Everything Paul Mainieri said after South Carolina's win over Mississippi State on Friday

Following a 7-3 win over Mississippi State, South Carolina head coach Paul Mainieri spoke to the media on Friday night. Here’s everything he had to say.

What does a win like this do for you guys, getting the win on the road on Friday night in the SEC?

“Terry just said to me that was a good win. I said, ‘Hey, any win in the SEC is a good win, but some wins are better than others.’ And you know, to win a game, that left-hander who started for them. I don’t say we beat him, but we scored three runs off him. Nobody scored three runs off him, at least in his last two outings. I know that his last two outings were 2-1 games. You know, he won one and lost one. But it was just huge for us to get some runs off him. We got the clutch hit by Carrion early, and then Beau came through with the big two-run homer. And then one thing we did with him, we weren’t going up there taking pitches. He’s only walked six or seven batters all year, but, man, we had some really tough at-bats and forced him to work hard. So getting him out of the game was an important thing, not that we did much with the kid they brought in. They had a couple errors that helped us there. But just to get a lead and then to see your bullpen be able to hold the lead.

“You guys talked to Sweeney, I know, but probably the most important pitch of the night was Caleb Jones coming in and getting those two outs with the bases loaded and one out, getting this off the field when we were winning at the time. That was huge what he did. And then, you know, what can I say about Brendan? He just came in and pitched phenomenal. Nine up, nine down. I was glad we didn’t have to face Reese again, especially if he would have been the tying run. So that other two-run single was used to give us a little breathing room going into the ninth.”

Jake McCoy kind of settled in after that first inning, at least for a little while. What did you make of his outing today?

“In general, he competed hard. He was letting it rip. He had six walks. That’s a little bit too much, but I think some of that was maybe that he was getting tired there in the sixth inning. Maybe left him in just a batter or so too much. But he had thrown up four shutout innings in a row, and that was going to be his last inning. I was hoping he could get us through that inning, but obviously, we ran into some trouble there. But I thought Jake competed really hard and did what he had to do to give this team a chance to win, which is his job.”

You mentioned Caleb Jones being the most important pitcher of the night. He comes in a huge spot there, bases loaded, one out, and then he gets out of it. Did you feel like that was kind of a momentum shift in the game for you guys?

“There was no question about it. Our dugout was so alive when he got us out of that jam. These kids needed something really positive to happen to them. I told him yesterday. I said, ‘Don’t sit around waiting for something bad to happen. Believe the good is going to happen.’ And it’s amazing how many times that will, especially when you’ve got a lot of new players and you’re a new coach, and you’re trying to get certain philosophies across. We’ve had a handful of games or so that we had a chance to win late we couldn’t do what we needed to do. Sometimes young kids, you know, they start thinking something bad is going to happen. And when Caleb Jones came in and got us out of that jam, I think it sent a message to our players that, hey, we can do this. And obviously, Sweeney came in and did a phenomenal job those last three innings.”

What are the emotions like in the dugout after that last out?

“I’ve been doing this a long time. When you’re on the outside, and I mean, you guys are on the outside because you’re up in the press box. You’ve seen a million games. But when you’re in that dugout and you’re working with those kids, and your coaching staff works so hard and all this, when that last out is secured, there’s really no feeling like it. It’s hard to put it into words what that feeling is like. I mean that on any game, but when it’s an SEC, it comes on the road on a Friday night, and you know, look, we’ve got to win. And now we can look at trying to win a series. It’s an amazing feeling. It’s what keeps you coming back. It’s what I missed about the game when I was out. One of the major things I missed was being in the big games and being on that top step and making moves and getting your kids to believe they can do it. And when they do it and they win the game, it’s just an exhilarating feeling.”

Stay on top of all things Gamecocks for just $1 for 7 days—lock in this special offer today!

How happy are you with Beau Hollins’ progress from the start of the season to now?

“Oh, man. Well, he and Scobey both, and Braland, we’re trying to win the games right now. Like I said at the press conference, it’s a one-year plan. But you always have an eye on the future. My goal here is not only to win now and win next year, but to build the program to be ready for sustained success long after I’m gone. Not many people play young kids in this league anymore. It’s an older person league because of the transfer portal and NIL and all those kinds of things. I don’t know if we win the game tonight without Scobey playing third base for us defensively. Remember that smash when he turned that double play? And obviously Beau Hollins did terrific things, and Braland caught a great game.

“Sometimes you have to have the courage to play young kids and live with their mistakes or their inconsistencies or whatever. And Beau is just getting better every day. And I think the next couple years are gonna be a lot of fun with him and with Scobey. They both have untapped potential. Wait till you see Beau next year with 15 more pounds of muscle on him. That ball he hit out of the ballpark opposite field, he’ll be doing that more frequently as the years go by, because he’ll be stronger and more experienced and so forth. So it’s a lot of fun to see kids develop.”

What made you go with Kennedy Jones in the leadoff spot tonight?

“I wanted to move Nathan into the three hole, but you know, the leadoff and two hole are very important. Well, we didn’t get much out of those two spots tonight — 0-for-10. So we’ll reevaluate the whole situation tomorrow. But you wish you could clone Nathan Hall because he could bat in any spot in the order, but you can only play him in one place. So I’ll have to rethink it tomorrow and figure out what we’re going to do.”

How healthy is Kennedy?

“He’s perfectly healthy. He just had a rough night tonight. That’s all.”

What was the conversation at the mound when Brendan Sweeney came into the game?

“I’m embarrassed to tell you. (Chris Lemonis) thought Sweeney wasn’t on the eligible roster, but I had misspelled his name. It’s an E, not an I. And I told him, ‘Look, this is him right here.’ God, my heart stopped when Chris said you don’t have him on the eligible roster. I said, ‘No, no.’ Thank God, there he is, right here. What is he talking about? Well, I had spelled his last name with an i instead of two E’s, and that’s why it was. Believe me, if I hadn’t put him on the roster, that would have been incompetence. Okay, I knew it wasn’t incompetence. My spelling just needs a little bit of work.”

You said Caleb was such a big part of this game. Was there any thought to sending him back out there? Or did you know you wanted Sweeney?

“Well, I knew where they were in the lineup, that Sweeney was a better matchup against Reese and Hines. So, no, it worked out exactly like Terry and I had hoped it would. Jones got us out of the inning. It was a question of whether or not to bring Jones. I just thought Jones would come in and throw strikes, and he has a little slider that is really good against right-handed hitters, but in particular, but he showed a lot of poise coming in and throwing strikes. That’s a tough situation to bring any kid into, and he was amazing.”

Discuss South Carolina baseball on The Insiders Forum!