Everything Chris Lemonis said after sweep of Evansville: On pitching, defense and Dylan Cupp

Mississippi State earned a ninth-straight win on the baseball diamond on Sunday as the Bulldogs had a 13-3 run-rule win over Evansville.

The three wins showed a team that is continuing to get better as Chris Lemonis and his squad try to climb back up the ladder in college baseball. In the final week before the SEC slate, State is playing good baseball.

Lemonis spoke to the media after the game and gave his thoughts on a series sweep, the work of his freshman short stop Dylan Cupp, his pitching staff and a whole lot more.

Question: You guys didn’t have a lot of anxiety on the weekend. How did you feel about the work as a whole from your team?

CL: “Three good starts and those guys are going to win a lot of games in their league. I like their ball club a lot. I thought our guys did a great job and coach (Justin) Parker had a great game plan. Pretty pleased.”

Q: Another game where you guys had some big situational hits. What were your thoughts of the day and the weekend?

CL: “Great. The ball is getting in the air and starting to drive the ball. You’re starting to see some extra base hits. (Dakota Jordan) helps out a little bit. He’s been so hot this week that he helps out everybody else. But it was two-out hits as well. Hujsak hits a two-out, three-run bomb, Amani gets a two-out hit, Hujsak gets a two-out hit.. That’s seven runs there. We just weren’t getting that hit two weeks ago. Hopefully we can build off of that.”

Q: Back-to-back sweeps for your team. What have you seen from your team to have that mentality to get that third win?

CL: “They’ve been great. The dugout has been great. I think they’re feeling it. They’re on Spring Break now and I told them this is the only time that some of them get to be a pro player. You don’t have to go to class, you don’t have to do, so they’re living the life right now. They’re excited to head down to the beach.”

Q: You have the longest winning streak since 2021. What has been the difference in your team during this streak?

CL: “We have a couple of guys back in the lineup number one. What has David Mershon and Logan Kohler done for us? I think that’s a big piece of a little bit early. I think guys are starting to relax a little bit more. Playing with a little confidence and free spirit helps a lot and I think that’s what you’re seeing with a lot of these guys.”

Q: What else can this offense do?

CL: “We can get better. We have a couple of pieces. I know Hunter is trying to find it a little bit and Bryce Chance and even Logan Kohler. I think we have some pieces we can get rolling a little bit better. We got great production from Hujsak, Johnny Long gives you some crazy good at bats in there and Dylan Cupp today. (Cupp) is a great player, he just started out really slow. It’s nice to see him relax and have some good at bats today.”

Q: Thoughts on Dylan Cupp’s maturation so far?

CL: “I think he’s relaxing a little bit. Those first couple of weeks were tough, but he’s starting to understand what people are trying to do to him. The two hits on the back side were huge. It’s just about loosening up and playing. Early on I thought he was squeezing the heck out of it and trying to do too much and proving he’s a good player. You just have to go out there and show you’re a good player and that’s a piece for Cuppy.”

Q: How much do these starters bounce off of each other and set you up to be in good shape out of the bullpen?

CL: “It’s great because this is the hardest week of the year. We go into it with two midweeks, and good offensive end on this end and good offense on the other. A start like we had yesterday and today gave some of our guys a break. We ran our bullpen pretty hard in the Southern Miss game. (Tyler Davis) didn’t really have to get up, (Brooks) Auger got up for an inning, (Tyson) Hardin didn’t get up very long. The starts help. That’s a big piece of it.”

Q: How much better do you and your staff sleep at night with your defense playing the way that it has?

CL: “Kohler made a couple of big plays today. Cupp shows so much poise for a young kid to make the play at third today. They’re just really good. Then (David) Mershon is making plays and Hunter is actually playing really good in that infield. Across the board, it’s a little bit of a mindset right now and there’s a lot of pride in it. They’ve made a lot of good plays.”

Q: What has Johnny Long added to the team?

CL: “A lot of energy and a lot of personality and I think the guys like that. He plays hard. He knows the game. He’s a gamer. What he doesn’t have in some tools, he makes up for it in makeup. He knows the game probably as good as anybody out there. Cam (Schuelke’s) last couple of outings have just been ok and (Long) wanted to catch him. (Long) called the game which is rare for us and I thought they did a good job out there.”