No. 2 seed Kentucky is preparing to face No. 15 seed Oregon State in the Lexington Super Regional, with the Wildcats looking to book their first-ever trip to Omaha for the College World Series.
Ahead of the big series, Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione spoke to media, and at one point was asked about the Beavers and the challenges they present as a national seed in their own right. Mingione commended Oregon State leadoff hitter Travis Bazzana and noted the team’s versatility across the lineup.
“I would say they’re multidimensional,” he said. “When you look at even in the leadoff spot, he can bunt, he can steal bases, and that’s pretty similar up and down the lineup. They can lay down bunts, they can hit homers, they can move the ball. They have good at-bats, guys that can hit. I would say that if you made me pick one word, multidimensional. Is that one word? Two maybe? I wasn’t an English major, as you can tell.”
So, it’s an Oregon State squad that will drive in runs through a variety of methods. That’s much like Kentucky, who themselves have capitalized all season long by squeezing out extra runs thanks to bunts, stolen bases, a trick play here and there. Overall, Mingione believes the Beavers are as stiff of competition as Kentucky has had.
“They are legitimately as well-rounded a team as like we’ll face,” Mingione added ahead of the Super Regionals. “I think they’ve only lost 14 games all year, when you think about that.”
The Kentucky coach further detailed OSU’s strong points.
“They pitch at a super high level. They have a unique guy on the back end who can throw a sidearm. They’ve got all the different arm slots, they defend the field. They bunt, they steal, and offensively, they can score in a bunch of different ways.”
Mingione continued with his compliments on the pitching staff:
“As I mentioned, they have a pitching staff that really knows how to pitch — which is to be expected, right? Like, when you get to this point this is what you would think the teams the teams that are super well rounded are going to be able to do all of those things well.”
This weekend features a matchup between two competitive and versatile squads ranked in the top-15. Should be a lot of fun in Lexington with a ticket to Omaha on the line.
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