Chris Lemonis talks series sweep, pitching success after Mount St. Mary's double header
Mississippi State Baseball head coach Chris Lemonis met with the media on Saturday night to discuss the team’s pitching success and mentality after its first sweep of the young season.
Q: Khal kind of returned to form this week, how pleased were you with him this week?
Lemonis: Great. I expected it. I mean last week was a little abnormal. He had a good slider early today. I think that was the key. He always has his fastball, and it was nice to see him throw some really nice changeups against their lineup.
Q: Dylan Cupp got active at the plate today. How much does that help the team?
Lemonis: It’s great. That hit at the end there was huge, and actually, that first one was, too. Two really big swings. And just the first two weeks of the season, the poor kid gets off to a tough start. The team really isn’t hitting, and that puts a lot more pressure on you. He’s a good player. He’s one of the better freshmen in the country, and I think you’ll see a lot more of that as time comes.
Q: What are the conversations like with Khal in order to ensure that he throws more like he did in his first outing and tonight as opposed to his second?
Lemonis: Well, in game two, he didn’t have his offspeed. So I think it was six or seven 0-2 1-2 hits, and he couldn’t put anybody away, so I think you saw him in this game really try and establish his breaking stuff. I think he threw one bad one early where he hit a guy, but those were really good sliders in there, and like I said, against those lefties he threw some really nice changeups. I think that’s key between the two.
Q: You got three quality starts this weekend. How pleased were you with the starters and coach Parker’s game plan this weekend?
Lemonis: Great. Especially since two of them were on short rest. You know, nothing taken away from Khal, but being on short rest and coming back, they took the ball fro a while. Jurrangelo, his pitch count is a little different, you know, because we get some left handers in there. We’re trying to keep that right hand under 100. The thing about Jurrangelo is that it’s better in the sixth than it is in first. And he’s always been that way. You’re seeing him really grow right now, and he’s just been really good.
Q: How much of a difference does it make to sweep a team like this in the locker room as opposed to winning 2-1?
Lemonis: Yeah, it’s huge. I feel like we got a little hiccup here and there, and you’re trying to play consistent baseball and bring a consistent product. I thought we played pretty good defense today. You know, we had the one goof up in the first game with the relay, and we’ll learn from that, but putting a consistent product out there is they key. And getting the big hit from Cupp. You know, two weeks ago, we don’t get that big hit. We’ve been able to kind of expand a little bit.
Q: Tyson Hardin looks different than last year. What’s your approach with him?
Lemonis: You know, Tyson Hardin is a totally different pitcher this year than last year. It’s sinker, it’s cutter, it’s slider, and that sinker that last pitch of the game is a big inning pitch. He ran that ball up underneath that left handed batter and brought it back at 95. We need him. We’ve got some guys in there that probably haven’t pitched up to their abilities at this point in the season, but him and Colby Holcombe and Karson Ligon, these are guys that are talented, so we need to get those guys going.
Q: Can you talk through the game plan for situational hitting today?
Lemonis: Well we’ve talked a lot about it – two out hitting. Trying to expand the game just by a run at a time. The way we can pitch, if we can get it to four-oh, five-oh…it’s something we’re working on a lot in practice right now.
