Kentucky baseball coach Nick Mingione sits just four wins away from his 300th career victory.
Mingione has tacked on some incredible wins in his first nine seasons with Kentucky, shaping the program greatly and putting the Wildcats firmly in the College World Series conversation.
From walk-off wins to large crowds and energetic atmospheres, Mingione and Kentucky have never shied away from an instant classic, especially in the past few years.
Here are the top 10 wins from the beginning of Mingione’s tenure at Kentucky as the Wildcats head into the 2026 season.
No. 10: 7-3 victory over No. 3 South Carolina (May 5, 2023)
Kentucky hosted a juggernaut of a program in South Carolina, which was ranked No. 3 in the country with a record of 36-9.
Kentucky’s starting pitcher, Travis Smith, was firing on all cylinders – only allowing one earned run on four hits in six innings pitched, on top of five strikeouts.
On the offensive side, it was the late-game fire once again for the Wildcats. After a 4-3 Wildcat lead in the bottom of the seventh, they broke it open.
It started with a Hunter Gillam two-run home run, followed by a James McCoy inside-the-park homerun, marking what would be his first homer of three on the weekend sweep.
A show of pure domination ran through the Wildcats’ veins that opening series night, and never stopped throughout the weekend.
Kentucky would eventually go on to sweep the series with the final scores of 14-7 in game two and 9-2 in the series finale.
No. 9: 5-4 15-inning victory over No. 2 Texas (April 13, 2025)
After an 18-13 start to the season behind a historic run to Omaha the year prior, the Wildcats were looking to add another big win to their resume as they hosted the No. 2 Texas Longhorns.
The Wildcats fell in the series opener but began their second game with a quick 2-0 lead, before eventually having to tie it back up in the bottom half of the fifth at three.
Way too early before the fun had even begun, both Texas and Kentucky relief pitching showed a plentiful number of innings of overtime work, inevitably leading to extras later on.
Texas would take the lead in the top of the eighth, looking to claim a series win before Ethan Hindle hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth to tie it up and take it to extra innings.
After 15 long innings of baseball, Griffin Cameron laid down a bunt that resulted in Texas mistakes, and Devin Burkes raced around the bases to end the marathon and win it for the Wildcats.
No. 8: 12-11 victory at Florida (May 10, 2024)
The run to Omaha in 2024 didn’t come without any road game challenges, especially when Kentucky headed to Gainesville, Fla., for a three-game series.
This series started off with a bang, unlike this game itself, which slowly brewed into a Florida cruise to victory, with the Gators up 6-3 headed to the top of the eighth inning.
The party got started with a Ryan Nicholson two-run homer, making it a one-score game, and then, soon after, it was a game-tying, pinch-hitting double from Eli Small as the Cats tried to continue the comeback.
The top of the ninth brought nothing but more drama as the Wildcats gave up two more in the eighth, but down to their final two outs, they drew two quick walks.
Two pitches later, Nicholson tattooed a ball into the stratosphere, giving the Wildcats their first lead since the first inning.
Florida never gave up, tying it in the bottom of the ninth, but another Nick Lopez clutch moment cleared the bases of a double, making it 12-9 in the 10th inning.
Kentucky pitching brought another scare ,but ended up closing to deal and securing a 12-11 victory.
No. 7: 5-3 victory over No. 2 Tennessee (April 20, 2024)
Late in the 2024 season, the Wildcats began a 3-game series with the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers, with the border rivals traveling a few hours north to Lexington.
The game was intense, and the crowd reportedly set a record at 6,922, a school record for attendance at Kentucky Proud Park.
The Volunteers led for the majority of the game until the seventh, when Kentucky loaded the bases, and then an RBI grounder got it within one.
Emilien Pitre, now in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, sent a ball trickling into left field, giving the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 4-3.
Nolan McCarthy would send in reinforcements in the eighth inning after sending a long homerun into the bullpen.
A dominant top of the ninth sealed the Wildcats’ victory at 5-3, which put Kentucky at 32-5 overall and 15-1 in conference play, and at the top of the SEC.
With the crowd playing a huge factor, it got Mingione 10 wins closer to being the second-winningest head coach in Kentucky baseball history.
No. 6: 17-7 victory over Vanderbilt (May 17, 2024)
A lopsided, but historical win for Mingione came as the Wildcats faced off in the final series of the season against Vanderbilt at home, with high aspirations.
Kentucky ran away with this game quickly after starting down 2-0. They responded with a 5-run bottom of the first and proceeded to score every inning after that.
This led to a 17-7 run-rule finish and a dominant fashion for Mingione and the Wildcats, capturing their first regular-season SEC Championship since 2006.
No. 5: 4-2 victory over Indiana (June 5, 2023)
Kentucky set up for the fifth game when hosting the Lexington Regional in 2023, aiming to return to the Supers for the first time since 2017 and the second time in program history.
They prepared for Indiana, which they had already lost to, inevitably sending them to the elimination side of the bracket.
They dismantled West Virginia 10-0, then played the Hoosiers again and won 16-6, setting up a final game against the Hoosiers.
The second go around was nothing like the first. Indiana jumped up to a 1-0 lead, then a couple of sac flies brought Kentucky to a 2-1 lead.
However, pitching lifted off for the Wildcats, and the one run they gave up in the second would be the only one for the Hoosiers.
Kentucky pitcher Mason Moore would go five innings in relief, and with the help of a couple of doubles in the bottom of the sixth, the Wildcats advanced behind just two pitchers and headed back to the Super Regionals for the second time under Mingione.
No. 4: 9-5 victory at No. 25 Alabama (March 25, 2023)
What might be seen as a typical series for a Kentucky baseball program resulted in substantial history in just one game, as it traveled to Tuscaloosa to play No. 25 Alabama.
It was all Kentucky from the start as it got up 4-0 before Alabama struck for three runs, but a fast three runs for Kentucky again in the top half of the 5th to make it 7-3.
The Wildcats went out playing backyard baseball, making the pitcher work overtime to be perfect, which worked in their favor in a 9-5 win.
The win gave them their 17th consecutive win and coach Mingione’s 200th career win during his time at Kentucky.
No. 3: 10-5 victory over North Carolina State (June 6, 2017)
The path during Mingione’s first year was never easy, but he paved his way as a Wildcat coach to stay for a long time after a 43-win season in his first year.
With a goal to get to the Super Regionals in his first season as coach, and for the first time ever in Kentucky history, the Cats had to get by NC State twice, and after an 8-6 win, they faced fate.
After the Wolfpack jumped up to a 2-0 lead, Kentucky responded with four runs back until NCState took back a 5-4 lead heading into the seventh inning.
From the sixth inning on, Kentucky’s pitching shut down, and the bats helped out from the bottom of the lineup, driving in seven runs during the game.
Three came in the seventh alone, giving the Wildcats the lead, and then an insurance three in the ninth inning.
A shutdown bottom of the ninth eventually lifted the Wildcats to their first-ever Super Regionals appearance in school history.
No. 2: 5-4 10-inning victory over No. 10 North Carolina State (June 15, 2024)
After the Wildcats had advanced to their first-ever College World Series appearance, they were faced against No. 10 NC State in the first round.
Kentucky struck first in the first, with a Wolfpack rebuttal not far behind a couple of innings later, but a Nolan McCarthy two-run homer to make the score 4-2.
Wildcat pitcher Trey Pooser threw 6.2 innings, allowing just 3 runs, relief pitching held strong, and into the ninth inning, Kentucky Closer Johnny Hummel suffered a leadoff walk and then a single.
A wild pitch inevitably brought in the runner from third, making it 4-3, giving the Wildcats one more chance. Ryan Nicholson stepped up with a leadoff solo shot in the bottom of the ninth, tying it at four.
Hummel went strong in the top half of the 10th, and with two out in the bottom half, Mitchell Daly sent it over the left field wall, ending the game and winning it for the Wildcats.
The win gave the Wildcats and Mingione their first-ever College World Series victory and a historical 46th win on the season, the most in Kentucky baseball history.
No. 1: 3-2 victory over No. 15 Oregon State (June 10, 2024)
After a 10-0, one-hit pitching masterclass from Trey Pooser and Jackson Nove the night prior, the No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats were one win away from advancing to their first-ever College World Series.
They were taking on the No. 15 Oregon State Beavers, and Mingione had lots of pitching depth to work with after only using two the night prior.
He started with Mason Moore on the bump, and in the batting order, Game two of the Super Regionals was going to be the Nolan McCarthy show.
A double in the second inning got the Wildcats on the board first, and then a sac fly gave them a 2-0 lead until Moore suffered a couple of walks, tying it up.
However, for Cameron O’Brien and Robert Hogan, it would be 5.1 innings of dominance, shutting down the future No. 1 overall draft pick Travis Bazzana to 1-7 batting on the weekend.
O’Brien and Hogan would help on the bump until the ninth inning, but not alone. Earlier in the top of the seventh, it was McCarthy again, this time showing off his legs on a dropped third strike and scoring from third, giving the Wildcats the lead again at 3-2.
A scary turn of events in the ninth got runners on the corners for the Beavers, but Mingione made the decision to bring in ole reliable Hummel.
Hummel would strike the batter out looking and secure the victory for the Wildcats, sending them to Omaha, Neb., and the College World Series for the first time in school history.