Kentucky baseball is in the midst of the most successful stretch in the program’s nearly 130-year history.
The Wildcats have made three NCAA tournaments in the past seven years in which the event was held and won their regional in each of those instances. The 2024 season has been the culmination of that climb, with Kentucky sporting a 43-14 record and a No. 2 national ranking.
If the Wildcats are able to win their best-of-three super regional series this week against Oregon State — which they’ll be hosting starting Saturday at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington — they’ll advance to the College World Series for the first time ever.
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Though those achievements are the result of the hard work, talent and dedication of dozens, if not hundreds, of players, coaches and staffers over the years, there’s one man in particular who’s rightly identified as a key figure in the program’s ascent.
Since arriving in the Bluegrass State in 2016, Nick Mingione has ushered in a decorated new era of Kentucky baseball, helping the Wildcats become a viable and nationally relevant program while competing in college baseball’s deepest, most ruthlessly competitive conference.
As he has Kentucky on the verge of a historical feat, here’s a closer look at Mingione and his career:
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Who is Nick Mingione?
Mingione is in his eighth season as Kentucky’s baseball coach, a post he assumed when he was hired by athletic director Mitch Barnhart on June 13, 2016.
“Nick Mingione is exactly the kind of coach we hoped to hire when we began our search,” Barnhart said in a statement at the time. “His passion, tactical mind and tireless recruiting efforts made him an important part of Mississippi State’s staff during some great years for the program. More than that, he is a man of substance who is committed not only to developing young men as baseball players, but as students and people.”
Mingione inherited a solid, if not strong, program, one that had won at least 30 games and finished with a winning record in each of the previous five seasons under coach Gary Henderson, who led the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament in 2012 and 2014 before resigning after the 2016 season, citing the all-consuming lifestyle of coaching in the SEC in his decision to step down.
It didn’t take Mingione long to achieve the kind of success many hoped he could upon his arrival.
In 2017, his first season on the job, Mingione guided Kentucky to a 43-23 mark, a nine-win improvement from the previous season, and an NCAA tournament appearance. Once there, the Wildcats won their regional, moving them on to the super regional round for the first time in program history. For his team’s efforts, he was named SEC coach of the year.
Though the program hasn’t cleared that kind of a historical barrier every season since, it has remained a steady winner under Mingione’s watch. Kentucky has finished with a winning record in six of his previous seven seasons and is assured of another above-.500 campaign this season. Even the lone exception to that run wasn’t particularly woeful, with the Wildcats going 26-29 in 2019. This season, Kentucky has reached the 40-win mark for the eighth time ever and the first time in consecutive seasons. Last month, Mingione earned his second SEC coach of the year award.
The Wildcats’ broader team success under Mingione has led to individual triumphs for their players. During Mingione’s tenure, 20 Kentucky underclassmen have been drafted or signed by MLB teams, earning them a collective $12.66 million in signing bonus money.
While Kentucky is his first college head coaching job, Mingione had plenty of experience, including in the SEC, before being brought in to lead the Wildcats.
For eight seasons, he was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Mississippi State under coach John Cohen. During that stretch, the Bulldogs had five NCAA tournament appearances, won three regional championships and made the CWS championship series in 2013, where they fell to UCLA.
His current stint at Kentucky is actually not his first at the school, either. For two seasons, from 2006-07, he was an assistant under Cohen with the Wildcats, who won their first SEC championship in 2006.
A native of Tarrytown, New York, Mingione graduated in 2000 from Embry-Riddle University, where he was a four-year letterman in baseball.
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Nick Mingione coaching career
With his eighth season at Kentucky set to end some time in the next several weeks, here’s a look at Mingione’s various stops in his coaching career, in chronological order:
- 2002: Florida Gulf Coast, assistant
- 2003-05: Embry-Riddle, assistant
- 2006-07: Kentucky, assistant
- 2008: Western Carolina, assistant
- 2009-16: Mississippi State, assistant
- 2017-present: Kentucky, head coach
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Nick Mingione record
Heading into this week’s super regional, Mingione’s career head-coaching record is 259-164, with all of those games taking place at Kentucky.
His 259 wins are the second most for a coach in program history, behind only Keith Madison, and his win percentage of 0.612 is the highest of any Wildcats baseball coach who was with the program for at least four seasons.
