Everything Chris Lemonis said after Friday night win over Queens

Mississippi State followed up a blowout win over No. 20 Southern Miss on Wednesday night by taking game one of the series against Queens on Friday.

State had 10 hits on Friday night and got 16 strikeouts combined from three different pitchers on the way to a 9-3 win.

After the game, Chris Lemonis spoke to the media about the team’s offense, the bullpen and an update on Dylan Cupp.

Q: Do you have any update on Dylan Cupp’s status after being injured?

CL: “I do not. He did walk out of the dugout there at the end so I’m hoping that’s a good sign. It was the knee from last year so I think that scared him a lot, too. I just hope it’s a bruise and we can move on, but I don’t have a lot of information right now.”

Q: You never had the big inning tonight you just kept tacking on. What did you think of the offense?

CL: “I didn’t think we were great. I think we swung out of the zone, I think we got out of our approach a little bit. We had some big swings at times, but we had opportunities to really push and separate it. We did on Wednesday night. I counted several times that with three balls we swung at ball four.

“When we’re good, we’re locked in and take that. Just a little too much tonight. We had some big hits tonight.”

Q: Hunter had four reaches in his last four plate appearances. Do you think he’s close to being locked in again?

CL: “Yeah, I think so. You’ve got to tip your cap to what he’s done the last couple of days. That double off the wall there, that’s his old swing. That homer he hit out is staying on the ball and hitting the right way. He’s just been getting to work so I’m happy for him. We need him.”

Q: Pico wasn’t quite as sharp tonight. Did y’all have any conversations during the game with him?

CL: “Not really, maybe a little. There were a couple of chopped balls. The walk was the most disappointing and the missed pickoff. I still haven’t seen the balk. I don’t know what that was. You put a couple of those things and a couple of topped balls and it makes for a crazy night. He needs to be real good next Friday.”

Q: What makes Noah Sullivan such a special hitter?

CL: “There’s a high focus level of he’s never giving one away. Some guys you go up there and that at bat is over real quick. Even with two outs and nobody on, he will grind out a seven pitch at bat and take a walk. He has an idea what the approach and  plan is and he sticks with it. In that first at bat you’ll see him get that two-out hit to the right side because that guy was sinking balls away. He just did a really good job and he’s done that all year.”

Q: What did you think of your bullpen?

CL: I thought (Nate Williams and Luke Dotson) were really good. The one hit against Nate, I think we should catch that ball. When it got tough for Nate for probably the first time in his career, he buckled down and punched out those guys. He was really good tonight.

“I thought Luke was good for a second week in a row. That’s his best stuff. I hate we had to end up using him because we ended up blowing it out in the eighth, but I like to see him have consistent, great outings.”

Q: Where do you feel like Nate Williams has progressed the most?

CL: “He had the arm injury right before he got here and did a lot of cleaning up of his arm action. When we signed him, he was one of the better JUCO arms out there but he lost it and he got it back. He took a chance on himself coming back because we weren’t sure. It’s real stuff. This kid can pitch. He’s a soft-spoken kid and a really good competitor so the team loves him. He’s just a great kid.”

Q: If Cupp can’t go, what’s your confidence level in Lukas Buckner, Gatlin Sanders or Sawyer Reeves at short stop?

CL: “I think all three can play. That’s the one thing about us is that we made sure in the offseason we had enough talent there. Especially Lukas and Sawyer have played a lot of short stop in their careers and Gatlin can do it too. It will test us a little bit, maybe it will make us a little bit better that we can develop some guys until Dylan gets back.”

Q: What’s your thoughts on Ben Davis pitching Saturday?

CL: “He’s got starter stuff. We haven’t gotten as many good starts so getting him out there and seeing what he can do has been really good. He’s a slow heartbeat kid that can go out there and handle it. He’s had a team that’s prepared for him all week so I think he’ll do a good job. He’s started a lot of games in his JUCO career.”