‘This was one step.’ Why Kentucky baseball’s third super regional feels different.

The text message UK baseball coach Nick Mingione had been waiting for arrived at 7:38 p.m. Saturday.

Pitcher Mason Moore had been sent home before the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament game earlier that day with a stomach ailment. Kentucky beat Illinois to stay on the winners’ side of the Lexington Regional bracket without Moore, but Mingione knew the Wildcats’ clearest path to a super regional would involve Moore still starting Sunday’s game.

“I’m ready to throw and win us a ball game tomorrow, Coach,” Moore texted.

The message might be considered simple bravado from most players, especially considering the circumstances, but this was the NCAA Tournament and Moore had already proven capable of shining in the big moment with 14 1/3 scoreless innings across three tournament appearances last season. Even with Moore at less than 100%, Mingione had to feel good about Kentucky’s chances with the Morehead native on the mound.

Moore backed up that confidence with six scoreless innings to lead Kentucky to a 5-0 win over Indiana State to clinch the regional title following a 90-minute rain delay Sunday.

But unlike the regional wins in 2017 and 2023, Moore and his teammates did not dogpile in celebration on their home field. There were plenty of cheers and chest bumps while another boisterous Kentucky Proud Park crowd roared its approval, but this regional celebration was different.

The Wildcats, No. 2 overall seed in the tournament field, have their sights on bigger goals. As Mingione said when he took the microphone to address the crowd, this team isn’t done yet.

“This one does feel different because we’ve been able to do it two years in a row,” Mingione said. “... They just high-fived and they made it feel different.”

Kentucky’s 2024 NCAA Tournament regional win was far less dramatic than the 2017 or 2023 ones that included improbable rallies through the losers’ bracket.

The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-0 lead and held on for a 10-8 victory in Game 1 against Western Michigan. Ace Trey Pooser paved the way for a 6-1 victory in UK’s second game against Illinois on Saturday.

Kentucky scored single runs in each of the first three innings Sunday, and Moore worked his way out of multiple jams with the help of some stellar defense to extend his NCAA Tournament scoreless innings streak to 20 1/3 innings. Second baseman Émilien Pitre added a two-run home run for some extra breathing room in the seventh, and reliever Cameron O’Brien recorded five of the final seven outs via strikeout to cap a perfect weekend light on drama.

While SEC coaches picked Kentucky to finish fifth in the East Division in the preseason poll and the Wildcats were not included in any of the major preseason top 25 polls, Mingione’s team had long ago shed the label of plucky underdog. A regular season SEC championship and No. 2 seed in the NCAA field had established Kentucky as one of the favorites to win the College World Series.

Simply put, reaching a super regional was expected. And with Kentucky hosting the NCAA Tournament second weekend for the first time, a first College World Series berth in program history is the clear goal.

“I think we all felt it from day one, just how close the guys started to become and how much we were pulling for each other,” shortstop Grant Smith, who made the play of the game with a diving catch in shallow left field to help end Indiana State’s best scoring threat, said. “There’s definitely uncommon selflessness about this team, much like last year’s team. And I think that’s why we were both able to be successful.”

Kentucky is still waiting to learn its super regional opponent as the Sunday game between top seed Oregon State and No. 2 seed UC Irvine in the Corvallis Regional was suspended due to rain. Oregon State held a 6-4 lead at the time of the suspension needing just one more win to advance to the super regional. UC Irvine must beat Oregon State twice to advance.

Either opponent will present a real challenge for Kentucky, but Oregon State would bring the bigger spotlight with star second baseman Travis Bazanna, who MLB.com ranks as the top prospect in the 2024 MLB draft class, and ace Aiden May, another top-100 draft prospect, leading the way.

Winning two of three games is no sure thing, even with the support of what will surely be capacity crowds at Kentucky Proud Park.

“We’ve always said that the path to Omaha, the easiest path is through your home field,” Mingione said. “For the third time in seven seasons we’re two wins away, and it’s going to take a total team effort. It’s going to take the BBN to show up just like they did regardless of the weather.”

Mingione and UK’s administration were intentional when designing the team spaces in Kentucky Proud Park. When players enter the team meeting room they immediately notice a mural of the entrance to Charles Schwab Field, the home of the College World Series in Omaha. The goal to reach and one day win the World Series has been clear since the state-of-the-art facility opened in 2018.

But the opposite wall of the meeting room depicts the dogpile celebration from the 2017 regional championship in a recognition of how rare that feat has been for Kentucky.

Sunday’s regional title was just the third in program history. Kentucky is playing in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time in the current format of the event.

Oregon State would bring three College World Series championships and seven World Series appearances to the super regional. UC Irvine has reached two College World Series as a Division I program.

Kentucky cannot match that history but for the first time it can match the expectation of that kind of success. Few would have picked UK to win its super regional a year ago when it had to travel to eventual national champion LSU and face future MLB No. 1 pick and current Pittsburgh Pirates rookie starter Paul Skenes.

The script has flipped this year though, and Kentucky’s businesslike celebration Sunday reflects the mindset. Regardless of illness or opponent, the work is not done.

“I’m just thankful to be in this position,” Mingione said. “But they understand the goal. If you were to ask our players what the goal on the field was, they would tell you that our goal was to be national champions. This was one step.”

NCAA super regionals

Here are the pairings for this weekend’s super-regional round of the NCAA Tournament. Each matchup is a best-of-three series, with the winner advancing to the College World Series (Note: Winners of five NCAA regionals were still to be decided Monday):

▪ Kentucky vs. Oregon State or UC Irvine

▪ Tennessee vs. East Carolina or Evansville

▪ Florida State vs. Oklahoma or UConn

▪ Virginia vs. Kansas State

▪ West Virginia vs. North Carolina or LSU

▪ Georgia vs. North Carolina State

▪ Clemson vs. Oklahoma State or Florida

▪ Texas A&M vs. Oregon

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