How 'Batting Practice' Prepped Kentucky for Getting Peppered by Indiana Pitching
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Believe it or not, there's an art to getting hit by a pitch.
Cleats firmly placed on the inside chalk — or in Kentucky Proud Park's case, paint — of the batter's box, daring the pitcher toeing the rubber to challenge you with an inside fastball. Forcing a wild arm to try and hurl a strike, knowing good and well it's about to end up drilling your lower back, arm or thigh.
A few seconds of stinging pain for a free base. It's a trade some find easy to make, while others quiver. Those who favor the latter don't have a spot on the 2023 Kentucky baseball team.
In the face of elimination, UK managed a 16-6 demolition of Indiana, in which it was hit by a pitch nine times. Left-handed starter Ben Seiler and right-handed reliever Evan Phillips combined for seven of the HBPs, each one drawing more excitement out of the Wildcat dugout as a lead began to grow.
From the first game of the Lexington Regional vs. Ball State on Friday through the win over Indiana on Sunday, Kentucky has been hit 21 times in four games, 14 of which were a product of pitches from Hoosier arms. In fact, going back to UK's midweek win over IU, the Cats have been hit by their border-rival 20 times in 24 innings.
In total this season, the Cats have been plunked 129 times, a top-five mark in the country.
Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer chalked it up to a mixture of some good plate control from UK and his team throwing some arms from the back of the Hoosier bullpen that haven't seen the bump as much in big situations.
"(Kentucky) were on the plate today. It was obviously a part of their plan, which is fine. That's what teams do," he said. "We threw some guys today that haven't thrown a ton. Those things happen. It's not a deal. It's not an issue."
Getting pegged is obviously nothing new to UK. Seven different players have been hit 10 or more times, headlined by center fielder Jackson Gray, who's been tagged 24 times, the second most in a single season for a player in program history.
Indiana entered Sunday having hit 88 batters, one of the higher marks in the nation. Knowing the pitching could be sporadic, backup catcher Chase Stanke gathered his team — who had already staved off elimination once earlier in the day with a 10-0 win over West Virginia that included five HBPs — and proposed an idea.
During batting practice, why not practice getting hit by a pitch?
First baseman Hunter Gilliam and right fielder Nolan McCarthy relayed the change of tactics after Kentucky's second 10-run win of the day:
"We worked on some HBPs. And it's part of our game. And we feed off of it," Gilliam said. "There's grown men up in that locker room who aren't afraid -- you could throw it 150 miles an hour and we've got dudes, I promise you, who will stand in there. It doesn't faze us. It fires up the boys and we love it."
"It was our last round. And we said, one guy up and he's throwing it at our legs and we're turning into it, gonna let it hit us. It's a free base. Why not take whatever they give us," McCarthy added.
Head coach Nick Mingione sat at the podium in awe of what he was hearing from his players, double-checking with McCarthy that it was indeed real baseballs they were being hit with.
"Real baseballs," McCarthy said, stone-faced.
"Come on. This is not normal," Mingione re-buttled with a smile. "This is not normal. Like, I've told you, these guys are very unselfish."
The technique? Not much to dissect, just get peppered with baseballs by one of your coaches.
"We ask the BP thrower to just throw it at us and then there's about 10 guys behind the net fired up when one dude would wear one. It was pretty interesting. It's cool. I've never been part of something like that," Gilliam said.
Kentucky mixed in some emotion in-game as the Hoosiers delivered an ensemble of beanballs. DH Reuben Church and shortstop Grant Smith each gave Phillips a hearty stare as they walked to first base, while catcher Devin Burkes turned to his dugout to let out a loud roar before taking his free pass.
They all count the same.
"Some of them get fired up. Some of them get mad," Mingione said. "They all kind of handle it a little differently. But I think they did a good job today. But if one guy goes too much the other way, we'll kind of coach him up. But I thought they did good today.
The continuous hitting — by the bat and with the ball — provided Kentucky with that extra jolt, given it had already played nine innings earlier in the day. Gilliam, a leader of the team and a glass-half-full thinker, looked at the position his team found itself in late Saturday night, noting that all it meant was that he and his teammates had more time to play with each other, not that the season was closer to being over.
Just 24 hours later, having played two whole games, scoring 26 runs in the process, Gilliam echoed those thoughts once more.
"I think playing 18 innings was good for us. It kind of got our groove back, and you got a bunch of animals up there, and we don't do tired, so 18 innings was nothing for the boys. We were ready to go," he said.
Now, Kentucky finds itself in a winner-take-all affair with the Hoosiers. The two rivals will play once more on Monday night, with the winner moving on to a Super Regional. As for the "hit batsman practice" before the game? Gilliam made no bones about it:
"It was fun. We'll do it tomorrow."
First pitch is set for 6 p.m. EST.
Game recap of Kentucky's 4-0 win over Ball State can be found HERE, while more on reliever Mason Moore can be found HERE.
Game recap of Indiana's 5-3 win over the Wildcats can be found HERE.
Game recap of Kentucky's 10-0 win over West Virginia can be found HERE.
- 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.
- More on Kentucky's pitching staff heading into the postseason HERE.
- Find out which Kentuckians are returning to their home state to play HERE.
Want the latest on national football and basketball recruiting, including Cats targets? Head over to SI All-American for the latest news, blogs, and updates about the nation's best prospects.
Sports Illustrated also offers insight, information and up to the minute details for gamblers. Check it out here.