Postgame Quotes: Southern (April 6)

2021 Mississippi State Baseball
Postgame Quotes
Mississippi State vs. Southern
April 6, 2021

Head Coach Chris Lemonis

Q: It probably felt good to get a lot of guys in the game. Tell me how you felt about tonight.
CL: I was very pleased. I wish we would have swung [the bats] a little earlier, but we had some good at-bats. I thought the guys that came off the bench gave us some better at-bats, actually. They were ready and jumped on some balls. I like the fact that we put a zero in the error column and that our nine pitchers went out and pretty much threw strikes and competed.

Q: Talk about the lineup shaking up tonight with some different positions for people, or is it something we might see in a weekend?
CL: I think it's more just trying to shake it up midweek and trying to keep them focused. I kind of wanted [Josh] Hatcher to go out there and relax and play ball in a different position. He plays the outfield in all of our scrimmages. I wanted to get Kellum [Clark] in the lineup. Kellum's had some good practices. I wanted [Logan Tanner] to get a couple at-bats, and we knew he was only going to play about half a game ... We want Luke [Hancock] to catch at least once a week and tonight was his night to catch ... We're just trying to figure it out. We haven't figured it out yet. I think it's more about our hitters having good at-bats rather than the structure of the lineup.

Q: That's the first time we've seen Eric [Cerantola] in a while, what were your thoughts tonight?
CL: I thought he was good. He threw more strikes. He competed more. His stuff was good. He was probably 95-98 [mph] and threw the breaking ball for a strike. We'll continue to work and use him in the bullpen and get him in some closer type of games. It was good to get him back out there. I know it's been two weeks since he last pitched. We could use him. Can you imagine that arm coming out of the pen having success late in the year? He could be a real weapon.

Q: What has Brayland [Skinner] meant to you and this team this year?
CL: He's a great kid. He brings a lot of energy. He practices the way he plays. He is a bunny rabbit all over the field. He has a lot of energy to him. He's a fun kid. A fan favorite is what I think he's become, but he's also a team favorite. He's just a very positive kid. He's a really good ball player. He's getting his feet wet. He's kind of learning how to handle the ups and downs of being an SEC student-athlete. I like where he's at right now.

Q: From before Brayland [Skinner] got here to now, did you expect him to provide for you in the way that he has, or has he exceeded expectations?
CL: I would say he's exceeded a little bit. I didn't know a lot [about him]. It was a late sign, so we didn't see him play much. We were supposed to go see him right when COVID hit and couldn't go see him. We just leaned on a lot of other people. Coach [Jake] Gautreau had seen him the year before. We knew the swing needed some work, and it still needs some work, but he competes. He flies, and he plays a great outfield. People don't realize how great of an outfield he plays. He's been a pleasant surprise.

Q: Does the NCAA Regional hosting being different this year add any pressure going into this weekend at Auburn?
CL: I talked to John [Cohen] about it today. You still have to win. It doesn't matter. In our world, you've got to win no matter what. You're trying to get enough wins to get in. You're trying to get enough wins to host. You're trying to be a national seed, so for us the pressure is always there to go somewhere and compete because you don't know what's ahead of you. It really hasn't changed that. We've just got to be in a good position when they decide on those bids. The NCAA should want to have a Regional here or a Super Regional here because of the venue and they'll make money here because our fans support it so much. We've just got to make sure that we have the right resume.

Q: What are your early thoughts on Auburn?
CL: I think their backs are against the wall and they're a really good team. I think they went to Arkansas and played really well last weekend and won game one. Game two and three they had the lead in the seventh inning against Arkansas, which we know about them. Their record is a little deceiving. They were missing a lot of arms early on and they're getting them all back here by the time they play us. It's going to be a really good game. My couple years here we've had some big games with Auburn. I expect pretty competitive, tightknit games all weekend long. We've got to outperform them. We've got to go in their yard and outperform them and try to get the series there.

Q: Are you excited to get on the road again and see how this team performs?
CL: No, I'd rather play here. I like the confines of our ballpark. The nice thing in some of these places right now is you get on the road and they haven't open up the [capacity]. I was watching the Kentucky series when we were scouting Kentucky and they were at Auburn. You're not dealing with the same crowds you're dealing with in the past. Even when we went to LSU, it wasn't as crazy as it is normally going to these venues. Our atmosphere is pretty good, probably one of the best right now. I'm looking forward to [going to Auburn]. I've never been there. [Coach] Foxhall coached there for a long time and went to school there, and he enjoyed his time there. I'm looking forward to going down there and playing and seeing the atmosphere.

Q: What did you think of Cade Smith tonight?
CL: I thought he was good. I thought he was a little hyped up and probably jerked some balls out of his own there early, but I thought he pitched really well. I know we have a lot of depth on the mound, but we came out of the fall and Cade was probably in the top eight. He came back [from winter break] and wasn't feeling good. We had to shut him down and rehab him and work him back up, but maybe he gives us a spark here down the road because it is really good stuff. He is a very talented pitcher. Some of these young guys have been jumping lately. [Cade] and Mikey Tepper, that was a different Mikey Tepper tonight.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Quotes: Southern (April 6)

Players Mentioned

Cade Smith

Logan Tanner

Mikey Tepper

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