Postgame Quotes: Arkansas (March 278)

2021 Mississippi State Baseball
Postgame Quotes
Mississippi State vs. Arkansas
March 27, 2021

Head Coach Chris Lemonis

Q: What were your thoughts about the defensive miscues?
CL: It's a windy day. We lose two fly balls which sparks them and gives them momentum. It's not an excuse. We have to catch them. We've caught them all year ... It ended up being costly.

Q: What do you think changed for you all in the middle of the game beyond the missed fly balls?
CL: I thought we were good off their starter. I thought we were good in the middle of the game, but then when they put in [Kevin] Kopps, that was the difference maker for them. We went to one of our better bullpen arms, and they went to one of theirs. Ours didn't pitch very well today. Theirs pitched really well.

Q: How much do you think the errors played a role in Will [Bednar's] outing?
CL: The errors were awful. I thought he pitched really well. [Bednar] throws one pitch to [Christian] Franklin that he shouldn't have after we [miss the popup] ... They had no momentum until we gave them [momentum] with both [missed popups]. In a game like that, we have opportunities in the middle innings to really expand [our lead] and pull away. We don't do that, and we let them back in the game. They took advantage of it. They're a good team. They have great hitters. They jumped on everything from that point.

Q: What did you see from the pitchers trying to keep the ball down?
CL: Yeah, I don't know. The ball was just up today for some for our guys. It wasn't for Will [Bednar], maybe a little bit on the last [home run to Franklin]. It was just up. Brandon [Smith] is a sinker ball pitcher, and he was up today. I don't know what happened there. He's been really good for us all year. He's a really good pitcher. The ball was just up today, and they made us pay for it.

Q: What was your message to the team going into tomorrow?
CL: We talked that even though it's early in the season, tomorrow is probably the biggest day of the year for us to this point. We need to see how we respond. I told them we're a really good team, but we have to play better. We haven't played well the last two days ... If you want to beat a good team like Arkansas, their good players are playing well and that's really what it comes down to. We haven't played great in a lot of spots. We have to have a better effort tomorrow. We have to come out and get the one game. That's all we can play for tomorrow ... We have to be ready to go.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Quotes: Arkansas (March 278)

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