COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: LEXINGTON SUPER REGIONAL

June 9, 2024

Devin Burkes

Robert Hogan

Nolan McCarthy

Nick Mingione

Cameron O'Brien

Kentucky Wildcats

Postgame Press Conference

Kentucky - 3, Oregon State - 2

NICK MINGIONE: My heart is filled with gratitude. So proud of these players, coaches, staff, former players, former coaches, former staff members that have just poured so much into this program.

Thankful for our fans. Big Blue Nation was unbelievable these last three weeks. Even dating back to the last regular season series of the year, just absolutely incredible. Our fans really showed out. This is my plea to get them to come to Omaha, create that same environment.

Our players, they're unbelievable. They have true grit, true toughness, unbelievable belief, real belief in one another and each other. And their true love for one another really showed. It really showed -- not only this weekend but really all season long, just truly amazing.

And I want to spread a special thanks to our other coaches and staff members. There's no way this happens without them. So just so thankful for these group of men and what they've been able to do, what they're going to continue to do. Gave us all an experience we'll never forget.

Q. Three hits all weekend, could you talk about what was the game plan? What were you guys thinking going into this?

ROBERT HOGAN: Just making our pitches. Biggest thing was just throwing strikes. They haven't seen us before. So that's to our advantage. They haven't played us all year. We haven't played them. So we get to learn every day. And so just making our pitch, see what happens. And that was the best outcome for us.

CAMERON O'BRIEN: Once again Coach Roszel called a great game. He's been nails in the postseason. So we're just going out executing quality pitches, trusting what he calls. And Dev has us back there behind the plate. We're just going on the attack and executing quality pitches.

Q. Devin, you go back to media day, there were a few of us crowded around you. I think it was (indiscernible) asked you if the goal is Omaha. You said yes. You said already looking (indiscernible) -- how surreal is it now?

DEVIN BURKES: It's crazy. You always, you know you're going to get there. You know you're confident in getting there with your squad. But, man, when it actually happens, it's like you look around and you're like, we're going to Omaha. You know what I'm saying? It's crazy. It's crazy.

We all couldn't have done it without the coaching staff, Mr. Mitch Barnhart, all the higher-ups, everybody. Everybody is all hands on deck when it comes to this. Yes, sir.

Q. Nolan, could you take me through the play where you scored the go-ahead run? Tell us where you were at.

NOLAN MCCARTHY: Yeah, I was on second, Coach Ming was telling me to be balanced on my skips. Don't want to give that pitcher anything like that. It's a big run.

I saw it squeak by. I was running to third. I immediately saw their pitcher wasn't covering. I think I ran through a stop sign, but it ended up working out. No one was covering home, so might as well take what they're going to give you.

Q. Were you worried you dodged too soon?

NOLAN MCCARTHY: No. I told Robert I was going to Pete Rose dive today and it ended up happening.

ROBERT HOGAN: This guy's crazy so --

Q. Could you talk about the at-bat with Bazzana, where you guys (indiscernible) huge play in the game? What were you trying to do? And how did you get him out?

ROBERT HOGAN: The biggest thing, just thank Roszel. He's, like, dude, just trust your stuff. They can't hit it. I mean, everyone behind me had my back. And it was, like, you have the best stuff here.

NOLAN MCCARTHY: You do.

ROBERT HOGAN: I did that, I was I'm going to trust my stuff, throw it. If he hits it, he hits it; if he doesn't, he doesn't. He's one of the best hitters, and he's a Golden Spikes finalist. I knew I had to throw my best stuff to get him out.

Q. With the fans being there, I know Coach mentioned it, few of you guys mentioned it, but how does it help at times just getting behind you guys, getting loud when you needed it? I think (indiscernible) said yesterday it was like having an extra man out there. Can any of you guys elaborate on that?

DEVIN BURKES: Just sometimes you have to look around in the game. I'm fortunate enough to be behind the plate so I get a decent amount of time to look around and enjoy the environment.

And I'll never forget, after he threw that ball, the slider behind the dude's head, I looked back at Mr. Brian (phonetic) behind the plate. And he just looked at me and started to laugh. I was, like, it's loud, isn't it? Yeah, it's loud. They did the most for us, and we appreciate them.

NOLAN MCCARTHY: We could totally feel them all week. I was sitting on my couch with my roommates this morning, it was like, it's a 9:00 p.m. game. Do you think they'll show out?

This is the craziest atmosphere I've been around. And we played in is the super regional at the Box last year. Just absolute support from those guys. And it's amazing. It's amazing that BBN showed out. And it was absolutely a home field advantage. Whether it was a neutral site, it was a home field advantage. It was awesome.

ROBERT HOGAN: That was the coolest thing ever. It's 9:00 p.m., you're looking, seeing if people are showing up. 7:25, you see people running to their seats. It's like, holy cow. It's kind of surreal coming to see us play.

I mean, it's something, it makes us want to play for them and play for this state even more because having them there, it means a lot. It shows that they're here for us. And that just makes us want to do better.

CAMERON O'BRIEN: It's awesome.

We're looking at a (indiscernible) nine (indiscernible) on the mound mentality, and you have Dev back there fist pumping. But nothing like BBN getting loud when you get two strikes or get a big out. It's really special and really helps us out on the field.

Q. Can you describe what you were thinking when Nolan was running around third base on that play? And how much did that play sum up the team's mentality (indiscernible) all year?

DEVIN BURKES: I knew he had it. He's like always being crazy. As soon as the ball went by and the pitcher was -- I don't know what he was doing, he was looking around or something, I, like, I hopped over the fence, and I was, like, Nolan, you're going.

And he was already on it. He was already at home sliding. I was, like, let's go.

ROBERT HOGAN: We were in the bullpen. I was, like, I was watching. We were, like, oh, my gosh Nolan's doing it. The pitcher is not covering, go. All of a sudden I see him dive. I was, like, oh, my gosh, he just did the Pete Rose dive. That was awesome. I remember that.

It just shows how gritty we are and how we're willing to do everything it takes to win. He's also, he's crazy.

Q. Devin, you probably had the best view of this, but Mitchell Daly's ball down the line, what did you see and (indiscernible) for any of you other guys?

DEVIN BURKES: As soon as he hit -- called the pitch. It was supposed to be expanded away, he would have got chewed out if that ball went by because it was right down the middle. And he hit it. And as soon as it came out of his hand it was, like, one of them pitches you want back. He ended up hitting it on the ground. We got basically Gold Glovers, we got all Gold Glovers around the infield.

NICK MINGIONE: Including you.

DEVIN BURKES: And then he made it. And as soon as he made it I was, like, he got him out. I didn't even need to watch the throw. I was already yelling. I was, like, let's go.

NOLAN MCCARTHY: Mitch is one of the best club house guys you can have. And he's the guys who played shortstop for three years before this. And he turned into a third baseman this year. It's super impressive to see what he's done this year. You can hit it 110 miles per hour. He's keeping it in the field. Just one of the hardest workers I've been around. Just awesome to see it come through in a big moment.

ROBERT HOGAN: He's got a heart of gold. He's there cheering everyone on. He wants everyone to do good. We love him to death. He's a brother. He's selfless. And like every time he's in the box, he's always pounding his chest because we know he's got us.

Q. What's it do for a pitcher when you see that?

ROBERT HOGAN: It makes pitching a lot easier, I'll tell you that. I mean, knowing that you have Gold Glovers at every single position and you have a guy that will block every ball behind the dish, it makes it easy to pitch. You don't have to worry about giving up a dribbler or a hard hit; if it's on the ground or in the air, it's an out.

CAMERON O'BRIEN: I was squatted down in the corner of the dugout trying to keep it cool. But I saw Mitch dive and Coach always says you can't let the ball get by you down the line. Seeing him lay out, I knew he stopped it. And seeing him hop up and make the throw, it was incredible. I knew then we were going to win that game.

Q. Robert or Cameron, what is it like to have a guy like Devin behind the plate who can adjust to whoever is on the mound?

CAMERON O'BRIEN: He knows us more than we know ourselves sometimes. When he's back there giving me fist pumps, hitting his chest when he needs to, gives me queues when I throw a bad pitch. It's awesome to have support back there. When Coach calls it in the dirt, we are told to make Devin work, so it's cool seeing him back there blocking those balls for us and being big.

ROBERT HOGAN: It's awesome having him back there. It's his energy that also helps you pitch. Seeing him fist pump and jump up, I mean you know he's got it. It just makes it you, like, I got this too, having the guy behind the dish because he's such a leader.

Q. I know you guys have unfinished business in Omaha. What's it feel like to be the first, the first team to make it to Omaha, there can only be one first?

DEVIN BURKES: Come on, let's go.

NOLAN MCCARTHY: This is something that Devin and I have been talking about since our freshman year. We were hitting down here more than anyone else. When they were on the road we were down here talking about Omaha in a couple years.

And Coach Ming, I think it was our freshman or sophomore year, we had to read a book called "The Energy Bus." We started calling it the Omaha bus because we were going to get to Omaha.

Just seeing the way it's built the last couple of years, it feels like we've really kicked the door down now. We have unfinished business. It feels amazing to be the first ones.

CAMERON O'BRIEN: It's special. I think when I was in the transfer portal, a lot of things Coach Ming was telling me, you're going to come here and do something that's never been done before. So to sit here and be doing something that's never been done before is pretty awesome. And we're definitely not done yet.

ROBERT HOGAN: It's honestly surreal. It's probably the best thing that any of us could have asked for, being in this position. And so we're going to go to Omaha and we're going to do our thing because we ain't done.

Q. Robert, you were chatting with Darren (phonetic) at yesterday's game, and how you felt like breaking pitches would be a key this weekend against a Pac-12 team. Did that give you confidence, play out the way you thought it would?

ROBERT HOGAN: It goes to say, we all have really good stuff, everyone up and down the staff. And being able to throw it in there for a strike makes it 10 times easier.

Look at Johnny. He just did three breaking balls to end the game. That just kind of helps. Especially when you have guys that can do that, it makes it easier. Like I told you, breaking balls against these guys, all they've been seeing is fastballs. Being able to have stuff they haven't seen before makes it easy to get them out.

Q. You guys always think about Omaha and you've never done it before. It's the pinnacle of the sport. What have been your thoughts about Omaha, just your dreams, once you get there you'll see it, but what have those dreams been like in your head and what are you expecting them to be?

DEVIN BURKES: I swear I could smell it the last -- when we got two outs, I was, like, oh, my goodness, we're going, come on, baby, we're going.

But it always feels like untouchable. Because it is it's the road to Omaha is so long. So we come out every day. Just don't expire. 12:00 hits, it expires. Come out to practice the next day or if you have an off day, go lift. Just keep going, keep going, keep going.

And you finally achieve this and it's, like, it doesn't even feel real. Feels like you have unfinished business. Just keep going.

NOLAN MCCARTHY: I was probably 10 to 15 years old in summer ball at a hotel somewhere just watching the College World Series. And it's just amazing. And it's been my dream ever since then being able to have this opportunity. It's just awesome.

And going into that ninth inning, I knew Ryan was crazy. I knew he was crazy. He would get us an out. You're talking about with breaking pitches, I'm sitting with two guys with some of the best breaking stuff in the country. And Johnny Hummel's slider and curveball are unreal. I could taste it too. It was crazy. I was on my knees just waiting for it. And, man, they delivered.

CAMERON O'BRIEN: I think that picture over there at TD Ameritrade it's been my header on Twitter since senior year of high school. It's been a goal of mine. To be able to go there, it's going to be awesome but we're still focused on the game on the field.

ROBERT HOGAN: I would say being able to go back with guys that I love means a lot. And doing something that UK has never done before means even more. Just like it's almost speechless. I don't even know how to put it. I don't know how to put it. That we're going.

NICK MINGIONE: Hogey's story is pretty amazing. If you guys ever get a chance to just find out where he was, just a year ago mentally, not making road trips, not pitching, just down and out, is that fair?

ROBERT HOGAN: Yeah.

NICK MINGIONE: And to do what he's done here is truly remarkable and it's a true testament to the type of man that he is. And I'll let him tell you the story at another time, but it's really amazing what he's been able to do.

ROBERT HOGAN: Appreciate you, Coach.

NICK MINGIONE: Nolan and Devin, these are redshirts. They didn't make road trips. They just waited their turn. They just waited for their time.

In a day and age where people just run and leave because they don't get their playing time that they want, these guys waited their turn. They watched the bus leave week after week. They just stayed here. And all they did was make themselves better and believe in this program and do everything they can to help Kentucky.

And this is a perfect example of exactly what's gone on in our program, a bunch of selfless guys that have just waited their turn and for their opportunity to help Kentucky. These two guys on the end, literally when you asked them in the portal what are you looking for, I want a place I can win and develop. That's what they wanted. That's what they wanted. Now here they are. They've won and they've developed and they're better than they've ever been.

Truly remarkable. Maybe when this season is over -- who was the show where it was like the rest of the story, who is that -- Paul Harvey. When this whole thing is over and this season is over, you guys will know the real rest of the story and it will blow you away. It will blow you away the sacrifices that these guys, not only them, the rest of the people in our program have made to be in this position. It's really remarkable.

ROBERT HOGAN: To go off you, Coach, we all believe in you because you make us better, the type of man -- you always want us to, like, be great human beings. We just look up to you and we believe in you and everything you've done. That shows -- Nolan, Devo and even me, the first conversation you and I ever had we connected on faith and I knew I wanted to come here because of the type of person you were.

NOLAN MCCARTHY: Shout-out to Coach Ming. Devin can attest he's been the same guy since the first day I stepped on campus. And we had some seasons we didn't do what we wanted to do. And I mean he's just held the course. And he's been an amazing coach and amazing leader and I can't thank him enough. Devin can back me up on that.

DEVIN BURKES: I'll go after him. Coach Ming has gave me -- coach (indiscernible) actually recruited me, but Coach Ming is the big dog. He's the final say. He gave me a chance to come here, not only me, but my family.

I don't come from very much. He gave my mom a good opportunity for me to come here and be able to afford this place, and just really enjoy my time here, not make it stressful on me and my family.

I just can't appreciate him enough, man. Like he said, a lot of guys, they tuck their tail and run whenever they don't get playing game. But you can't do that when you get to pro ball. My mom was big on that. Redshirting -- the portal opened up. She said, you can't go nowhere. Coach Ming gave you an opportunity to be there and you're going to earn it. I said, yes, ma'am.

Gave me a shot. I'll never say enough thanks to him. Man, he made me into half the man I am today. So I appreciate you.

NICK MINGIONE: I remember the story about when we decided that it would be in Devin's best interest to redshirt him. And his mom came and picked them up. They were driving home. And I ended up talking to Ms. Denise. And I just said, hey, I just want to make sure that you understand, like, we believe this is the best thing for Devin. We believe he's going to be a great player for us one day. But where our current situation is this is the best thing.

And I'll never forget what his mom said. She said, "Coach, whatever you decide I trust you. I've given you my son and I trust you."

Come on, who says that? What mom -- like, really? Really? I just said your son, you're investing all this money send your money to come and not play for one inning? And she said, Coach, I trust you. Whatever you think is best for Devin. Come on, what an amazing woman. I'll never forget that. I'll never forget that.

Q. Did you decide how long you were going to be able to celebrate?

NICK MINGIONE: I haven't. What do you guys think? I think I might give them until tomorrow. I guess it is tomorrow. I haven't told them. I haven't told them. Midnight, is this already Monday? Monday at midnight. Tuesday morning.

Q. Devin said he had already said it's after midnight so talking to him Monday.

NICK MINGIONE: Good thinking.

Q. The moment that you shared with Reeves was pretty amazing. I told you before -- I'm not a UK fan and I'm not from here. I felt the emotion in that entire place. That moment when you picked him up and you were just screaming to the heavens with Reeves, that was an amazing moment. Could you speak --

NICK MINGIONE: What did you think, Reeves? Tell them how you felt.

REEVES MINGIONE: Amazed and very happy. I never felt anything like that in my life. I'll never forget that moment.

NICK MINGIONE: This is going to be hard, but I want to get real with you guys. I cannot do this without Christen. She's my rock. And coach's wives do not get enough credit for what they have to go through.

2022 was a really hard time for me. It was a really difficult time. And I want to share some things of why. And maybe you'll see a side of me that you haven't seen.

Cole Stupp and Darren Williams both go down. I have as much as respect for Cole Stupp as any pitcher that pitched for me. He loved this place. He loved it. He goes down -- and so does Darren Williams.

And I can tell you that one of the worst feelings as a coach is to have one of your players get injured. It crushes me personally and it crushes this woman to my left.

It's like these are her own kids. And we lost them for that year. And we really believed that we had a regional or super regional type team.

And I'm going to tell you this, we went on this great run. We were one win short. We were one win short. We finished fourth in the SEC Tournament first time ever. It was the best finish, but we were one win short.

But earlier in that year, I had dark nights. Devin, or Nolan paid me a compliment and I did the best I could holding it together. But I was really crushed as a coach. I was hurting like I've never hurt before.

And I can be hard headed and I can be stubborn. Ask this woman. She'll tell you. And I was beat down. I was a beat-down coach. And God taught me a valuable lesson. I did something that I've only done two other times in my life and I surrendered. I just finally said, Lord, I'm done. I'm done.

I cannot do this on my own anymore. I'm hurting for those two boys. I'm hurting for our team. I just felt like, man, and I was trying to do it all by myself. And the Lord put it on my heart that I was not using my spiritual gifts that he's given me, and he basically -- we have to make changes. I had to make changes.

One major change we made was we brought Nick Ammirati from coaching third base to the dugout to be with the players. And it put me at third base.

I started coaching third base on May 15th of 2022. I started coaching third base and I put Ammo in there. You can't make this up. I surrendered. I surrendered. I said, Lord, I can't do it. And that's what he led me to do. I want to play you a song. I want to play you a song and this song, describes perfectly how God changed my life that night.

[Music]

That's what I did. I said, Lord, I'm done this battle belongs to you. From that day, on May 15th, you can check the stats. In the regular season only, we have more wins than any team in the SEC since that day.

You can't make this up. Only God can make this up. And people told me it would be impossible for Kentucky to make it to Omaha. I literally had people tell me that. And that day I surrendered, and this is what the Lord has done.

Reeves knows a bible verse for every letter in the alphabet. I'm a proud father of that. Reeves, what's your J bible verse?

REEVES MINGIONE: Jesus looked at then intently and said, humanly speaking it isn't possible. But with God anything is possible.

NICK MINGIONE: And God taught me a lesson: It's not what you're playing for; it's who you're playing for. And I got done chasing this dream of Omaha, and I just said I'm done. I'm not chasing that anymore, Lord. I want to play for you.

It's not what you're playing for, it's who you're playing for. And that's what God taught me.

So here we stand today. I give him all the honor and glory, to God be the glory, amazing. Amazing, and I hope you appreciate my transparency because that was real.

Q. What was going through your head in those last three pitches. What were you saying to God?

NICK MINGIONE: I was just like, Lord, please bless these kids. I really was. Especially when Hogey was out there, with all he's been through. I was just like, Lord, please bless these players, please. And that's your will be done.

Aaron Hoag (phonetic), a good friend of mine, he sent me a text a couple days ago. He just reminded that God was on his throne and that we would be fine regardless. And God already knows the beginning and end. Haec already knows the whole story. It's already been written. And I just trust him.

Q. Could you talk about the pitchers mentality, the toughness, three hits all weekend against one of the best offenses in the league?

NICK MINGIONE: Mason was rolling today. He was rolling. And he got into trouble in the fourth and they did a great job just grinding him, Their two-strike foul balls. They did all that without a hit. They scored all those runs and got him for a ton of pitches. And it just got to a spot where he threw too many pitches in that inning. We had to make a change.

Dan Roszel has done a remarkable job with our pitchers from day one. He gets them to be pitchers, not throwers. That's what our guys did. For the last however many weeks, we've been pitching. We haven't been throwing.

So I give our players a lot of credit too for even recognizing the job that Dan has done just calling the game. I mean, they had two hits today. Offensively, you guys know all the statistics where they led statistically.

In the country now there's 305 Division I schools, and they're leading the country in a lot of, top 10 a lot of offensive categories. You only do it with really good players, a good game plan and coaching staff like Coach Roszel. He's had him ready. Had him ready.

Cam was fantastic. The job that Hogey did awesome. Ryan Hagenow came in and we were going to use his change-up. That's how we were going to try to get their lead-off guy out. And James made a good play, got the ball in immediately. And next thing Johnny came in did what he does, just pumped a ton of strikes and got a huge punch-out. But pitched and really defended at a super high level.

Q. Expanding on Johnny, he didn't even pitch in the Regional. How big is it for him to kind of get his moment come in and finish that role?

NICK MINGIONE: Our starters did such a good job the last two weekends. Our starters did amazing for the most part. Cam has been our fireman. He started throwing the ball as good as he's thrown. And same with Hogey.

But he's waited his turn. And, boy, was he ready for that.

I mean, Cousy, Austin Cousino, I'm so happy for him, a guy that loves Kentucky, to come here in the first year. And when we were bringing Johnny in, he came up to me in the dugout. And Cousy comes up to me and says, do you remember what you told me about Johnny Hummel when we recruited him?

And I said, yeah, I do. I said do you remember? He's like, Coach, you told me that that guy for the last year, at the school he was at, he pitched with the game on the line. Every time that opposing coach gave him the ball it was his job to hold it and stop it.

I said, yeah, I do remember that. He goes, he's going to get this done right here. He's going to get it done. That's what Cousy said. And sure enough we did.

Q. You talk a lot about experiences these last two weeks. Starting with the selection show, Reeves told us got baptized, the team came. And crowds at the park, and now you're going to Omaha. Can you even describe it all?

NICK MINGIONE: I can. This has been the best two weeks of my life. Yep. I mean, I don't know how you can make it better. We sat in this room -- is it Monday? Two weeks ago. There we go. Two weeks ago we sat here and we had the whole team and they did the selection show and we were the No. 2 national seed.

And this little dude stands up and he invites the team to his baptism on Thursday.

So then the whole team voluntarily, they didn't have to come. I told them two different times, guys, don't feel like you have to come. They show up.

This dude gets baptized. Christen and I both did it. And then we played Friday, we win. We play Saturday, we win. We play Sunday, we win. Then we have a great week of preparation and practice.

We play Saturday, we win. We play Sunday or Monday night and we win. It's just, I don't know, I don't know how you could have a better two weeks.

As parents, for him, to make the greatest decision he could ever make in his life, and then to give our fans and our players an experience they'll never forget.

And Christen was born in Omaha. When I first met her at Mississippi State, I realized we share the same faith and she was beautiful. And I said where were you born. She said Omaha. And it was, it's meant to be. It was meant to be.

So the joke has always been to take her home. She was born on the Air Force base there. I'm taking you home. Taking you home.

I'm also really happy for Mitch Barnhart. The guy's done amazing things, not just for our baseball program. I hope you guys have -- he's the second longest tenured athletic director in the Power Five conferences, second longest.

There's teams in our league that have been through seven athletic directors. He has stood the test of time. I always say he's been under a bunch of attacks. And I say his skin is so scarred over you guys can't get him anymore because he's just so tough.

But he built this place. This room you're sitting in, this facility. This is long before Nick Mingione ever came. He built this place and invested in it and just envisioned this could be possible.

And what he's done for all of our sports has been truly remarkable. I'm really happy for him. I'm really happy for him.

Q. Can you just walk us through what you saw in Nolan's play from your vantage point, did you give him the stop sign?

NICK MINGIONE: I'm going to quote the players. They said he's crazy. Coach Ming didn't say that. Nolan is, like, super aggressive, and the guys call him crazy. And Nolan is the guy that wants to make the special play. I was telling him to stop verbally, okay, not physically.

But the game was in front of him, and I'm happy he went because he saw something. And we allow our players to make decisions on their own. This was different than like a base hit or something.

The play was actually in front of him. When there's a play in the outfield the play is behind him. But this was a play in front of him.

I said this in the ESPN interview after the game, that easy coaching is just sitting there doing nothing. You don't bunt. You don't steal. You don't hit and run. You don't do anything. Really, that's actually easy coaching.

It's hard coaching to try to get guys to do the fake bunts, the slashes, the hit and runs, the hit home runs, the battle with two strikes, to put plays on. It's hard.

But we have allowed our players to play with what I would say brains and guts. It takes brains and guts. And we allow them to make mistakes. You've seen it all year.

How many times have they tried to take an extra base and get thrown out. How many times have they tried a ball in the dirt and they get thrown -- but we allow them to play aggressive. And we believe that when you do that you put pressure on 18- to 24-year-olds you're going to get them to make a mistake eventually.

It's hard on them. And I'm glad he went. He did the Superman dive. He was going to do something that it was going to be, like, it was a Nolan McCarthy moment. You know what I mean? I was telling him to stop, but I actually had my back -- it was actually roles were reversed; I saw the catcher catch it. But I didn't see the pitcher but he did. I thought it was a great play.

Q. QUESTION; is he okay? I know he came out --

NICK MINGIONE: I give him a lot of credit, too, because he kind of tweaked his hamstring on that and he basically during the pitching change, he said, Coach, I'm getting tight; I can't make a play.

He took himself out, which is really smart and unselfish. He's, like, I can't make the plays that the game's going to demand. I was like, okay, you want to come out. He was like, yes, I do. Ty Crittenberger was ready. He's always ready. He was prepared for the moment and always ready. He was honest with that I was proud of him for that.

Q. You mentioned earlier that someone earlier told you can't make it to Omaha through Kentucky. Looking back on that, was there ever any thoughts that crossed your mind that maybe they're right and how did you overcome that?

NICK MINGIONE: I fell in love with this place in the summer of 2005. John Cohen gave me the opportunity to come here. And I came from Embry-Riddle. We had been in the College World Series three years in a row. We had come from a program where you just won. That's what you did.

That first year, we won the SEC. And it was an amazing experience. We hosted our first-ever Regional. I saw how the people rallied. Didn't have big crowds originally, started winning, and people started coming to the games.

That's when I fell in love with Kentucky. And this is the place -- you've heard me say this over and over -- this is the only place I wanted to coach. And Christen will tell you -- tell them what I told you when we first met.

CHRISTEN MINGIONE: When we were first married, we were sitting on our coach, 725-square-foot condo, and he said, "Christen, I'm going to be the head coach of the University of Kentucky one day." I was like, "All right, let's have big dreams. Let's keep going."

And here we are. And to add to that, when people told us we couldn't make it to Omaha, I said, "Challenge accepted. Let's do it. Let's do it."

NICK MINGIONE: See where I get my toughness from. This is a tough woman. Coaches' wives, they just don't get enough credit. They live and die on every pitch, every recruiting phone call, every game, every injury, they're in it. She's in it with us.

In 2022, I told you I had some long nights, and she was right there for me. How did I handle it? Just through prayer.

I'm going to share something with you guys, since you asked. I'm going to miss some people, but I believe in the power of prayer. And three years ago Coach Madison challenged me -- I'm so happy for Coach Madison, by the way. 25 years to this program. He's been leading our staff in a coaches' bible study for eight years. Eight years. And three years ago he challenged me and the other coaches to find seven people to pray for you every day.

So I was like, okay. So I found seven people that have been praying. I believe in the power of prayer. But I went through my phone and I typed in the text messages. Prayer. Okay. And all these text messages came up. Listen to all these people that have been praying for this moment and for our players and their hearts and souls. Christen, Reeves. (Listing names).

Clayton McKinnis sent me a message, this is one of Clayton's. At the time he was 13 years old. "Dear Lord, for some reason we're praying for the Kentucky baseball team. I don't know why but please be with them." That's what it said on my phone. I loved it.

(Listing more names)

That was 87 times. The Lord put on my heart last night -- I woke up at 5:00 this morning -- and I created that list at 5:00 this morning. I was like, all right, Lord, I'll give you the credit, all those people.

So when you ask, did I ever have any doubts, and there were doubts, but I just believe in the power of prayer. And to God be the glory, all those people did it.

Q. When you open up and you talk about your players and the love for one another. How does that manifest itself, number one? Number two, why is that so important? Because teams have won fighting (indiscernible), why is that so important for your guys?

NICK MINGIONE: We believe that feedback is the breakfast of champions. And our guys, they do love one another, but that doesn't mean that we don't have internal conflict sometimes. And I've explained to them that that's okay.

If we're truly a family -- I don't know about your family but our family was far from perfect and there was internal conflict -- but when you love someone, you care enough to give them feedback and you challenge them sometimes.

You have to. That's what the great teams do, is they communicate at a high level and they hold each other accountable. The hardest part is to get them to hold each other accountable.

That's the hardest part. We often say in our program, the standard is the standard, regardless of what it is. If someone is not meeting the standard, they need to be told about it. Eventually, when you get to the spot where you trust one another enough and you love one another, you can handle that and you don't get your pride in the way.

It's okay. It's okay. And you need to ask yourself, is someone telling me this because they're trying to be a jerk, or are they trying to help me? And if you can take a step back sometimes go, no, he's actually trying to help me. Well, our team would do that to each other.

They would check each other. We have a saying in our program, there's six things we are not. We don't whine. We don't complain. We don't make excuses. And we're not soft, lazy and selfish. Those six things aren't allowed in our house. You aren't allowed to do those things.

They call each other out. You can't do that in our house. "Excuses. Palms up. Palms up, hey palms up." It's like, no, they hold each other accountable.

And after you do that enough and you realize, like I always tell them, I want to check your heart. If your heart is right, then we're good. But if your heart is not right and your intentions are not right, then we're not okay with that.

And this team, and the teams in the past -- you could see it coming -- but they genuinely, like, love and trust and believe in each other. If you check them, they'll say yes.

Mason Ward could tell you a story about Grant Smith not saying a nice word to him and calling him out at Missouri and Mason thanking him after, just challenging him. Like, a real true man challenge.

That's what we've done to this team. Every time we challenge them -- we call it a man challenge. We call them out, try to get them to step up, this team responds. And they respond to each other and they respond to the coaches.

I thought Nick Ammirati did a good job of that tonight. Ammo called the guys up. He did amazing. I told you what's happened ever since we put him in the dugout. He's an amazing coach. He called him up in the fourth, scratched out a run.

It was like everything we could in the fourth. He was just working so hard to put them, I would say, on the fish. And did a great job. But they respond. They respond. They respond.

Q. Asked a couple of questions of Nolan's go-ahead run. I want to talk about in the bigger picture ask you, you've never been a program that leans on the home run. So grand slam, et cetera, could be something to send you to the College World Series. But is that play for you the perfect kind of identity of what your program is, that is the way you guys end up going to Omaha, with a guy staying aggressive on the base path and what you've also said, allowing your players to make plays?

NICK MINGIONE: You know, I hadn't thought about it that way. Did he hit the double? Is that what he did? He hit the double. This team is so awesome. They did the double celebration.

Q. 100th career hit.

NICK MINGIONE: So he hits the double. The team celebrates. He gets excited. And then we know that they're going to throw breaking balls, there's going to be a chance for him to try to get to third base. Mitch Daly actually did that earlier, but the fact that he attacked with zero hesitation, zero, I mean, he -- here we go. Oh, yeah!

The fact that he was and felt comfortable enough in his own skin to do that, I'm good with that. I'm good with that. When we attack, that is us at our best, and, guys, I've been doing the same pregame speech for almost a whole year.

And that's the third thing that I tell them. I tell them, "The strength of our team is?" And they say, "The team." And I say, "Victory must be earned when?" They say, "Every day." And I tell them, "You know what we're going to do tonight, we're going on the attack? On the what?" "On the attack."

That's the third thing I tell them. The strength of our team is our team. I reminded them of that every game. Tell them the second thing, victory must be earned when? Every day. This is a new day. We have to earn it today. This is how life works. You've got to get up and go to work every day. It doesn't stop.

And the way we're going to do it is go on the attack. Now that you say that, that was just a beautiful way for us to go to Omaha, a guy attacking, and maybe you can just show the Superman picture of him flying right through there. That would be a cool pic. Cats on the attack.