Super Regional - Nick Mingione presser

A few comments from yesterday:

* Team has confidence from the series in Baton Rouge. Started bad Friday night, but won Saturday and 1-run game Sunday.

* Feels like another SEC weekend.

* Teams change, guys get hot, others not, watching video will figure out UK plan of attack.

* One of the strengths of our pitching staff is that we've had a lot of guys who have been starters.

* On how we'll approach Dylan Crews....may be intentional walk, may be unintentional, intentional walk; may depend on who is batting after him, etc. They'll have multiple conversations about him.

* On facing Paul Skenes (the other half of the LSU 1-2 MLB top draft pick conversation) -- great fastball, slider. UK had some success against him when we faced him in Baton Rouge [IIRC, we had the most runs against him this season, at least at that point in the season]

* UK at our best when we are attacking--we may be attacking the first pitch, or going first to third, or bunting, or something with an attacking mentality.

* Have 3 on the staff that have been to Omaha before. Will it be easy? No--climb to the top never is. That's what makes it sweet. Very end of the climb is the toughest. This is a special team. They are a bunch of dogs, and I love being their coach.

* Wants Omaha all for the players. Some of them will never play college baseball again. As a coach, what else do you want? You want them to have these experiences. When they get it--man, I just love watching it, and I'm thankful. I'll tell them "every dogpile gets better." He wants to ask players, and get the response, "Coach, that was the best day of my life."

* The transfers are hungry, but so are all the guys in the program. Fans are also hungry; they created the environment that made it very hard to play in. Transfers have been a huge, huge influence on the season. I love how loose the UK players have been in the dugout. To create a good team, it's like a good recipe. Have to have the right, different ingredients, and all go together.

* Coach Roszel was the first one who saw Emilien Pitre; loves a great defender, loves a guy who can play shortstop. Really thin defender, I went to Georgia to see him, and he moved with such grace and easy. Trusted his eyes. He'll be able to play shortstop for us. Went into the Fall playing shortstop. At the end of the Fall, they ask all the players to fill out their starting lineup, their travel rosters. Pitre put himself at 2nd base. I talked to him and asked him why. He said that coach, I really want to play shortstop. But I think for the team, our best lineup is with Grant at shortstop and me at 2nd base. Would have been easy for him to say I played behind Ryan Ritter all last year as backup, this is my year. He is so unselfish. Every day he gets better and better and better.

* Everything about Austin Strickland has gotten better since he has arrived--physically, mentally, spiritually, every way. Dramatically better at his delivery now--I feel like he and coach Roszel have a great understanding of his delivery. "Be boring," and his boring is really special -- mid 90's with movement, slider, changeup. All of his pitches are better.