Two in a row.
Over the weekend, Kentucky did it again as it advanced to the Super Regionals for the second-straight year, but this year it’s a different feeling.
Kentucky entered the NCAA Touranment with high expectations. Expecations to be the last team standing. So, when the final out was recorded on Sunday, there was a different feeling than last year. Not one of outward joy and excitment. Rather, emotions that show the result was expected, while still living in the moment — moments that don’t always come.
“This one does feel different because we’ve been able to do it two years in a row,” Mingione said. “I think anytime you have a team that can experience something and to be able to do it again, I also noticed that our team didn’t dogpile. They just high-fived and they made it feel different.”
Kentucky now has hit 43 wins, the fourth-most in program history. It also swept the Lexington Regional, 3-0, giving the Cats an 11-2 overall Regional record.
But, the best part about the win this year was the support of the fanbase.
“We’ve always said that the path to Omaha, the easiest path is through your home field. And we’re, again, for the third time in seven seasons we’re two wins away, and it’s going to take a total team effort,” Mingione said. “It’s going to take the BBN to show up just like they did regardless of the weather. That was amazing.”
While shutting out Indiana State for the first time in 139 games was difficult enough, it was a result that was delayed 90 minutes at the start due to weather.
That didn’t keep the fans from showing up and showing out.
“We have a saying in our program that we do not move,” Mingione added. “And when that weather came in and it started raining, and I looked out there, our fans did the same thing. They didn’t move. They held their ground and they just waited. So thankful for them.”
Now, Kentucky faces the winner of Oregon State/UC Irvine next.
Being the third time in the past seven years that the Cats have emerged from its Regional and on to the Super Regional, the entire program understands what’s at stake. They also know this past weekend was just one small step in the ultimate goal.
“If you were to ask our players what the goal on the field was, they would tell you that our goal was to be national champions,” Mingione said. “This was one step.”
