategy involved, whether you throwyour best guy in the first game.
Kentucky elected to kind of switch upthe rotation and it really worked out for

(04:09):
them to go three and oh.Maybe a little surprising they didn't see Indiana
State earlier. They saw Illinois inthat one oh game. But really,
you couldn't have asked for a betterregional the way that it turned out for
the Cats running the table. No, that's absolutely right. I mean,
when that regional was announced, Iwas like, Wow, the committee did
Kentucky no favors sending Indiana State toLexington and Big Ten champion Illinois, and

(04:32):
hey, don't forget Western Michigan wasa really pesky team out of the MAC
I mean, that was a toughteam offensively. They came in with a
lot of confidence and were red hot, and Kentucky was able to handle them
on Friday. Like you mentioned,they saved Trey Booser for Saturday. He
was phenomenal against a Nilan. Andthen you had Mason Moore going coming off

(04:59):
with stomach bu on Sunday against IndianaState, and how Kentucky was able to
shut down the Sycamores lineup as atestament to the guys on the mound and
the guys in the field, becauseI think after the game somebody noted that
it had been nearly one hundred andforty games since Indiana State was last shutout
and Kentucky blanked them five nothing thatwas such. I was really impressed with

(05:20):
how Kentucky rolled through that regional becauseit was a lot tougher than Kentucky made
it look. Yeah, especially givenas you mentioned, you have a Power
four champion and the mid major darlingthat really probably should have hosted. So
as the number two overall seed,you don't expect to see that type of
opponent. But nonetheless, Kentucky makesit through three and zero. Mason Moore

(05:42):
just the calendar turns to late Mayand early June, and he just turns
it to a different level. It'sjust simply unreal to watch now. Yeah,
twenty scoreless innings in NCAA tournament actionis just last year we saw him
emerge as a superstar in the outingagainst Indiana and those appearances, and then
this year he lived up to itagain. And you could tell he was

(06:04):
struggling through those six innings Sunday nightwith that stomach bug. He told me
after the game he was only sixtyor seventy percent, but he still found
a way and he made big timepitches in the spots that required it,
and his defense backed him up everystep of the way. And that's what
Kentucky's going to need against Oregon Statethis weekend. You've seen a lot of

(06:27):
Grant Smith over the last couple ofyears at shortstop, and you know,
we can talk all day about howhe's been snubbed in a lot of these
awards, especially for his glove,But has there been a better play that
you saw in person than him justappearing out of nowhere and left field.
Look, when I was in thepro game for ten years, I was
blessed to see some incredible talented playerslike Francisco Lindor and Aaron Judge. I

(06:53):
can probably count on my hands theamount of time somebody made a play that
brought me out of my chair,and that catch by Smith and medium left
field was one of them. Andyou know, somebody could probably say,
yeah, that should have been Waldschmidt'sball, but Kentucky was playing no doubles
defense in the outfield. It wasa long run in for Waldschmidt on what
was a shallow sinking flare, andGrant covered an incredible amount of territory going

(07:16):
all the way from second base outthere to make that catch and such a
high degree of difficulty. It's oneof the greatest catches by a shortstop in
left field that I've ever witnessed.It was amazing. And this is kind
of going back not to just theregional but also the SEC Tournament and then
the last couple of series in theregular season. But I think that Kentucky
bullpen surprisingly you don't always expect tosee guys new guys emerge late in the

(07:42):
season, especially freshmen, but Kentucky'shad a couple of new faces out there
that has given head coach nickmingjeon justeven more options for this weekend against Wergan
Stea. Yeah. I love theway this bullpen has grown this year with
a lot of new faces in it. Obviously, Cameron O'Brien has been the
fireman you look. He's got likethirty two with thirty three appearances in fifty
seven games, so they've used himto get out of jams a lot.

(08:05):
But Ben Kleeber, the freshman youmentioned, has been outstanding. He's a
left handed pitcher with some good veloon his fastball. He's got a lot
of life on his pitches. Butthe guy that has really shined this year
to me, he's really blossomed inhis first year at Kentucky was Robert Hogan,
the transfer from Texas A and M. Things didn't work out the way

(08:26):
he wanted to with the Aggies,didn't get to pitch a whole lot last
year, but this season he hasturned into a monster and could factor in
as the team's closer this weekend againstOregon. Stage. He's just got a
slider that he has such command of. He can throw it two different ways.
It can be more of a firm, almost cutter style slider, or

(08:46):
it can be a little softer maybemore of a sweeper curve kind of action
to it, and he really flummkeshis hitters. I mean, Andrew,
this is a guy that comes outfrom the bullpen to the spin by Matt
Miller and then you see a relievercome out to the spins. What do
you think he's gonna throw? Butman, he's been dominant this year and

(09:07):
he's been a huge weapon for thisteam. Turning our attention to this weekend,
and it wasn't a total surprise.I thought once the weather kind of
delayed that Corvallis regional, I thought, I bet they're gonna give Kentucky a
Saturday through Monday schedule just to giveOregon State that extra day. But we'll
see, and that's what happens Saturdaythrough Sunday, I'm sorry, Saturday through

(09:28):
Monday. Cats are hoping that itjust takes the two weekend days, but
we'll see. This is an opponentthat's incredibly gifted. I know the PAC
twelve has had their bumps and bruisesthis year with the pr and the media,
but they had a really good conferenceoverall. Not as good as the
SEC, but you talk about thetop of the cream of the crop out
there out west it's Oregon State.Yeah, the PAC twelve has been historically

(09:50):
the best, the premier conference incollege baseball, and you're right, the
SEC is caught up to them,but they're still so talented at the top
level. Surprise to see Arizona notmake it out of their regional. But
Oregon State brings in a guy,poor Kentucky back to back years in a
super regional and they're having to facea guy that could go number one or

(10:11):
number two overall in the MLB Draft. Last year it was Paul Skeens.
This year it's Travis Bazana. Thegood news for Kentucky is Bizana is not
a pitcher. They're still gonna haveto face him multiple times. They're gonna
have to pitch him different ways everytime he's up, keep mixing and executing
pitches because he's a guy that hitsover four hundred, he's got twenty eight

(10:31):
home runs, and he steals basesand an elite clip. So he's just
a complete professional hitter and Kentucky's gonnahave to face him. But you're right,
They've got the pitching, they've gotthe defense. Their style of play
similar to Kentucky's this should be anoutstanding matchup this weekend. Well, we
were joking right before we went onair that we weren't going to do an

(10:52):
MLB mock draft, but I didjust get done reading Jonathan Mayo's article where
he kind of it's one of hislast pieces before the College World Series,
where he kind of lays out whathe's hearing and certainly seems like Bizanna the
favorite to go number one. Thiscertainly won't get past number two with Cincinnati,
but the Kentucky Wildcats, they havesome guys that have really risen their

(11:13):
draft stock. I think Ryan waldschmidtstock was really high at the end of
last year, but then he hadthe knee injury in the KPE League.
He has researched that stock back towhere it was, if not a little
better. Yeah, I was aboutto say he may have even improved it
this year. Andrew and I wouldbe shocked if Walt Schmidt falls beyond the
first round of the draft. Iknow there are several teams that are excited

(11:37):
about him. I think a millionpetries an other kid to keep an eye
on in the draft this year becauseI would be shocked if he falls past
the second round. And so yeah, Kentucky's going to have some real superstars
that they may have to say goodbyeto because of the MLB Draft this summer.
But man, what a player WaltSchmidt has turned into this year.

(11:58):
That leadoff spot. He's still he'svery similar to Travis Bizana in some ways.
He can hit home runs, hecan steal bases, but he is
the spark plug of this offense,and as he goes a lot of times,
so goes Kentucky's lineup. Yeah,he's been so fun to watch and
I think we're all just amazed athis recovery. Like they were talking about

(12:18):
it on the TV broadcast quite abit last weekend during the Regional about how
it's just simply amazing. You're lookingat a guy that's like tenor and eleven
months if that, removed from amajor knee surgery and he's played a full
season. It's not like he's justcoming back now. He's put a full
season, which I think shows atestament to his work ethic in wanting to
get back. But it's a bitof a unique schedule this weekend with the

(12:41):
Super Regional. You know, theysay beggars can't be choosers, and I
guess that's the adage Kentucky's going touse this weekend. Six o'clock on Saturday,
that's pretty standard. Then a ninepm start on Sunday, which is
a very bizarre start time. Butthat game is in Lexington at Kentucky Proud
Park. They're not switching it outto Corvallis. But I did head coach
Nick Mimingji, and he made someinteresting comments about the regional in twenty seventeen

(13:03):
a game going past one am,so he doesn't have any concerns that Big
Blue Nation is going to show upSunday or any of the other games as
well. I mean, look,if they're going to sit there in the
rain and just sit in a monsoondownpour to wait on the game, then
I think they're going to be justfine with beautiful weather for a nine o'clock
first pitch on a Sunday night.I expect it to be rocking. And

(13:26):
you know, the whole season,the banter of this team is let's get
weird. Well, nine o'clock ona Sunday night, it's time to get
weird. Why not? I loveit? And it's gonna be a huge
game because it's either a chance toclinch your spot in Omaha or it's an
elimination game. That's the beauty ofthese best of three series. There's no
messing around. You're just kind ofright into the teeth of it. But

(13:48):
obviously at stake Kentucky's first ever tripinto the College World Series and as Darren
said, their very first time hostinga super regional. Darren, I know
you're fired up this weekend. Ican't wait to turn down on that TV
volume respectively and turn up our UKSports Network coverage while watching and appreciate your
time and have funk this weekend.You got it, Andrew, thanks so

(14:09):
much for having me. And yeah, you're right, it's going to be
an exciting weekend. We can't waitto get started. And it all gets
started on Saturday, Kentucky hosting OregonState Game one of that super Regional is
set for six pm Eastern Time atKentucky Proud Park. That means a five
forty five pm pregame show across ourUK Sports Network with Darren. It'll be

(14:31):
nationally televised on ESPN. You butas we said with the interview with Darren,
feel free to mute that coverage onthe TV and then turn up Darren
if you can't join us out atKentucky Proud Park. Then the late night
game on Sunday, Game two,nine pm first pitch, eight forty five
pregame coverage on the UK Sports Network, also on ESPNU, and then on

(14:54):
Monday, June tenth, if necessary, game number three. Not a lot
of details of because I still haveto see how the schedule plays out.
Kats are hoping they can just wintoo this weekend and not worry about Monday,
But nonetheless, Game three, ifnecessary, will be at Kentucky Proud
Park once again, but we willknow more about the time and the TV
network when all that becomes more clearafter Sunday's game, which we might have

(15:18):
to wait a while nine pm firstpitch, But as head coach Nick Minjeon
said, he's not worried about thatGame two starting time because that twenty seventeen
regional ending well past one am,and as Darren said in his interview,
folks were sitting out in the rainfor multiple hours ahead of the championship against
Indiana State in the regional, SoBig Blue Nation, it's going to be

(15:39):
rocking inside Kentucky proud park and wecannot wait for super regional action. Meanwhile,
in Eugene, Oregon, at theNCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships,
history made for Kentucky Friend of theShow Keaton Daniel. He was one of
our first guests on UK Sports Network. Today he became the first Kentucky Wildcat

(16:00):
to win both the indoor and theoutdoor pole Vault National Championship. He did
it at the indoor event earlier inthe year at inside A Boston, Massachusetts,
and just did it a couple ofdays ago in Eugene. He had
not captured an outdoor championship in hisprevious two attempts. He placed third in
twenty twenty two, eighth last year, but he is a champion both indoor

(16:22):
and outdoor in the pole volt Tremendousresult for Keaton, tremendous result for Kentucky
as well. A big, bigcongrats to him that going down on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Kate Powers improving hermark at the NCUBLEA Outdoor Championships as
she brews her freshman record in thehammer throw. Just a freshman, such

(16:45):
a bright future. She placed insidethe top ten. Peyton Phillips also in
the women's pole vault, tied foreighth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. And
then another friend of the show,Charity Huffnagel, we had her on a
couple weeks ago, she will beginher Heptathlon Championship pursuit that will start at

(17:06):
four pm on Friday with the women'sheptathlon one hundred meter hurdles. She'll have
the one hundred meter hurdles, thehigh jump, the shot put, and
the two hundred meter race at tenforty three, so it's about a six
and a half hour day for CharityHuffnagel. We wish her all the best
of luck at the INCUA Outdoor Championships. And then Luke Brown will be in

(17:30):
action late Friday night as well.That's at nine to twenty the scheduled start
anyway for the men's triple jump.So we have a lot to look forward
to on Friday night with the NCAAOutdoor Championships continuing through the weekend, and
then of course a huge weekend insideLexington at Kentucky Proud Park six pm on
Saturday for Game one, nine pmon Sunday for Game two. A big

(17:55):
thanks to Curtis and Michelle as alwaysat the UK Sports Network, and huge
thanks to my colleague Darren Hedrick forstopping bias. He gets ready to call
these big games in the Super Regional, the first ever time for Kentucky hosting
a Super Regional this weekend, Lexingtonis going to be buzzing. It's going
to be so so much fun.So best of luck to our track and

(18:17):
field athletes the remainder of the NCAAOutdoor Championships, and best of luck to
UK Baseball is they try to punchtheir ticket to Omaha. For everyone here
at the UK Sports Network and theUK Sports Network Today Podcast, I'm editor
Capus saying thanks for listening and goCats