Transcript: Everything Chris Lemonis said after second Austin Peay loss
Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis didn’t mince words after his team’s second midweek loss to Austin Peay
Q: The pitching started the season out strong, but didn’t have it tonight. What did you see?
Lemonis: You know, we were pretty good in spurts. I thought Tyson Hardin started good. Then he comes out in the third and just can’t find it. Colby Holcombe was okay, Tyler Davis was okay, Gavin Black was good, and then we give up the seven (runs) in the eighth and the ninth. I probably stretched Schuelke too long, because he had to throw two last night. (We were) just trying to get five outs tonight. Karson Ligon is really good, he actually threw some good pitches, they just jumped on some balls. They’re a good team, they’re playing a lot better than us right now offensively and just being aggressive.
Q: The offense put up 10 runs but only had six hits, what’d you think of it tonight?
Lemonis: I’m still disappointed. We have too many opportunities to get big hits, and we’re just not aggressive or we’re over aggressive. In that game, where they stay in the game and where they have momentum is because we keep leaving (base runners) on the field. You’ve got to take advantage of it. I mean, that game could have been blown open early, and we just never get the big hit. We’ll get a walk or an HBP or something, but we’re not getting the big hit from the guys out there.
Q: Do you get the sense that the guys are trying to do too much?
Lemonis: Yeah, I do. And that was the challenge after the game, but they have an 18-year-old freshman come in here and throw three innings with poise and confidence. How does he be able to come in here and we can’t do that? Really, we’re just playing soft right now. You can say pressing or whatever, and that’s the responsibility of the coach. We’re not playing tough, we’re playing selfish. We can look back on this and say ‘hey man, we had a little stumble early, but we got tougher through it,’ or we can just continue to play that way. We’re going to have to get tougher if we’re going to beat teams.
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Q: Amani Larry leads off the game with a home run, and you would think that would spark something, but it never really did. Why not?
Lemonis: No, it never really did. And then late in the game, we had some opportunities, but we were just too aggressive or not aggressive enough when it’s time to hit on a good pitch. Pitch selection is a big thing right now. We’ve got good hitters. We’ve got good pitchers. We’ve got a chance to be a really good team, but man, we have been funky here the first couple of days.
Q: What is your message to get them to relax after something like this?
Lemonis: Well, I was real calm with them last night, and I just chewed their ass tonight. I just thought that we were up 10-5 or 10-6, gets to be a little selfish, gets to be a little about me, and we waste some at bats and stuff. Just the body language and everything. I really chewed on them after the game today, so we’re going to have to respond. We need a good practice tomorrow and to come out and play some good baseball this weekend.
