Everything Justin Parker said after Mississippi State's series win over No. 24 Ole Miss

It wasn’t pretty, but Mississippi State found a way to take down No. 24 Ole Miss and preserve dominance in the series against the Rebels.

It was the seventh time in the last eight tries that the Bulldogs have won the series against Ole Miss. That includes a run of five-straight series at Dudy Noble Field that the Bulldogs have won dating back to 2016.

To get there, a lot happened in the ball game for State’s offense, pitching and defense. Interim head coach Justin Parker talked about it all with the media postgame.

Question: You turn to a freshman in Ryan McPherson to get you out of that jam in the ninth. What can you say about the job he did there?

JP: “What great poise. Just making one pitch at a time. Not that you’re trying to protect the kid, but this is such an intense rivalry and he had already pitched against them in Pearl. He’s been as good as anybody in that pen. We felt like we had some health and depth to go to some other guys that are maybe more experienced but we needed all of them. He was huge for us tonight.”

Q: Ole Miss players have a long swing path offensively. How much did that factor into your gameplan?

JP: “I felt like after watching last night that Karson (Ligon) was a good matchup and his pitch plan was very similar to Evan (Siary). He got the changeup going. Honestly, we felt like Nate Williams would be a good matchup with the fastball at the top of the zone. The two-run seventh and two-run eighth – not taking any credit away from (Ole Miss) because they’re a really physical offense and have done a nice job slugging all year – a lot of it was self-induced.

“That’s what’s plagued us lately when the bullpen has scuffled. It’s been just gifts. For them to score five runs on only six hits is disappointing to me. That’s something that we pride ourselves on, just making them earn it. We allowed them back in the game because of that.”

Q: Karson looked pretty sharp tonight. What were some of the keys for him?

JP: “I think the changeup really is something that he’s had in spurts the last month or six weeks, but not entire outings. I think he was pretty good tonight, probably as good as he’s been. A couple of those (walks) you try to pitch around (Will) Furniss a little bit. Furniss has gotten better every year and has been big against us. I think he had two homers last year and hit the homer in Pearl. He had five walks tonight. We have a lot of respect for him and how he goes about his at bats. We’ve pitched around him several times and we thought the matchup behind him was better. Karson did a great job attacking Fawley with the slider. I felt like his command was a lot better tonight than it’s been recently.”

Q: Does it feel like this team is peaking at the right time?

JP: “Well right now it feels like I’m ready to go home. It feels like we’re trending. It feels like we’re figuring out, learning and improving on how to win games collectively. At times, it’s an effort like you have to have out of Ryan McPherson. Tonight, the defense was terrific, too. Two unbelievable double plays on balls that were hit hard – one started by Ace Reese, one started by Gatlin Sanders.

“We’ve been playing better, complimentary baseball and that’s the biggest thing. Trending, yes, but we’re not as one dimensional as we were six weeks or a month ago. We were able to win games a couple of different ways. Tonight I thought we were really good offensively. We did enough at the end. Every one of these games are hard to get. Some of them are ugly, but we found a way to get it at the end.”

Q: You’ve got a series at Missouri this weekend and they’ve already won the series at Texas A&M. How does that help you get guys locked in that it won’t be a walk in the park?

JP: “First off, North Alabama will have our full attention on Tuesday night and then we’ll turn to Missouri on Thursday. They have a very unique setup and at times I feel like it’s one of the best home field advantages in the league because it’s so unique. They’ll have our full attention. We have incredible respect for everybody in this league because it’s so hard to get (wins).”

Q: Gatlin (Sanders) is one of the Mississippi guys on this team. How much did you sense the Mississippi guys were into the series?

JP: “I thought Gatlin looked uncomfortable last night. He’s been playing through some injuries and is a really tough kid. Tonight, right from the get-go, he settled in and had some great at bats. I thought his swings were good and his defense was phenomenal. You just sense guys gaining more confidence.

“Of course, the series meant a lot to the Mississippi kids, but it meant a lot to our ball club when you talk about growing as a group and trying to peak at the right time. You can just see confidence growing in this group.”

Q: This defense has really improved over the last few weeks. What has been the difference for that group?

JP: “I think it’s chemistry. I think we’ve juggled some pieces in the middle on both sides and that affects your corner infielders too from a communication standpoint. I think those guys are playing together and next to each other every night. I think they’re starting to get more comfortable.”

Q: Tomorrow you get a day off. Are you going to sit back and think about what you’ve been through the last two weeks?

JP: “Well, I’m probably going to sit back and try to relax a little bit. It’s been a challenge for us as a staff and for us as a group. I give our kids a lot of credit. They’re so resilient and so tough. Last night was a perfect example of it. To bounce back with a 40-minutes breather in between and respond like that.

“The message going back to coach Lemonis’ message to us over the course of March and April was to respond. Your mental toughness as a person and as a player only gets called into question when things get hard. That was my challenge to our guys. Everyone is looking at you now to see how you bounce back and what you do and our group has done that. I’m very proud of how they’ve pulled together. Tonight wasn’t super pretty, but it was a group that was having a lot of fun with each other.”