Postgame Quotes: Oregon State (Feb. 22)

2020 Mississippi State Baseball
Postgame Quotes
Mississippi State vs. Oregon State
February 22, 2020

Chris Lemonis | Head Coach

Q: How big was this win today?
"I think it lets a little bit of pressure off. It lets you play a little freer [on Sunday]. I thought Christian MacLeod came in right after [we took the lead] and pitched great and kind of settled into the game. It was a big crowd…especially for some of our young guys like Christian. It's probably the biggest crowd he's ever pitched in front of. So, he settled in and pitched really well, but our offense and what we can do and grinding out some at-bats, I thought was huge early in the game."

Q: You had so many strikeouts yesterday, and today you had a lot of walks turned into runs. What changed about the approach for you guys today?
CL: "I don't think it was the approach. I think it was the starting pitcher from yesterday. That guy was really good. Today's guy was good, but we did do a better job in competing and I think they accepted the challenge a little bit. A lot of those strikeouts from the day before were from a really good starting pitcher."

Q: There was a lot of traffic on the base pads. Did you ever feel like you were leaving a lot of ducks on the pond?
CL: "Every coach feels that way. So that's an easy one. We've talked a little bit. We're putting in some really good at-bats and throwing in a gross one in the middle. We've got to do a better job of that. It's not always about getting the hit, hit a ball hard, put a ball in play, [or] make somebody make a play. In some of those scenarios we're not putting enough pressure on the defense. We'll improve and get better at it. You have to tip your hat to them to making pitches under pressure. But you do you. You feel like you've got a chance to blow the ballgame open in the middle innings and we just kind of left it a ballgame."

Q: What are your impressions on how MacLeod handled the day in starter number two?
CL: "I thought he was good. He threw a couple 86's in the first inning. We were looking over and all of a sudden it was 93. I think it was getting the jitters down a little bit and getting out there and getting in the flow of the game. I thought he was really good, but 12,000 for a February game, I think that's a record here, so tip your hat to our fans. Especially for February, it was a pretty day, but it was still a little chilly."

Q: Three scoreless innings from Will Bednar. What did you see from him?
CL: "He's got really good stuff and every time we run him out there, he's a little bit better each time. I like seeing that. I'd still like to cut out a couple of the walks because he'll be really good, and then there's a walk on four straight pitches. That's a little bit of freshman focus. We need him to focus a little bit more, but he's developing, and every time we run him out there's he's a little bit better. He has some elite stuff."

Q: With Tanner Allen pinch-hitting, is he possibly going to play more, start more?
CL: "I think so. He's really close. It was really close today. I put up two line-ups for our guys and I just wanted to be smart about it and not go backwards. That's probably the biggest thing at this early in the season. We need Tanner Allen in there, but it was good to get him an at bat. He was really close. And today when he came out, just the warmer weather makes it feel better, so I'm hoping tomorrow he'll be a little bit closer to playing."

Q: You talked about yesterday, Hatcher making adjustments during the game. What have you seen from him mentally?
CL: "We talked with our team today about how the game plays you. Last year, if Hatcher would've had two really bad at-bats, he probably would've had two really bad at-bats after. He has really matured a lot. He came in with this group and maybe he's as talented as everybody else, but it's a little bit of a maturity piece and handling the game. His homerun today was big, I thought, because they came in today and cut the lead in half, and he goes out there the first at-bat and that's his power slot. He has real power to the back side. It was good to see those at-bats from him. But it's just the maturity, and I try to make that point to my freshmen so that they understand that two years ago Josh probably wouldn't have been able to do that. Now as a junior and one of the leaders of the program, you're seeing those strides."

Q: Chase Patrick gave up a two-run homer in the ninth, but then he came back with a strikeout. What does that do for his confidence to come back?
CL: "Well I guess it's good. He's probably not too happy about the two-run home run. I think what stinks is that we should've caught that ball in the right, but that's just me being an outfield coach. He's been on some balls today. He hit a ball earlier at his last at-bat that almost went out, but I thought he pitched really good. He came out and got those right handers out, and he's a big piece of our bullpen."
Josh Hatcher | Junior | IF

Josh Hatcher Quotes

Q: Another big win for you guys, you've got the series clinched now but I know you guys are hungry for more. What's the mindset right now looking forward to tomorrow?
JH: "Going into Sunday we are just trying to look at playing our game. A sweep is really big, and obviously two out of three wins in a series is pretty good, but getting the sweep is what we are going for."

Q: You all were more patient at the plate today, got all those walks and easy pitches to score a lot of runs.
JH: "Yes sir, tip your cap to [Christian Chamberlain] from yesterday, he was really good. He had a really good arm and a really good fastball. Today, that is what we expected from their starter, and we had a better plan and approach. We stuck to it and it worked out."

Q: On the homerun ball, did you think you had enough of it?
JH: "I thought I did, but you know the wind has been tricky here the past two weekends. I did not really watch it, I just ran."

Christian MacLeod | Redshirt-Freshman | LHP

Q: Obviously a big crowd today, how did you keep control within yourself and of your emotions?
CM: "I just got out there and tried to establish my three pitches. I didn't really think about the crowd, but it is really great to have them out there. I was really just focusing on the mitt, trying to throw strikes, get the batters out, and get back into the dugout so we can swing the sticks."

Q: You said last weekend that you thought you had another inning or two in you, how did you feel today?
CM: "I think I had one more in me. As the season goes on, maybe as the pitch count gets up a little more, I can go out for that [next] inning. The fourth inning kind of hurt me a little bit; I threw thirty pitches in that inning. Other than that, I thought I was pretty efficient with everything, and I thought it was a good outing."

Q: What do you feel was off in the fourth inning?
CM: "I fell behind a few of the guys and didn't get that first pitch strike, which is huge, especially against a team like that. [That inning was] a big credit to their hitters. They can really swing the bat, and they're patient. You have to earn your strikes against a team like that…I just fell behind a few guys."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Quotes: Oregon State (Feb. 22)

Players Mentioned

Tanner Allen

Will Bednar

Josh Hatcher

Christian MacLeod

Chase Patrick

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