The Kentucky baseball team has played 34 games this season, and nearly one-third of those games have been one-run contests. Tuesday night against Miami (Ohio), the Cats again found themselves in a tight game.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, with two outs and runners on second and third, Ethan Hindle laid down a bunt up the third base side. Miami third baseman Dominic Krupinski dove for the ball, but it glanced off his glove and UK’s Kyuss Gargett scored, giving Kentucky a 4-3 win. Hindle thought that the Cats showed a ton of intestinal fortitude in Tuesday’s win.
“It just shows our toughness,” Hindle said. “Every single time a game gets like this, you have to keep that focus after three or four hours, it doesn’t really matter. We stayed tough throughout the whole thing and we were able to get it done.”
UK head coach Nick Mingione liked how his team kept fighting and got over the hump in the ninth inning on Tuesday.
“It was good. I was really proud of our team,” Mingione said. “We’ve been on the other end of those. I thought we had guys on the mound just threw the ball so well. We threw the ball exceptionally well. I liked the way we had to manufacture some runs today. We did a lot of things well and I believe we deserved to win the game.”
Kentucky has now played 11 one-run contests this season. UK is 5-6 in those games but has won two of its last three. Mingione knows that, despite some close, tough losses, his team still believes.
“This team, they do have confidence, they believe we’re going to win,” Mingione said. “There’s no way you’re in those games if you don’t believe you’re going to win. It was good for them to see that winning run cross the plate, that was great.”
Mingione believed that his team executed well on Tuesday and did the little things that it took to be victorious.
“One thing I’ve been talking to the guys about is doing what it takes to win and we did a lot of those things well today on the pitching and defensive side,” Mingione said. “I’m just happy to see them celebrate, get a win.”
The experience of playing in so many tight, pressure-packed games is paying off for Kentucky recently. Tuesday night was the latest example of the Cats learning from past experiences and being able to come through in a close game in the end.
