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

NCAA Starkville Regional
Pre-Regional Press Conference
Samford
June 3, 2021

Casey Dunn | Head Coach

Opening Statement
CD: I'm excited to be here. Our team has battled through some ups and downs throughout the season. We started off with a lot of high expectations, and I'm just excited to see this opportunity come to fruition for what was a tough season.

Q: What do you take away from your encounter with Mississippi State earlier this season?
CD: I wouldn't take a whole lot away from it, that's for sure. It wasn't a great trip here earlier this year. The positive [to take away] is that our guys have been in this venue. Obviously, it's a larger facility than we're accustomed to playing in. Our guys had the chance to experience their venue. Hopefully, we're not overwhelmed by the stadium and can go out and play good baseball.

Q: Who will be the starting pitcher tomorrow?
CD: Sam Strickland will be starting for us tomorrow.

Q: Can you talk about the importance of winning the Southern Conference Tournament?
CD: Hopefully, it carries over a lot. We've talked a lot this season about the ability to finish games, to finish the season and the importance of the finish. Being a part of two walkoffs in the conference tournament and to finish off the regular season with a conference championship, it says a lot about the character of the team. It says a lot about the makeup of this team, and the fight that this group has.

Q: What advantage does having guys who have been to regionals before give the team?
CD: We have some guys [who have been to regionals before]. Sam Strickland is the same guy who, as a freshman, went into Tallahassee and beat the No. 4 national seed in Florida State. It's comforting having a guy who has not only pitched in the big moment but excelled in the big moment. We have several other guys, Taylor Garris our shortstop, Max Pinto our centerfielder and Ryan Crockett. Those are guys who have been here, and they have played in the regional atmosphere. They have played in the big environments. I hope there is some carryover as we go into tomorrow.

Q: What makes Sam Strickland a good matchup against Mississippi State?
CD: I'll be honest, Sam is throwing tomorrow because he's the best guy we have, not necessarily because of the matchup. I hope it's a good matchup for us. Sam has been our guy during his fourth season. He's a guy who attacks the zone. Unlike a lot of college pitchers who try to trick and fool you, Sam is going to come right after you and challenge you. I think that mentality is what gives him success at this level.

Q: What is different about your team this time playing against Mississippi State?
CD: First off, we gave up 10 runs that night. I think eight of the 10 are guys that are not necessarily a part of our weekend staff. They [Mississippi State] will see a lot of different people than they saw earlier in the year. Also, three of our better hitters weren't in the lineup that night. This is a different club than who came here in March. I think it's a team who is playing much better. It's still a team that understands the challenge we have ahead of us. I do think you'll see a better Samford baseball team than what you saw in March.

Q: How did beating Mississippi State in the 2012 regionals affect your baseball program?
CD: There may not be a bigger, more pivotal moment for our program than that year. That was the first ever regional trip for Samford. We had a club in 2012 that, quite honestly, was better than Mississippi State that year. We proved that as we beat them twice. We had a better team. We beat Chris Stratton who was their guy on Friday night. I think we hit as many home runs as he had given up that whole season. That was just a really good group who set the bar high for Samford baseball. It's still, to this day, the best group we have put together. This is a good team. I'm not going to knock our group now but, that group in 2012 was extremely talented. I think there were 13 draft picks apart from that team that year and across the next couple of years. Again, this is a different group than we had in 2012. Still a good group but probably not the same ability level as that group in 2012.

Q: How do you feel about your team's power coming from a very offensive conference?
CD: We have some offensive guys who have some power. Obviously, we play in a very offensive league. I think Mercer either led or finished second in the country in home runs. A couple other groups were up there pretty high. It's a league that's challenging the [inside] pitch. When you look at some of our pitching numbers, they're inflated because of our conference. There are some smaller ballparks. There also are some physical teams within our league. It's a challenging league to pitch in for sure.

Max Pinto | Jr. | OF

Q: How excited are you to play for a chance to win regionals?
MP: We're fired up. Being a mid-major, it really excites us to be able to play in an atmosphere like this. Like Coach [Dunn] said, it's not every day that we get to come into a stadium like this and play in front of that many people. It just gets us excited. We're just excited to be out there.

Q: Do you feel like you have a different team now than when you played Mississippi State in March?
MP: I do feel like we're playing a little bit better now as a team. We've figured out some stuff position wise. Also, having our weekend rotation out there makes us feel a little bit more confident going in. We trust the guys we have on this team. We trust our defense, and we trust our pitching. At the end of the day, it's the same team.

Sam Strickland | Jr. | LHP

Q: What can you draw from your previous regional experience in Tallahassee?
SS: That was my first time ever throwing in a stadium like that, and this one is even bigger. I'm a big adrenaline guy. The more people that are in the stands, the better I can handle it. Being older and having been in this situation before, I think I can handle it well.

Q: How well do you think you matchup with Mississippi State?
SS: I think I'm pretty well prepared. As Coach [Dunn] said earlier, we come from a big offensive league. So, I had to prepare for that every weekend. I'm just going to go in the same way I have the past four years. I just trust my stuff and the pitch calling.

Mississippi State University Athletics

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

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