NCAA Starkville Regional: MSU Quotes (June 3, 2021)

NCAA Starkville Regional
Pre-Regional Press Conference
Mississippi State
June 3, 2021

Chris Lemonis | Head Coach

Q: How much different is this Samford team from when you saw them in March?
CL: When we saw them in March, they were coming off a really tough stretch. They went to Florida and got swept but played well. They went to Texas A&M, drove across the country, then drove back here and we got them on a Tuesday. I don't think we're playing the same team right now, [even though it's the] same players. We knew they were going to be really good at the beginning of the year. We knew that coming in. We thought they'd be one of our better RPI teams in our midweeks, and we got them at a time where they were a little down, so it'll be a very competitive weekend. They're playing great ball, and they had a great SoCon Tournament. It'll be a good matchup tomorrow.

Q: Have you decided on a starter yet?
CL: Yes, we're going to go with Will Bednar tomorrow.

Q: What was the thinking behind starting Will Bednar?
CL: As we look at this regional, you have three teams that are all really good offensively. We feel like our regional has a real blend of good teams across the board. When we looked at matchups, Samford has eight right-handed hitters, and they're a really good offensive team. We felt at that point that Will [Bednar] would matchup best with them. Both guys, Christian [MacLeod] and Will [Bednar], they're both rested to pitch this game. Will [Bednar] has pitched the 2 o'clock game all year, so it will probably feel the same to him in terms of his body. The next two opponents have three or four lefties in their lineups. We just thought from a matchup standpoint that he was our best matchup.

Q: How do you feel about the intensity that Landon Sims brings, and do you think that will translate to this bigger stage?
CL: Well, he's sitting right beside me, so I don't want to talk too good about him. Great closers with that type of mentality in the postseason, you see it every year. Teams that make big runs to Omaha have those type of guys. We had it in 2019 with Cole Gordon, who had all those saves in the postseason, and we feel the same thing with Landon [Sims]. The bigger the moment, the bigger the player you get with him. We're looking forward to it. He's probably going to have to stay relaxed and stay with that football mentality. You don't want to squeeze it too hard. He'll be really good and be ready for us this week.
Q: Has Landon Sims always had that mentality since he's been at Mississippi State?
CL: One of my first days on the road here at Mississippi State as a coach, I went to see Landon [Sims]. It was the same the day I saw him there. It was a big environment. I don't know if he remembers it, but we were in Atlanta, Georgia, and I think he hit 96 [miles per hour] that day. I called [Jake Gautreau] and said, 'I don't know if he's coming to school', but luckily, he made it to school. He's had that about him the whole time. He's a really good football player, a really good baseball player, and just loves to compete.

Q: After giving the team a few days off, what has practice been like the past few days and have you seen the focus and intensity pick up from the guys coming into the regional?
CL: It's been great. I know every coach is going to say that this time of year, but man, we're the lucky ones. We're one of the last 64 teams practicing. A lot of kids around the country are going home or going to [play] summer ball, and we're still playing. We've tried to be very intense, but in short increments. We went around two and a half hours a day, really fundamental practices – high energy, high intensity trying to get some stuff done, and they've really responded. The two days [off] were good. They let us get away and decompress a little bit. Here in Starkville, our kids have caught a lot of fish. Brad [Cumbest] keeps telling me about the fish he catches every day, so they've been able to kind of get away from it and rest their bodies. I'm looking forward to them playing great this week.

Q: What have you seen offensively from Samford after scouting?
CL: It's a powerful lineup. They have right-handed hitters where if you make a mistake, they're trying to get it in the air and hit it out of the ballpark. They have a guy or two that will put some pressure on you with their feet, but most of it is trying to get extra base hits and hit the ball out of the ballpark. That's the way they play.

Q: How have Houston Harding and Jackson Fristoe looked this week?
CL: They've just been throwing [in the bullpen]. They've been good. It's good to get some guys some rest this week, some arms. I think everybody feels fresh. We [have had no bullpen work] the last day or two. Everybody is ready to go and everybody is on hand for game one. Obviously, we have Will [Bednar] in game one and Christian [MacLeod] in game two, but everybody else on the staff is ready to pitch.

Q: When you go into a place like Dudy Noble Field, how much of a change is it for someone who is used to playing in front of a few hundred fans?
CL: This year, it's even a little different than most because a lot of these teams are coming in, and their states or their conferences have different rules. It was always fun. I remember being at The Citadel and going to play Clemson or South Carolina. Unfortunately, they always send the fourth seed to the closest school that's hosting, so we always went to those two spots. Our kids enjoy it. We played there during the year, so we were kind of used to it, but these teams will respond. We have three great, well-coached teams and they're all playing great baseball. I look up at the win streaks over the last 20 games, and everyone is playing well. That's what you get in regional play. It'll be a competitive weekend. Hopefully, our fans will make a huge difference. They usually do, even in the SEC. We're looking forward to having a packed ballpark and having a loud ballpark this weekend.

Q: How did you arrive at the decision to start Will Bednar game one and was it a difficult decision?
CL: It was actually pretty easy. I said on those two days off, thinking about everything from the past weekend to the upcoming weekend, and so did [Scott Foxhall], and we both came in on Monday thinking this was what we should do, and I agreed 100%. When you look at the matchups and how things go, we need to get off to a good start. We need to have great momentum. Our motto of our team is 'Right here, right now'. It's about our first game and we feel like Will [Bednar] gives us the best matchup in that first game. I don't want to play for anything down the road or anything like that. I have too much respect for the teams in this tournament.

Landon Sims | Fr. (2Y) | RHP

Q: How do you respond to your performance in the SEC Tournament?
LS: "Right when I walked past the third base foul line, it left my brain. Baseball is a really tough sport, it's the most humbling sport in the world. I know things like that are going to happen. If I do happen to have a long career, that's probably going to happen 100 other times. Being able to deal with tough outings is a really big part of being a successful baseball player."

Q: How easy is it to put the bad performances behind you?
LS: I wouldn't really say it's easy to flush [them out], but it's a really bad thing to sit there and let it marinate. I usually watch most of my outings back on the television, but that last outing against Tennessee, I didn't even think about watching that one. It was in the SEC Tournament, so I think it was a really good time for that to happen. It was bound to happen at some point. It's going to make me better down the stretch here in the postseason. I'm ready to go.

Q: When does your intensity switch turn on?
LS: Usually, I head down to the bullpen in the fifth or sixth inning during each game. It starts to flip a little bit there, but when they call down to the bullpen and tell me to start getting ready, that's when it really switches. I have to go to that mentality of it's me versus these guys, and I have to do what I have to do to hold the game where it is and put us in the best spot to win.

Q: How do you channel that to keep from going over the edge?
LS: I don't know if any of you remember, but in my first outing last year, I threw eleven pitches. I threw nine balls and two strikes, then Coach Lemonis came out there and pulled me. In that situation, I was over-hyped a little bit. Being a freshman and going out there in front of 10,000 people for the first time was a little overwhelming, as much as I don't want to admit it. After that, I feel like I've done a really good job of breathing, just trusting my catcher, trusting Coach Foxhall's pitch calling and trusting my defense behind me. [I have to] let what happens happen.

Q: What have the last few days been like for the team and how focused do you feel like the team is heading into Friday's game?
LS: I feel like we're really focused. We had two days to flush the SEC Tournament. We were over and done with that as soon as we got on the bus to head back to Starkville. Those two days off to lay back – we lifted still, but we stayed off the field and I think we're in a really good spot right now. We have to come ready to play. These are three really good teams. We can't take anything for granted here and we have to play really good baseball.

Q: How excited are you to get out and pitch in this kind of atmosphere?
LS: Since the day I committed here back in my sophomore year of high school, I've just been watching these big moments unfold here in Starkville. In 2019, the regional and the super-regional got me really fired up. Being in those big situations here in a few days is what you come here for. You don't want to go anywhere else in the country and play in front of anybody else with anybody else.

Q: How much more important is it to have the home crowd cheering for you rather than against you in these situations?
LS: That's huge for us. We've talked about how hostile of an environment that it's going to be playing in front of 12,000-14,000 people here in Starkville. It's not easy to do being the home team, but it's going to be even harder to do being the away team, especially with all of our fans cheering us on.

Q: Do you believe your performance in the SEC Tournament could be a motivating factor heading into the postseason?
LS: Absolutely. Sometimes, a few bad losses can turn around a season for a team. It's do or die right here. We have to play to our best every game, every inning, every pitch. It's a little motivating, but we know what we can do. and if we play to the best of our abilities, we're a really tough team to beat."

Q: Does your football background help you with the closer mentality?
LS: Absolutely. Being a closer, you have to have a little bit of a 'me' mentality out there. Nobody is going to feel bad for you. It's you against everybody else. I like that. I like to bring a little bit of attitude on the mound.

Luke Hancock | So. | C

Q: What do you remember about your last matchup with Samford when you hit two home runs?
LH: It was a good night for me and my team. We jumped out early and got a few runs on the board in the middle innings. We put some good at-bats together and blew it up in the sixth or seventh. It was a good game that night, but like coach said, they're a totally different team than they were [then]. Having to go to Florida, then to Texas A&M before coming here, I'm sure they were tired. We need to be ready tomorrow to come out and play a clean game of baseball.

Q: Do you feel like you shifted the momentum your way again this week in practice after the SEC Tournament?
LH: I think so. We had a great week of practice. When we got back from Hoover on Friday, we flushed [the SEC Tournament]. We just started thinking about this week and what we needed to do to prepare ourselves to play good baseball, and that's what we've done this week. We've had a great week of practice and hopefully it carries over into the weekend.

Q: What is it like to have grown up seeing Mississippi State play regionals here to now being one of the guys people show up to watch?
LH: It's great. Being able to come to regionals as a kid [was great], only living a few minutes down the road. It means a lot to me and my family for me to be able to put this jersey on every day and to play the game that I love. To be able to play the game I love at Mississippi State means a lot to me and my family, so we're all looking forward to it.

Q: Do people treat you any differently now back in Houston, Mississippi?
LH: No sir, it's always the same. [There are] great people in Houston and I love everybody there. I love going back home, but no, [I have been treated the same] since I've been here.

Q: What is Landon Sims like off the field?
LH: He turns off [the intensity] sometimes, not all the time. When we're hanging out and doing whatever, he's actually really chill […] Whenever he gets on the field, he's a totally different animal. He just goes out there and competes like no one I've ever seen before. I've said this a million times, I'm just glad he's on my team and I don't have to hit against him.

Q: What's it like to stand inside the batter's box against what Landon Sims brings?
LH: Well, it didn't go well for me, I know that. It's a different fastball, a different slider from him. Whenever he has that mindset that he's getting you out, he's going to get you out no matter what. It's tough.

Q: How do you older guys calm down and help the younger players relax in these big moments?
LH: We just talk to them. All the freshmen and all the underclassmen that haven't gotten to experience this yet, [we help them]. My freshman year in 2019, I didn't get to play, but I got to experience the whole thing. Even though I didn't play, it still helped me grow as a player just to be able to experience that and watch the upperclassmen to see what they do, how they carry their business, and what we needed to do to prepare. I think now that I've gotten older, I hope that I've been able to help the underclassmen in any way I can. We just try to help them out as much as we can.

Q: What do you expect to see from Will Bednar and what will your message be to him?
LH: I don't think I have to tell him anything. He goes out there and competes just like Landon [Sims] does. They're two of the best pitchers in the country. They both really compete. Will [Bednar] has competed for us all year. He's been great for us and I know he's going to be great for us again tomorrow.

Mississippi State University Athletics

NCAA Starkville Regional: MSU Quotes (June 3, 2021)

Related News

Players Mentioned

Will Bednar

Jackson Fristoe

Luke Hancock

Houston Harding

Landon Sims

Related Videos