Everything Justin Parker said after SEC Tournament loss to A&M

It was a rough day at the office for Mississippi State in round one of the SEC Tournament.

The Diamond Dawgs had a terrible second inning snowball and never recovered as Texas A&M was able to take a convincing 9-0 victory. The loss sent State home early at the tournament and now has them prepping for postseason.

After the game, head coach Justin Parker spoke to the media about the loss and what to do moving forward.

JP: “Just disappointed. It feels like we’ve played playoff baseball now for about a month and to come out early and not make enough pitches and plays in the second third inning and we put ourselves in that deficit. It felt like it almost took that two innings to get their guy settled in and I don’t know if he missed a spot after that second inning. It’s almost like momentum kind of ceased to exist there and they had all of it. It just made it hard for us to scratch back in it.”

Question: What did you think happened in that second inning to see things unravel?

JP: “I think Reed got lost on the warning track and lost his footing. Leadoff outs are so important and the inning could go a completely different way. We didn’t make enough pitches there in the middle of it. I think Gatlin makes that play to his left dozens of times this year, so, I don’t know that it’s anything fundamental. His feet got tangled and they get runners and we didn’t handle it.”

Q: What was your message to Ryan McPherson when things weren’t going well in the second inning?

JP: “Just that he didn’t need to be  a hero here. We don’t need to try to scrape out of this thing completely. Give up one or two, but let’s keep us in the game. Sometimes, I think guys end up trying to strand everybody and you end up making big mistakes. And then, of course, you roll around to one of the best power hitters in the league with the bases loaded and that was a pretty defining moment in the game.

“So just calm him down, just try to get him to continue to make pitches. I thought he pitched pretty good, but again, just momentum in the fragility of the game, you have to play complimentary baseball. He’s got to do better. He’s got to make better pitches and we’ve got to support him.”

Q: How concerned are you about this performance?

JP: “I’m not concerned. It’s the game of baseball we’ve played great for a month. We’ve been unbelievable early in games offensively. We’ve scored in the first inning for what seems like two to three weeks straight.”

“I really did think, once they got the six-run lead, I thought (Ryan) Prager really did a nice job settling in and I’m not sure he missed a spot after the second. He made it really tough. The guy is a veteran pitcher in our league. He might have been the best pitcher in our league last year and you’ve got to tip your cap to that type of performance. But not concerned. Like Noah (Sullivan) said, we’ll get back home, we’ll recommit to the weight room, take these next couple of days off and try to catch our breath and then just continue to prepare and move forward.”

Q: What’s your message to the team getting back to Starkville?

JP: “Well, we’ve just got to get back to work. Really, we’ve got to prepare and get back to work, and probably the front end of this week looks like taking a day or two off, just let everyone catch their breath, rest up, heal any injuries. We’re starting to get some guys back healthy on the mount. I thought Dane Burns and Charlie Foster were really bright spots today.

Catch our breath early in the week and then get back to work this weekend.”

Q: What was the pitching plan for this week had you guys kept playing?

JP: “Well, it’s irrelevant now, but Pico Kohn had started on short rest the last three weeks, so two weeks ago against Kentucky on a Saturday. He went Friday the week before and then last week, went on Thursday. So he was on short rest all three weeks. We felt like he was a non-option to move up another day. All three of the guys threw bullpens, light bullpens yesterday, anticipating us playing the game last night. They would have all been available tomorrow.

The thought and the hope was that Ryan came out and kind of did what he did in the first and move the ball around and kept them off balance. I love the kid. I think he’s got big time stuff. I don’t think he was the beneficiary of a ton of luck today, albeit some of it was his own doing. But he was our guy there, and I’d start him again.”

Q: What’s the latest on Chase Hungate and any other players that are injured?

JP: “Hungate, I’m not sure yet. He’s progressing. We’ve got to see how far he can get. Every day it’s a little bit better. The rest of them, for the most part that you’ve seen I think, are continuing to get better and more experienced, trying to get pitch counts up and things of that nature, trying to get volume up.

I thought that the three weekend starters had as collective of a good pen week as we’ve had all year this week, so we’re hoping all those guys are rested up and ready to go, too.”

Q: What’s adding a guy like Charlie Foster do for your pitching staff in postseason?

JP: “Well, you have another left-hander with a ride fastball, which is huge, especially facing a lineup like we faced today. I thought he was much more comfortable today than he was probably last Saturday. That’s just going to come with time, getting him out there, getting him experienced.

I think you add a left-handed ride fastball; I think you have a guy that could potentially start a Game 4 in a regional. I think you have a guy that can come out of your pen and fill a spot and be a matchup guy.

And I thought Dane Burns was equally as good, kind of different stuff, lower sinker/slider type guy, but you have two lefties that are going to present left-on-left matchups if nothing else.”