Postgame Quotes: Wright State (Feb. 14)

2020 Mississippi State Baseball
Postgame Quotes
Mississippi State vs. Wright State
February 14, 2020

Chris Lemonis | Head Coach
Q: What did you see from JT Ginn today?
CL: "We had him on a 60-pitch count to start. We were hoping to get four, but that third inning got a little extended on him. You have to tip your hat to Wright State. They grind their bats out very similar to us. They don't chase a lot of pitches, so he was out of there pretty quick. I liked what I saw. He competed. In the second inning, I thought he threw some pretty good sliders which was good to see. We're looking forward to keep growing his pitch count."

Q: What did you see out of Logan Tanner today? He had a good out throwing to second during the game.
CL: "I thought he was good. He's been catching our guys all year. He's a very talented freshman. He is a freshman, so there are certain things that still happen. I thought he competed well behind the plate."

Q: There was a lot of production from the bottom third of the batting order. What are your thoughts about those guys?
CL: "I saw that. Those guys have been hitting for the last couple of weeks. I walked up to [Landon Jordan] earlier and told him that he's in the nine hole but much better than a nine hole. When you put it together with Rowdey [Jordan's] day and those other guys, they had a pretty good day."

Q: What are your thoughts on Rowdey Jordan filling that Jake Mangum role?
CL: "He was good. He had that big hit. I thought he had a chance to get it earlier in the game. He's a gritty player. That ball got us going. We had been waiting for that ball all day long. We had some pretty productive innings early and didn't really take advantage of them, so to be able to get that going was huge."

Q: What did you see from some of the relievers that came in?
CL: "For a lot of those guys it's their very first time out there. I thought Jared Shemper coming into that jam and closing it out was huge. He's going to be a big piece for us. Landon Sims, I don't know if he's walked a guy all preseason and then he goes out there and does that. He's going to go right back out there. He's one of the better pitchers in the country, so we're excited. I thought Jaxen Forrester was very good. Chase Patrick was good. Carlisle [Koestler] could be a little bit better. He has to locate a little bit better. I thought overall that our group competed."

Q: It seemed like Landon Jordan was pretty patient at the plate. What did you see from his approach today?
CL: "He was just getting good pitches to hit. He's been one of our better hitters this whole spring training. It was good to see him continue that into the games and have nice, relaxed at-bats. He just picked out pitches that he could hit."

Q: Is Luke Hancock going to be limited?
CL: "Yeah, he's going to be limited a little bit. We're trying to split the two of them. We feel like we have two really good guys there and a third guy who can jump out there and play. We're just trying to be safe a little bit early. I think him and Logan [Tanner] will catch a lot."

Q: Justin Foscue looked really good in the field. How settling is it to know that him and Jordan Westburg are both right there?
CL: "There were a lot of little plays out there in the middle of the infield today. Having those two guys is huge. Talking about playing defensive up the middle, I feel like we do a good job of that with both of them."

Rowdey Jordan | Jr. | OF
Q: Did you have any first-game jitters?
RJ: "We had some jitters, but overall we played alright. We had some defensive mistakes, but we'll work on that."

Q: Your single in the sixth inning blew it open a little bit. Tell me what you saw on that pitch.
RJ: "It was a fastball. The report was that he likes his fastball and that he is a heavy fastball guy. It was a 1-1 count, and I knew he was going to come back with it, so I was sitting on it."

Q: You guys were a pretty good defensive team down the stretch last year, was this just a case of some first-game jitters?
RJ: "Yeah, I think it's just some first-game jitters. Everybody's nervous. Whether you're a freshman or a junior, you're still nervous so I think that's what that was."

Q: How good did it feel to open up the game with a single?
RJ: "It felt good. It's been a minute to get hits and it takes some time. To get it out of the way and to get it going felt good."

Q: How good was it to see some of the guys on the bottom half of the lineup get some hits?
RJ: "It's good. For us, it wasn't anything surprising. We knew those guys could hit and they're going to hit well all year. We expected them to play well."

Landon Jordan | So. | IF
Q: There was a lot of production out of the bottom of the order, 6 hits between the bottom three of you, what was working for you all?
LJ: "We just had the approach of going in there and not trying to do too much. At the bottom of the lineup, they kind of look over you and give you some good pitches to hit. We took advantage of that today."

Q: What was working for you guys out there as far as being patient and do you feel like there is going to be that opportunity every game?
LJ: "Of course. Our top of the lineup is probably the best in the country. The pitchers are going to throw all of their stress pitches to those guys and when they get to the bottom, they think they have relief. That's when we capitalize."

Q: What did you think of Kamren James today at third base?
LJ: "He played really well. He's talented, we have talent everywhere. It's a good problem to have when you can stick anyone out there."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Quotes: Wright State (Feb. 14)

Players Mentioned

Jaxen Forrester

Justin Foscue

JT Ginn

Luke Hancock

Kamren James

Landon Jordan

Rowdey Jordan

Jake Mangum

Chase Patrick

Jared Shemper

Landon Sims

Logan Tanner

Jordan Westburg

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