Postgame Quotes: Texas A&M (May 1)

2021 Mississippi State Baseball
Postgame Quotes
Mississippi State vs. Texas A&M
May 1, 2021

Head Coach Chris Lemonis

Q: I asked you about your left field situation then Brad [Cumbest] comes out here in the second game and jacks a homer and had a good offensive day, is he trying to secure that spot?
CL: Yeah, I think so and I don't blame him. It's easier to put him in the lineup when he does that. The hard part over the last couple months is split-wise he doesn't hit the lefties as well. He hits the righties better. I've been playing Brayland [Skinner] against the righties and then I said I'd give Brad a couple days to play, and his swings have been good in those at-bats and I thought he did a really nice job today.

Q: How big is what Houston [Harding] did for you guys today?
CL: CL: Well to bridge the game like he did [was huge]. We were having a tough time and we didn't have a lot in the bullpen, so for him to give us five shutout innings there after he came in with two on and no outs—I gave him the shirt after the game because I felt like it was the biggest moment of the game. He was able to help us win and help us have a good bullpen late in the game.

Q: How have you seen him [Houston Harding] improve?
CL: Well, he's been good. He was really good early on as a starter and then we've used him out of the bullpen. He's had some decent, long relief pieces but I think he's been a little bit more consistent lately. His stuff is good, he's just got to locate and throw strikes.

Q: You swept three games in less than 30 hours, what does that say about your depth?
CL: I thought we played our best in the second game today, too. I thought the first two games, we were okay and we're still able to win games. I don't know if it was exams or graduation or whatever, I just felt like our energy was a little bit down. The third game, the most tired game, I thought we had the most effort and I was happy to see them respond. I kind of jumped on them after the first game today. I felt like we missed a lot of opportunities and I didn't want us to sit back and think about how we took the series. It's never about taking the series, it's about us winning the next game. I was really pleased with the way they played tonight.

Q: You guys have gotten good at winning these uncomfortable games, what does it say about this team to win games with a lot of ugly in them?
CL: It's just the quality of our team and I think it's the dynamic in which the way our team is built. A lot of pitching and defense and gritty, tough guys. I've told our coaching staff; you've seen teams make long runs like this because we're used to playing the close game. We feel like we're always in the game and it's always pretty close and our kids, they respond in those scenarios. We played good late in the game. I was pleased today that we went 18 innings without committing an error. That type of defense and the way we can pitch at times is huge. We're probably not going to blow a lot of people out. I hope we do, but it doesn't work that way.

Q: Do you feel like this is the lineup you want to ride with for a while?
CL: I liked where we were today. Brayland Skinner is going to help us in the outfield, he's really good. He can play all three [outfielder] positions. Josh Hatcher is a really good defensive first baseman and he's a good hitter, he's going to hit in time. Same with Kamren James. But today gave us a little bit of an opportunity to play some other guys and give guys a little bit of time off to clear their heads and jump out there. I was pleased. When we play good defense and we pitch, we usually win.

Q: You haven't been great in all three phases of the game, but you continue to win, is it frustrating as a coach that it hasn't come together or are you more excited for the possibilities?
CL: Like I said, it's about effort for me. We're never going to play perfect and hopefully you've got enough hitters going at one time. The staple to me is always defense. We just have to be able to defend. I always feel like we're going to pitch at a high enough level, and we hope to have enough hot hitters every weekend. You look up every weekend and you got a couple guys that are hot. Brad Cumbest had a good weekend this weekend, and Tanner Allen seems to be hot every weekend so that helps out. But it's the ebb and flow of the season. It never plays perfect. You may get a two or three week run where you play great, but I think we put a pretty good consistent product out there that gives us a chance to win every day.

Q: You've been leaving a lot of baserunners on at the end of innings, but late in the second ball game you were getting a lot of two-out base hits, were you pleased with that late in the game?
CL: We were. A sign of a great team and a team that can win a championship is a team that makes things happen with two outs. Make a pitch, make a play, or get a hit. We were able to extend some innings there and they couldn't get us off the field. That gap in the game let us finish it a little easier than we would've had to either way. We were going to [Mikey] Tepper there in the eighth no matter what. But man, we put a gap up in the seventh [inning], [that] kind of gave us some cushion.

Q: With nine SEC games left, you are a game behind first place in the SEC East, how much of that factors into winning a championship in Omaha?
CL: Honestly, winning the SEC is huge. I don't look at that piece as much as others might. It's always about those SEC total wins, which I know that goes to us winning a championship and RPI. I do check the RPIs a little bit, and just as you build schedules and look at schedules and try to make sure you're in the right spot. For me, the number one goal of this program is to be a national seed every year so you can have a chance to win a national championship. Now, if that includes an SEC championship or a tournament championship, we'd love to have that along the way. But it's mainly about getting those wins, knowing if you can get to 18 to 20 [SEC wins], you've got a chance to be a national seed.

Q: Would you like to see your starters make it to six or seven innings as we get into the stretch of SEC play?
CL: I just want quality starts. I'd like to get five or six [innings]. I think if we get five or six, we're good. I think when you get four [innings] or two, that's when it puts a strain on the bullpen. So it kind of puts everybody out of whack, and then you play an extra-inning game, it makes it a little tougher. We do have depth in our bullpen. I told the team afterwards, if Mikey Tepper is coming out of the pen throwing 95 to 97 [miles per hour], he's a tough kid. Being able to get some of those pieces going and getting some of those guys to have success will be big for us. Cam Tullar, that's the guy we recruited. He had a slow start during the season, but he threw three times in 30 hours and his third time was the best stuff he'd had all season and it was really good. I'd like to see longer starts, I think every coach would, especially as you get into some big weekends. But what the bullpen did, Houston Harding, and a lot of those guys, there were so many pieces this weekend that pitched.

Mississippi State University Athletics

Postgame Quotes: Texas A&M (May 1)

Players Mentioned

Tanner Allen

Brad Cumbest

Houston Harding

Josh Hatcher

Kamren James

Brayland Skinner

Mikey Tepper

Cam Tullar

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