2021 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 27, 2021

Chris Lemonis

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Press Conference

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: Man, still coming off of last night. Great win. Man, our guys have fought since the day we got here. We haven't had an easy game yet. It's been very tight, tough ballgames. But man, they keep finding a way to persevere.

So we're excited to be here. It's an opportunity of a lifetime. It's been earned by our guys and I look forward to seeing them play on this stage.

Q. I know you're still coming down, but pitching plans for the series?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: We're putting the names in a hat and we're just going to draw them out one at a time. See what happens.

No, we're going to go, Christian MacLeod is rested and fresh. So he's going to go Game 1 and it will be TBA from there. We'll have to assess some guys and see where they are at. We have one of our top pitchers; he's ready to go Monday night.

Q. What have these last 12 hours been like for you? How has that gone and is your dad coming up to Omaha for the Championship Series?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: It's been crazy, trying to get the guys focused and rested, the night before we had the game where we got in at 2:00, fell asleep at 3:00, played last night, so a lot is about ys getting rested. I know they are excited and our fan base is excited.

No, my dad can't make it. My dad is actually in the hospital right now. My sister is there with him. They are watching every game. He's fired up. But yeah, it's unfortunate he can't make it out. But he's watching every game, I know, and watching every pitch.

Q. Do you like having this day off for rest or do you want to get on the field after a big win?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: No, we like the day off for rest. We need to emotionally come down. We need a little rest for our pitchers and our bodies. We'll go out to practice but it will be a light practice. Jumping in there and having to play two legally competitive games the last two nights and one went so long, our kids need a day to decompress.

Q. At this point of the season, you talk about teams being ready, players being ready. How much of it is coaching and how much when you get this deep into a season does it just come down to the players doing it themselves?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: That's been our message. Our message from the first game of the regionals was it's a players' game and players win right now. Coaches don't win. If we make great pitches or we get big hits or we get, whatever, you just have to be ready for when your time comes and that's what our guys have been able to do.

Coaching is very little right now besides us coaching them on and keeping them invested. But it's about the players, and the players will win. There will be players that play great and win this thing and that's what it comes down to right now. Usually that's what it comes down to all year long. The coaches, we're just here for the ride.

Q. Can you talk about the decision to no longer go through the main lobby of the hotel? Was that a response to seeing NC State getting knocked out by COVID?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: Yes, we're just -- and it's really hard for us because we have an unbelievable fan base. The last couple days, we haven't signed autographs or shaken hands. We're trying to be as protective as we can. The first couple nights we came to our lobby, thousands of people, it's the best part of winning a game out here.

Unfortunately last night we just kind of went around the back so it's less contact. Unfortunately it's the time that we're in and we're trying to be as smart as we can to give us the opportunity to compete on field.

Q. So much history with Mississippi State Baseball and so many trips here to the College World Series, and frankly a lot of heartbreak. Is this sort of a responsibility? Do you talk about this much?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: Burden of a lot of other teams who have been here. We're just locking in, Game 1, Vanderbilt, we've had to do it. 2018, some of my kids had to go to Vanderbilt to get here. We just had great games with them over the years.

We can't -- you know, you can't go back. We know our whole university and our whole state is behind us, and we just want to play good and represent our fan base. But the reality is, these poor kids, I mean, Tanner Allen I don't think was born when some of these we lost or whatever. They are here. They are making their own mark on history is our goal.

Q. You guys are on the opposite side of the bracket of NC State, but there in Omaha and you really what's going on, and I talked with a Mississippi State fan that said they feared whoever wins is going to have the asterisk of what happened in this College World Series. How do you block that out and just focus on what you've been dreaming of doing forever with this team?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: Yeah, I don't see that. I mean, I see us having to play. The way that we came through it and the games that we've had to play and now you're having to play Vanderbilt, there will be no asterisk for us.

And I hate it for NC State. I have three coaches who worked for Elliot on my staff. I have a long relationship with Elliot. My nieces and nephews all went to NC State. I have a lot of respect there. Man, it sucks what happened.

But for our guys, that stuff's out of our control. All we can do is show up and play, and whoever is in the other dugout we compete against. Like I said, it's unfortunate but it's the time that we're in, and we're just ready to play and get after Vanderbilt. Actually it probably makes our job a little harder, what happened, not easier, coming out of our bracket.

Q. I talked to Scott Foxhall the other day about Christian, and he was as confident as you are in him just getting back to the way that he was and talking about locating that fastball better. What have you seen from him these last couple of days that's looked promising heading into his start on Monday?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: Well, I know he had a good bullpen. We cranked him up, possibly use him out of the pen and he was able to come out of the pen last night. Luckily we didn't have to crank him up. The positive thing, he threw 40-some pitches. He's fully rested. He pitched really good against Vanderbilt early in the year, at least for three or four innings he was really good. He's a good matchup for us, and man, we're behind him. So we need him to go out there and pitch and compete for us.

Q. Obviously you know Vanderbilt really well. What have you seen from them in the College World Series and what are your more recent impressions of them?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: You know, they just -- they have been here, they know how to win. They have come back twice. They just -- you know, when they have their big guys out there, the Leiters or the Rockers, man, they are very formidable opponent, and they just know how to play the game and they are very well-coached. It will be a tough matchup. It will be who gets the big hit or who makes the big play because they are really good.

Q. How do you evaluate somebody like Will Bednar over the next couple days? Obviously he's a competitor that will say he want to pitch. How do you go about recognizing when he will be ready?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: It's just a communication piece. I spoke to Will already, and it's like you said, he's so competitive, who knows what he says. But he's got a long career after this, too. So we're very sensitive to that, too.

We've done a great job I feel like of taking care of him all year. He has not over-pitched all year. Probably his numbers are lower than most starting pitchers that are here in Omaha, and he's been on a strict pitch count most of the year. I think he's gone over a hundred maybe once or twice.

So it's not a situation where he's been overused, but it will come down to some conversations between all of us, and as we move through this.

Q. A couple of minutes ago when Kumar was asked about Mississippi State hitters, all he would say is they don't like to strikeout a lot and that's it. Can you maybe describe your approaches at the plate that led you to be effective offensively and not swing-and-miss a lot?

COACH CHRIS LEMONIS: We have a great hitting coach in Jake Gautreau, and a lot of his is, you know, we get back that last strike or four team and you see our guys, they pump their chest and we work on it every day. We feel like we are a grind-it-out offense. Not that we can't hit home runs, not that we can't do other things, but one of our goals was to grind it out and make you throw pitches and make you work.

I think that comes from our hitting coach. It's been here since he's been here and he does a tremendous job with our hitters, and our hitters are bought in. It's not always easy to buy into that. But our hitters have bought in because they have seen the success from year-to-year, and hopefully that makes a difference in this series. It does in a lot of our games.