Nick Mingione isn’t surprised by the success Kentucky has found itself enjoying at this point in the season.
Leading the Wildcats to their first-ever College World Series appearance, Kentucky’s unique offensive style has kept opposing defenses guessing all season long. That continued in Omaha on Saturday as Kentucky walked it off to secure a 5-4 win over NC State in 10 innings.
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“This team has so many strengths, but the one thing — not the one thing — but one of their many qualities is their ability to focus on the task at hand and move on immediately,” Mingione said after the win. “It is an absolute joy and pleasure to coach these guys because — you know this, but we started out 14-1 in the league. That is next to impossible. It’s next to impossible.”
Mingione is a storyteller. After a rough stretch on the mound earlier in the year, he recalled telling his pitching staff about 18-year MLB veteran Orel Hershiser. During his career, he set the record for throwing consecutive scoreless innings at 59. An incredible feat, the players asked Mingione how Hershiser was able to do that.
Of course, reporters at the time were curious to hear Hershiser’s mindset during that stretch as well. Hershier’s answer was the whole reason Mingione brought up the longtime pitcher’s place in history.
“He said, I didn’t worry about the results. I focused on the execution,” Mingione recalled. “When you have a team and you have a season as we’ve had — and the reason why we were able to go 14-1 in the league is that as soon as that win was over at midnight, it expired. As soon as they throw a pitch it’s over, as soon as you take a pitch in an at-bat it’s over. You have to move on as soon as possible.”
Mingione spoke with a sports psychologist about this mindset. The psychologist told him that people who live in the past are often the ones who struggle with depression or anxiety. Mingione wanted his team to wire themselves to move on, win or lose because there’s nothing that can happen to change the past.
“This team, they have this unbelievable ability to just move on to the next thing, regardless, good or bad,” Mingione said. “And when you’re able to do that and you can move on quicker, you’re able to do things like today. … And it’s crucial to our success.”
Kentucky will have to keep this mindset for the rest of its stay in Omaha, as they have 48 hours to prepare for Texas A&M on Monday. Despite playing in the same conference, neither team met during the SEC tournament or in conference play. The first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.
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