COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: LEXINGTON REGIONAL

June 1, 2024

Mitch Hannahs

Randal Diaz

Dominic Listi

Indiana State Sycamores

Postgame Press Conference

Indiana State 6, Western Michigan 4

MITCH HANNAHS: Obviously this time of year it's survive and advance. I thought we did a really good job coming out of the gate offensively. I thought we did a poor job down the stretch of putting them away when we had opportunity.

But I was really pleased with what Cam Edmonson gave us out of the back of the pen.

Thought Luke Hayden was good at times. You look up and they got three hits and three runs. I just thought we walked too many guys, hit a few guys and gave them every opportunity to stay in the game.

Q. Dom, talk about the approach early in the game. Offensively you guys barrelled up on a lot of Vlcek's pitches. What was the general approach you guys took?

DOMINIC LISTI: Yeah, yesterday I thought we had a pretty poor approach, so today I was just trying to be simple to the baseball, hitting line drives, having good at-bats from our whole team 1 to 9, and I think we were able to do that from early in the game, like Coach said.

Q. Randal, you were able to get a single right off the bat. How much do you think that helped? On the other side of things, Western Michigan made a few pitching changes; offensive momentum slowed down. What do you think got you going, and what do you think kept you from keep going?

RANDAL DIAZ: After last night I knew I had to come today. I knew I was the first hitter. I knew I had to start leading off my team. I had the responsibility the whole year, so I knew I had to make an adjustment right away.

Q. What made it tough later in the game as Western made some pitching changes?

RANDAL DIAZ: They had good pitchers. This time of the year, everyone is good. I think there were a couple times we did a good job at the beginning, so that helped us later in the game.

Q. Randal, after last night's game you said that you were going to bring the energy and make sure you guys started out hot, and you did. What did you tell the team to get them going early in the game?

RANDAL DIAZ: I mean, for me, it's an everyday thing. I always try to make everybody just laugh a little bit, keep the energy all the time. Sometimes it can bring up crazy or something like that. I just need my team to be live wires all the time, so they can't think about what's going to happen after or not. We live in the moment. Let's keep battling the whole game.

Q. For both of you, as Cam comes in and he's throwing strikes, what does that do for you guys defensively when you know a strike is coming, it keeps you on your toes, as opposed to Luke was good, flashed good, but there was walks hit by pitches and that takes you defensively out of the rhythm a little bit.

RANDAL DIAZ: I mean, that help us a lot to just with positioning, all that, so obviously it's going to make it easier. We're a team we work a lot on the defensive stuff so if he's spotting the spots, obviously it's going to be easier for us.

DOMINIC LISTI: He did an outstanding job just attacking the zone today. Like Randal said, we're a good defensive team, and it gets us into the game, gets us talking. Gets us ready to make plays, and I think that will carry us over to the offensive side because I don't think we've played our best baseball yet.

Q. Dom, when you're riding out a tense game like that late in the game and then you get an interference reversal on the baseline, the line-out, double play, what are those types of plays like when the momentum of the game is kind of in the balance and you can feel them coming at you a little bit? What do those types of plays mean in the dugout?

DOMINIC LISTI: Yeah, I think you just have to settle down and have poise in those situations and understand there's going to be swings of momentum in playoff baseball and just baseball in general.

That's going to happen in these good games. It's the fine details. Things like that are going to happen, but how are we going to be able to get the momentum back on our side.

And I think when we're going well, we do a very good job of maintaining our poise and being able to attack the next pitch in the right mindset.

Q. Dom, you touched on it you guys haven't played your best baseball yet. How do you use this going into tomorrow?

DOMINIC LISTI: Definitely. I mean, like Coach Hannahs said, it's survive and advance right now, so we were able to advance. We get another opportunity tomorrow and have to come ready with the same mindset and try to enhance our capabilities and be ready to win another ballgame.

Q. Mitch, (indiscernible) what do you think was the key to that, and what do you think kind of went away as the game went along?

MITCH HANNAHS: Well, I think with the first guy, obviously he's a top of the zone guy, likes to throw to the top. I thought we did a really good job of staying on top of the baseball at the top of the zone. I thought that was the key to getting him out of there. I thought as they moved down the line a little bit, I thought the approaches were a little poor. I thought we had guys trying to pull a baseball that was soft and moving away from us. I think that comes from being a little anxious.

Then I thought there were some moments we had some pitches to hit and missed them. There in that last inning when Mike took the walk, he got that hanging breaking ball and normally that's a pitch that he doesn't miss.

I think it was good to get the lead, but I still felt like we've got a few guys trying to do a little too much in some of those situations.

Q. Some momentum plays really as the game went along, the double play, the runner's interference call. You hate to have it come down to that, but you're thankful when they happen. What was the mood in the dugout when those occurred?

MITCH HANNAHS: Well, I think obviously the running play, I think if we had the other base out there, I think that's an out.

I think he's over there the whole time, and I think that throw can get to our first baseman instead of running inside the line, and I think that's a really dangerous play inside the line, and I think that's a really dangerous play. We're fortunate no one got hurt in that situation. I think the other thing is Luis Hernández made a great play on that line drive. I think sometimes someone thinks they're making plays that really diminish innings and really take the wind out of another team, and I think we had a play or two like that today.

The one was the baserunning thing. The other was just a really good play by Luis at first base, and I'm not sure early in the season with him learning first base if we make that play.

Q. What was the key to Cam battling his way through those four and two-thirds innings? None of them were easy, but he did manage to fight his way out of some trouble.

MITCH HANNAHS: I think the key, he got a couple strike out lookings when he crossed the plate inside, and I think his ability to get on the inner third once in a while really helped him. I think we called the fastball in there to Richmond, thought we had him sitting slider, slider, slider because we had thrown a bunch of them and he left it out over the middle of the plate.

Credit to them. It seems like every time that we didn't locate we got hurt by that front four or five guys. But I think his key was just getting ahead, and then when he wasn't always ahead, he could still land a strike. 2-1 he could still throw whatever pitch.

I think that's important in college baseball right now with everyone turning up the velocity and trying to strip fastballs. You've got to be able to grab any pitch 2-1, 3-1. I think that's the key to keeping people in the park.

Q. Only using two pitchers today, talk about that.

MITCH HANNAHS: That's one of the things you sit there as the coach and you think, man, I want to push him through, but then you let it go and in the last inning you're really kicking yourself for going to your pen.

So I think you're on a balancing wire right there. Do you leave him in -- he's throwing well, but at the same time we kept calling down to the bullpen because I wanted velocity for Richmond. We got Cole Gilley sent down there, 93, 94, that if anyone would have been on base he would have been coming because I wanted velocity to those next three or four guys. I didn't want to take our chances with 89, 90. I wanted mid 90s.

Q. I think it was the fourth inning Luke started getting in trouble. Hit a guy, has two walks, bases loaded nobody out. Pitching coach goes out there. What were you guys seeing in the dugout, and what was said to Luke? Because he got out of the inning relatively unscathed.

MITCH HANNAHS: Well, number one, we told him he loaded the bases. That's first and foremost. I mean, make somebody hit you. He gets in that mode where he starts trying to do too much pulling off. When his fastball starts taking off and you see that front side pulling out, it's been detrimental to him.

But credit to him. Again, I don't know early in the year that he works out of that. I think that's something he's growing a lot. He's gotten a lot better at being calm.

I think again, the only thing -- we're 3-2 with a five-run lead and he shakes and throws another slider. Again, that's a young guy chasing, trying to fool guys when his fastball was good enough just to get out there and throw it at guys and make them beat you.

I really felt like Justin went out and the message was, hey, you're beating yourself, man. You've got to settle in and get some strikes and try to get a ball right now on the turf for a double play to work out of this.

Fortunately for the most part he worked out of it except for the walk to make it 6-2. That's part of his growing as a pitcher. Last week he didn't have any traffic and did a really good job, but sometimes when guys get on with him, he wants to throw 100 instead of just pitching, which is what I thought Crowder did really well last night. He was pitching at that velocity, not throwing.

I think that was the message, just settle in and relax and try to pound the zone here.

Q. Pulling on that thread a little bit, he obviously labored that inning. I think the next inning you got two quick outs on two or three pitches, you call an offensive time-out. Is that to make sure you're getting some extra time?

MITCH HANNAHS: Yeah, just trying to give him some time. I felt like we went -- I think it was first pitch, the foul out, and then we went 1-0, ground ball to second. It was so quick that we just used that as long as we could to get him some time.

Obviously he was laboring and we needed to at least let him catch a breath in between innings.

Q. Do you have an idea what the pitching plan is for tomorrow?

MITCH HANNAHS: Yeah, I think most likely, unless something changes, we'll start Cutts tomorrow.

Q. Anyone from yesterday or today available?

MITCH HANNAHS: Pruitt will be available tomorrow, Gregersen will be available tomorrow. I think for the most part -- and we'll see how Spencer feels coming back. I think all of those guys are possibilities.