Chris Lemonis recaps comeback efforts in loss to No. 2 LSU Tigers
Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis talked Tommy White, the Sunday Rubber Match and the toughness of his team after one-run loss to LSU
Q: What was your message to the team after the game?
Lemonis: Well, I told them that as a position players group, and even our pitchers late, that we stayed locked in. They did not put their head down. They did not feel sorry for themselves, and they competed through that whole game, which is a sign of a good team. And what it does for you, you’re pissed off you lost that game, but it made them work and use their bullpen, and you controlled the momentum of that game after the fourth inning. Once Karson Ligon came in and we got ahold, we controlled it. We were just too far behind at that point.
Q: What did you think of Ligon’s performance tonight?
Lemonis: Well, he’s really good. He started out slow this year for us, had a tough outing or two, but at this time last year he was one of the better pitchers in the country. He’s just older, a tough kid. He made a lot of big pitches against good hitters tonight.
Q: What’s got to happen in order to take the rubber match tomorrow?
Lemonis: We need a good start. We feel like we match up. There’s two really big pro guys going tomorrow in that game, and it’s just who wants it more. I think you can tell that it’s two pretty evenly matched teams, but we’re going to have to go out there and play better baseball than them. That sounds very simple, but we’ve got to play better defense. We still had a couple at bats and opportunities, and you give them credit, they made two big plays to get off the field in the seventh and the eighth. Their third baseman, the knock on him I guess is that he’s just a hitter, but every time I see him he plays great defense. He made some unbelievable plays out there to help them win the game today.
Q: What has allowed Mississippi State to have success against LSU in the past?
Lemonis: I think you should probably ask Ron Polk and Skip Bertman. I think that it goes back that far. We talked about it a little bit on Friday before the game, this is what you grew up watching, especially when you were my age. It was Mississippi State and LSU. It’s the Blue Bloods, the best of the best. It’s been a war for two games, and I expect nothing less tomorrow.
Q: Was there anything in particular that you saw out of Khal today that allowed LSU to hit him so well?
Lemonis: He just didn’t have his breaking ball, and he threw a couple that were just okay, and they hit those. And they didn’t get behind in counts and were on the fast ball. Khal’s one of our better guys, but didn’t have a good day. And we’re going to need him next week.
The full press conference can be found in a video attached to this story.
