Get to Know: Opposing Coaches Entering Lexington Regional

The 2023 NCAA Tournament is nearing its commencement.

One of the 16 Regionals will go down at Kentucky Proud Park, as the No. 12 overall seed Kentucky Wildcats will welcome the West Virginia Mountaineers, Indiana Hoosiers and Ball State Cardinals.

For a complete preview of the action this weekend in Lexington, click HERE.
For some UK baseball postseason lore, click HERE.
Everything Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said about the draw HERE.
More on Mingione HERE.

You've heard from Mingione, but what about the other three head coaches that are trying to punch a ticket to a Super Regional?

Big 12 Coach of the Year Randy Mazey is witnessing his best season as skipper of WVU in what is now his 11th season in Morgantown. The Mountaineers captured the Big 12 regular season title, leading to their third postseason trip under Mazey, who is going to his seventh as a HC.

The Johnstown, Penn. native and former Clemson Tiger has had head coaching stints at Charleston Southern, East Carolina and now WVU. He has won a Coach of the Year award at all three jobs, and went to the postseason in all three of his seasons as captain of the ECU Pirates. He was an assistant at TCU from 2006-12 before heading to Morgantown.

His record as HC at WVU is 319-239, a solid 57.2 winning percentage. He's one win away from reaching 40 wins in a season for the second time in his career as a skipper. You can watch and hear from Mazey HERE, via SI.com's Mountaineers Now.

Moving over to Bloomington, Jeff Mercer is in his fifth and best season as head coach of Indiana, making a Regional for the first time since his first season back in 2019. The Hoosiers found a second-place finish in the Big Ten this season, though this team has more wins (41) than his conference-winning team had (37) four seasons ago.

The Wright State alum took over as head coach of the Raiders in 2017 after spending six seasons as an assistant at Michigan, Western Kentucky and Wright State. He won 77 games in two seasons in Dayton, then earned the gig at IU. He has two Coach of the Year honors under his belt and now three NCAA Tournament appearances. He's 1-4 in the postseason thus far.

Mercer's comments can be seen HERE, via Hoosier Illustrated.

Finally, what a ride it's been for Ball State head coach Rich Maloney.

After seven solid seasons as HC in Muncie, all of which saw more than 30 wins, he packed up and went to Ann Arbor for a Power 5 job with Michigan. He spent a decade with the maize and blue, winning three Big Ten titles while cracking four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, making one Super Regional.

Eventually, he made his return to Ball State in 2013 to once again become head coach. A whopping 11 seasons later, he's finally taken the Cardinals to the postseason while being at the helm. Five MAC regular season titles under his belt, four MAC Coach of the Year awards, one of only a handful of coaches that are active with over 900 career wins. A seasoned veteran to say the least.

Mahoney's latest available media hit came before the tournament bracket was released, but one can still get an idea as to how big of a deal this weekend is for him. After coming up short while being so close so many times, he's got his Cardinals in the Big Dance. You can listen to that HERE via WLBC Radio.

Once again, here's the weekend schedule for the Lexington Regional:

Day 1: Friday, June 2
- Game 1: Kentucky vs. Ball State (Noon EST)
- Game 2: West Virginia vs. Indiana (7 p.m. EST)
Day 2: Saturday, June 3
- Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Noon EST)
- Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 (6 p.m. EST)
- Day 3: Sunday, June 4
  - Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (Noon p.m. EST)
  - Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 (6 p.m. EST)
  - Day 4: Monday, June 5