Chris Lemonis recaps series clinching game two win over Evansville

After winning game two and taking the series against the Evansville Purple Aces, Mississippi State Baseball head coach Chris Lemonis met with the media to discuss Khal Stephen’s start, Dakota Jordan’s hot streak at the plate and the team’s attitude going forward.

Q: What were your impressions of Khal Stephen today?

Lemonis: I thought it was mixed. I thought he threw a really good slider, some good changeups. You’ve got to throw some off speed against these guys. They hit the fast ball as good as anybody. I thought he was able to pitch a little bit. He was able to get some not easy outs, but early outs. Some one, two pitch outs to help him through some of those innings.

Q: Yesterday, Hunter told us he wasn’t thinking too much about the Home Run –

Lemonis: He was lying. Did you see him hit the one today and celebrate halfway down the line? He looked like he got a new bike for Christmas. The whole team’s given him a hard time. He’s been carrying that around since opening day. He’s one of the best power hitters and the country, and to get the first one and get it out of the way…his swing is really good right now. Him and DJ have put a lot of work in. They kind of had a bit of a slow start, but they’re swinging it well.

Q: What’d you think of the team’s situational hitting, hitting with runners in scoring position today?

Lemonis: I thought it was good. Man, you know, Geaut has been tireless. We had a bit of a slow start, couldn’t get some guys going. You’re seeing the ball get in the air a lot more right now. For some reason, we were putting the ball on the ground a lot to start out. They even made some plays tonight. We’ve had a lot of hard hit balls to the outfield that we just didn’t have early in the year.

Q: Mershon has been stellar since his return. How would you assess where he’s at?

Lemonis: Well, we’re not letting him sing again, but he has been good. He’s all over the ball park. He had some big hits tonight, that last one to get the rally going.

Q: Did you talk to the team about hitting with runners in scoring position at all?

Lemonis: You know, it’s funny. The more you talk about it, the less it happens. They’re smart enough, and they realize it. And we talk about expanding games. The last thing you want them to do is be thinking about last night’s game when we’ve got one tonight…we talk a lot of times about stringing at bats together. When you leave them out there you get good at bat, good at bat, gross. You know, we’re trying to have a lot of steady, consistent at bats put together.

Q: Downs gets the start in left today, did you like what you saw out of him?

Lemonis: Yeah, you know. I’ve got to find somebody in that spot. Bryce Chance, there’s a reason he’s been in our five hole all year. The game’s just been tough. Hitting against lefties have been tough. Sometimes, seeing it from the other side of the line can give you some perspective.

Q: How have you seen Dakota grow in his approach at the plate this year?

Lemonis: He made a mechanical change about ten days ago, and you started to see it a little bit last weekend, but Tuesday you really saw it start to come out. We’re seeing it in BP, just starting to work a little harder, and you’re seeing it on the field…

Q: What was the mechanical change?

Lemonis: It was something with his hands. You know, he doesn’t do much. He’s not a big strider. He just sits in there and generates the most amazing juice for a guy that doesn’t leg kick or anything like that…I mean, how far was that ball he hit tonight?

Q: What are you seeing from Colby that he needs to do to improve a bit?

Lemonis: He needs to take his work to the mound, because we need him. And when he’s out there, I could pull him, but even (Parker) is like ‘we’ve got to give him some rope to figure this thing out.’ He’s every bit as good as the other three starters, and probably out-pitched most of them for a lot of the year. Once again, Dakota’s playing so well because of his confidence, he’s trying to fight and get his back.

The full press conference can be found in the video window at the top of this article.