As the college baseball postseason approaches rapidly, Kentucky baseball was honored with several awards following the end of the regular season.
The first of which was that head coach Nick Mingione was named the SEC Coach of the Year for the second time in his tenure at Kentucky.
The Wildcat skipper led the team to an historic season in which it blew away all expectations by setting a record for SEC wins with 22 and the earned the team’s first regular season SEC Championship since 2006.
Elsewhere, second baseman Émilien Pitre was one of three Wildcats recognized on the All-SEC Defensive Team. Pitre finished the regular season with a .990 fielding percentage as he only made two errors in 210 total attempts.
The next Wildcat recognized for his defense was Mitchell Daly, who saw action at both third base and shortstop. Daly finished with a .981 fielding percentage as he made two errors in 104 total chances.
Rounding out the trio was starting pitcher Mason Moore, who showed his athletic ability by fielding his position along with pitching. Moore finished with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage as he made no errors in his 14 attempts.
Switching over to offensive accolades, Nick Lopez earned all All-SEC first team honors at the designated hitter position. Lopez led the Wildcats with a .380 batting average while also posting a .444 on-base percentage and a .609 slugging percentage.
Rounding out the Wildcats award winners was Ryan Waldschmidt, who earned All-SEC second team honors in left field. Waldschmidt led the Bat Cats with a .500 on-base percentage while also posting a .370 batting average and a .653 slugging percentage.
Overall, it was a historic season for the Bat Cats, who will look to maintain their success in the NCAA Tournament, hosting the Lexington Regional as the No. 2 overall seed in the country.
