What Brian O'Connor said after Mississippi State's thrilling win over Tulane
Mississippi State found itself on the verge of joining many in the SEC this season with a tough midweek loss to an unranked opponent on Tuesday night.
The No. 3 Diamond Dawgs were down 7-2 in the seventh inning to Tulane and looked to be on the verge of a rough loss before SEC play. Instead, the bats came roaring back as the Bulldogs scored nine runs in the final two innings on the way to an 11-7 triumph in Biloxi.
After the game, head coach Brian O’Connor spoke to the media. This transcript is courtesy of the MSU radio network via audio recording from the local media in attendance.
Question: Thoughts on the win.
BOC: “We just weren’t putting up a lot of great, competitive at bats in the first half of the game. Just kept challenging the guys to take care of what they can take care of and control what they could control. Tulane opened the door for us a little bit (in the seventh) with some walks and Ace Reese had the big grand slam. We just had a toughness and tenacity to us in the seventh and eighth inning and were very opportunistic.
“Just very glad that we found a way against a really good ball club. I’d have to say that’s the biggest win of the year for us. I’ve already talked about it – in this short season, this team just doesn’t go away. They have belief throughout the entire game and that showed again tonight.”
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Q: After they took the lead on the home run, you had seven-straight batters that struck out. Was there something the pitcher was doing differently?
BOC: “Yeah, he was mixing his off speed pitches really well and we just had a horrible approach against him, candidly. We had a good idea of what he was throwing and we just kept chasing it. We weren’t handling the strike zone well. He wasn’t throwing many fastballs and, to his credit, he executed and we didn’t offensively. All of a sudden, they changed pitchers and it kind of flipped for us and our approach woke up. Thankful that it did.”
Q: You had several pitchers that came in and gave you some good innings there. How did you feel about your pitching staff?
BOC: “Charlie Foster in the first inning wasn’t great, but he settled in the second inning and threw a better inning. I thought Maddox Miller and Chris Billingsley were outstanding. It was great to see Billingsley in the eighth when we had the lead go 1-2-3. I thought the middle of the game Maddox Miller doing what he did for two innings was a really big point because he didn’t let it get out of control. We’re trying to find those guys in the bullpen that we can rely on or be consistent and a couple of guys showed up tonight that showed a lot of promise and they’ll continue to get opportunities because of it.”
Q: Now you have Arkansas coming up this weekend…
BOC: “Yeah, we’ll get back late tonight and that is what it is. Then we turn our attention to Arkansas and this is why players come and play or coach in the SEC. It’s the best of the best and you’ve got to be ready every night. Certainly, that will start on Friday night against Arkansas who has a really great club. We’re looking forward to getting this SEC season underway.”
