Chris Lemonis discusses double-header sweep to begin 2025 campaign

Opening Day came and went for Mississippi State on Friday and the Diamond Dawgs showed out in a double-header win.

State outscored the Jaspers from Manhattan 30-4 in 14.0 total innings. The offense had a big game but the pitching staff was perhaps even better as the Bulldogs went to 2-0 to begin the year.

The two wins got head coach Chris Lemonis to 350 career victories as a head coach with 209 of those now coming in Starkville. After the game, the coach discussed the successful first day for his 2025 team.

Question: What was your biggest takeaway from Opening Day?

CL: “Defense. I thought we made a handful of plays on defense. And I thought besides one inning, we pounded the strike zone. Offensively, when we were good we were very approach driven. Stayed on some balls, moved some runners, two-out hits. Just played some baseball. The wind was blowing and you’re not seeing a ton of velo. I thought our guys just did a great job of staying locked in.”

Q: Your team has struggled sometimes hitting some of these kind of pitchers the last couple of years but had really good approaches and were locked in today…

CL: “I thought the second game, their guy pitched pretty good and stayed in there and gave us some fits throwing his changeup behind in counts. I thought we were a little bit better today and prepared for it better.”

Q: What did you think of Pico’s performance?

CL: “I thought he was great. He has been really good here in spring training. The delivery, the mechanics.. He’s just pounding the zone. Especially those first couple of innings, he barely missed a spot. It was impressive.”

Q: How did you assess Karson Ligon’s performance?

CL: “They got him a little bit early, but he found the off speed when they can’t sit on the fastball. Once he found it, it was hard to sit on anything. His breaking stuff is really good.”

Q: What did you see out of Aaron Downs?

CL: “His past couple of weeks have been really good. He’s probably the most loved kid in our program from the teammates to the people in the community. He’s had a good career in ways, but he hasn’t had that big year yet. Sometimes that senior does. No better guy to get it from because he’s super talented. He’s fought through some injuries and fought through some stuff, so I’m super proud of him.”

Q: How big is it for you to play so many players but also have so many quality at bats?

CL: “I made the comment to the team after the game that a problem that I have is that I have some really good players. Two of my lefties started in the first game and I don’t start them in the second game and they have two big hits there late – Reed Stallman and Nolan Stevens. We have a good group so they’re going to have to be able to handle that a little bit. I was happy for them.”

Q: How big have the sustained at bats been for Aaron Downs?

CL: “That’s been a big piece. Playing the game and the maturity and older player confidence. There have been guys here that first couple of years they’ve been good players and finished with that great year. I’m hoping that’s what he’s about to do.”

Q: What did you see from Ross Highfill behind the plate?

CL: “He was good. He was a lot better behind the plate than right field. He hasn’t had a chance to be in right much and we’ve got to get him more work because he’s so athletic and dynamic, I think you see the offensive side. Besides David Mershon, he’s probably as good as a baserunner as I’ve coached. Those two guys, they just have an instinct for it and he can fly on top of it. He’s a really good baserunner.”

Q: What went into Ross in the two hole and Hunter Hines at the five?

CL: “We’ve got the two big lefties in the middle and that’s the biggest thing. The hit of the day was in the first when Noah Sullivan hits the backside gap. Noah is probably your most professional hitter you’ve got in there – him and Bryce Chance. They’ll just take what the pitcher gives them, use the backside. Putting (Sullivan) between the two lefties was the big piece.

“Sawyer (Reeves) and Ross have been so good. They can both bunt for hit, they can steal, they can run, they can hit for power. You can do a lot. The lineup is a little more dynamic.”

Q: Will we see somebody Sunday we haven’t seen already?

CL: “I think I got them all out there position player wise, at least for an at bat. Pitching, we have a good rotation. In the outfield we’ll do some different things to matchup an extra lefthanded bat here and there and same for our infield. Lukas Buckner and Gatlin Sanders are two good lefties in there if we need to get an extra bat in the lineup.”