Chris Lemonis breaks down Regional selection for the Diamond Dawgs and hosting snub

Mississippi State might have missed out on hosting in the NCAA Baseball Tournament for 2024, but the Bulldogs are back in the postseason for the first time in three years.

That last trip to the bracket was quite a memorable one for Chris Lemonis and his team as the Bulldogs rode it all the way to the National Championship. To win it all this year, the Bulldogs will have to do it on the road.

Shortly after the selections were made on Memorial Day, the coach spoke to the media about the draw at Virginia and getting snubbed out of a host site.

Question: What’s your first impressions seeing the bracket?

CL: “Well our first impression was excitement. Just excited to be in, excited to play. I think we’ve got a tough Regional. St. John’s, I played against them a bunch in the Big East. Penn had a great year last year in the postseason and obviously Virginia the host has had a great year. Very offensive club. We have our work in front of us.”

Q: What was the feedback you got on why you’re on the road?

CL: “I got a little feedback. It’s just so subjective in that room. They take the pieces that they want and move them around. Obviously, yeah, our RPI wasn’t as good as it should have been. We lost a couple early in the year, first week of the season, that you can look at. I heard the Commissioner of the Committee talk about consistency and common opponents and a lot of what he talked about didn’t have anything to do with us.

“We didn’t get swept on any road trips, we played one of the toughest schedules in the country. The Quad I wins… You take four hosts and add them together and they don’t have as many as us. It is what it is.

“It’s frustrating because it’s so subjective. You don’t know who’s fighting for you or what’s the fight for? Sometimes the fight is for RPI because it helps a lot of teams get in, but I look up and we have the most SEC teams ever and we finish fifth in the SEC. We had 20 wins and we’re not a host. Our resume and Georgia’s resumes are very close.

“RPI is not the indicator. I’m sorry. Football has gone away from it, basketball has gone away from it. The last week we go to Hoover and beat Ole Miss on a neutral site, the No. 1 RPI in the country on a neutral site, we lose to Vanderbilt who has a good RPI and lose to the No. 1 team in the country. And we fall?

“That’s the only knock you have on us is RPI and it’s not the best thing. It’s the best if your team is in that situation, but it is what it is. We’re past it. I told our kids we’re at zero and nothing else matters.”

Q: How did the kids take the news of not hosting and the draw itself?

CL: “Well they were excited about the draw. They’re excited to get in because a lot of kids haven’t been to a Regional. Last night we weren’t all together but there was a lot of mumbling on their phones in our group text message. They were probably pretty pissed off.”

Q: How much did you think the time in Hoover prepared this team for this postseason?

CL: “I think it was huge. Like I told the guys, we’re not going to go to an atmosphere better than where we’ve played. No offense to Virginia or anybody, but we’ve played the best in the country. I doubt many people want us showing up in their Regional. That atmosphere and our journey has prepared us baseball anywhere.”

Q: Connor Hujsak and Brooks Auger both made the All-Tournament team. What did you think of their performances?

CL: “Brooks’ performance was kind of magical that night. And then Connor with the big hits, it was nice to have him back, getting him at bats and ready. He had some huge hits and I still don’t think he was 100%. You can still see him out there trying to find it a little bit. It will be huge to have them out there this week.”

Q: What has Connor meant to you?

CL: “Last year was such a tough year for him because he should have played more. Unfortunately, we had Colton Ledbetter, Kellum Clark and Dakota Jordan and he got behind some guys there. As time has gone on, he’s proven his worth. We had a lot of talks this summer and he could have signed probably. He’s such a wonderful kid so being able to come back and prove to everybody and have this experience is pretty cool. And I love having his little brother on the video board.”

Q: You saw Connor with that VCU team in 2021. What was it that stood out to you that made you want to add him to your team?

CL: “A ton of extra base hits. When I saw him, I saw Jordan Westburg. I’m not saying that he’s Jordan Westburg who is one of the best players in the big leagues right now, but it’s the same body type, the energy and the athleticism. The swings were even similar. Connor when he first got here would swing and miss at the breaking stuff which obviously Jordan did as well. I just saw a lot of similarities. We thought he could play some infield for us and he hasn’t done that, but he’s jumped out there in centerfield and done a great job.”

Q: St. John’s beat Florida and then played Texas. What are your initial thoughts on them?

CL: “I haven’t done too much (research) but I’ve played against them. It’s just tough, hard-nosed, New York kids. Most of them are from the New York area and you’re playing against tough kids. I’ve known their coach since he was in college and it’s the same thing. You’re going to have to go up there and beat them because they’re going to give a great effort.”

Q: How do you feel about your pitching heading into the Regional?

CL: “I feel good with our staff. I think we have one of the better staffs in the country, especially two of the better starters in the country. We haven’t looked at (St. John’s) and who would start there. Right now, we have the ability to start anybody that we want because of the couple extra days in the tournament and our guys needed that. Having the weekend off was huge for the guys.”

Q: How big was it for the guys on offense that have been struggling to get away?

CL: “We spent those two days at church. We’re doing everything we can. It is good to get away from the game because sometimes this game can be cruel. We’ve got a good lineup – we’ve hit all year – and we have had weeks where they haven’t hit and come back and hit.”