The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Baseball Preseason Press Conference Transcript
2/10/2003 | Baseball
Feb. 8, 2003
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HEAD COACH MIKE BIANCO'S OPENING COMMENTS
"I went to my little boy's basketball game this morning and when I walked out of the house it was 23 degrees outside, so it had that smell of spring and baseball season being right around the corner. Opening day is a week from yesterday, so we're five days away and it's been a long time. I think this has been the longest off-season I've gone through personally, but we're excited that it's finally here. This has probably been the most productive fall I've had as a head coach in six years and I don't know if I've ever had a squad work harder. With the way last season ended and so many players returning from that team, I thought we were very determined this fall. We return nine seniors, including seven position starters and five pitchers that threw 40 or more innings. That's exciting from a team that won 37 games last year and was ranked in the top 25 every week of the regular season.
"People ask are we ready? Of course, we're ready. We wish we could play today, like a lot of our SEC opponents that started last night. Friday night, Alan Horne will start; on Saturday, Mark Holliman, a true freshman from Germantown; and on Sunday, T.J. Beam, who was our ace closer last year but will now be a starter for us.
As far as position players, it's exciting because of all the players we return. I don't remember ever having a club that had so many kids return that played and made an impact the year before. When we look around the infield we see, Dustin Cliburn at first base, Matt Tolbert at second, Chad Sterbens at short, Jon Swearingen at third and Charlie Waite behind the plate. We return the entire infield, including Bryce Morrison, who played first base last year but will move back to the outfield where he should see most of his time. In the outfield, Drew Rogers returns to left, Matt Mossberg in center, and SEC Freshman of the Year Seth Smith in right. When you say those guys, it's almost like repeating the starting line-up from last year. It's almost like having nine returnees because we have lots of players that have a lot of experience, and that's why we're so excited.
Again, a senior-oriented club and most of the position starters are seniors, so most of our fall intra-squad scrimmages and the one's we've had early here in January were dominated by the offense. That's a little surprising as a baseball coach, because usually the pitching is ahead of the hitting. I think a lot of that has to do with a team that hit .318 and was second in the SEC in batting average a year ago, and returns so many players from that good offensive club. Because of their experience, I think they've made it difficult at times on a young pitching staff, but I think we are very talented on the mound. I think it's the most talented staff we've had in our three years here, and not only with the three starters I mentioned but with the depth.
Heading into the first weekend of the season, I see 12 pitchers that have a possibility of getting a lot of innings this year. We know we can't pitch all 12, but we've narrowed it down from 19 to 12 and we'll have to go from there. The guys you should see out of the bullpen the first weekend will be Jeremy Zick, a junior college transfer from Riverside Community College in California, and Stephen Head, a true freshman, who is a left-handed pitcher and will also get some playing time in the first week at either first base or as the designated hitter.
Some others that I didn't mention when going around the positions that will more than likely get a start next weekend, Brian Pettway, a true freshman from Warren Central High School in Vicksburg, Miss., he'll start Friday night at either third base or designated hitter, Bryce Morrison and Charlie Babineaux, a junior college transfer from Blinn College, those are the guys that are basically in the mix. The first five games will probably be five different line-ups, and not just the order, but the people that are in it, so we can find the right mix. The goal before the first conference weekend in mid-March against Kentucky, is to have the right mix out there."
Q: With so many returning position starters and a lot of talented newcomers, has it made it harder to try and find that right mix? And is that what you meant when talking about the first five games?
Bianco: It's a good problem to have, because of the number of quality players we return and the addition of back-to-back top-20 recruiting classes. I think people tend to forget that because those rankings come out in the fall and by the time we get to now everyone is just talking about the players, because players like Mark Holliman, Stephen Head and Brian Pettway have been here for six months. It's not like football where you talk about those recruits and then school starts and they're playing, or in basketball you wait a couple of months and they're playing. In baseball, those kids have already been through a semester of school and baseball, so it's easy to assume someone like Mark Holliman has been here a while. I guess literally, he has, but he's still only a true freshman. To get to your question, it's a good problem to have that many different players. At times as a coach, I wish I knew who the top five pitchers were, or I wish I knew who the best nine position players were right now. The fact is, though, if I could tell you that right now, I don't think we would have a real good ball club. Some players are going to have a good year and some are going to have a down year or get off to a slow start, so I guess you feel much better going to war with 13 position players instead of nine.
Q: Do you have anyone standing out right now?
Bianco: The newcomers that I mentioned, Charlie Babineaux led the team in batting average during the fall. Brian Pettway, a true freshman, led the team in home runs in the fall, which is pretty remarkable for a freshman to come in and lead the team in home runs during the fall. Stephen Head has done it on both sides. He's shown that he's a guy that as a true freshman is going to play first base some and pitch some, as a matter of fact he may be in the game during the ninth inning in that first game if it is on the line. Of course, I've mentioned Mark Holliman, and I would like to know the last time here that the opening day No. 2 starter was a true freshman. That should tell you what type of player he is. A lot of the newcomers have stepped up. When you look at the roster, especially in the area of the pitchers, and you'll see it as the year progresses, guys like Eric Fowler and of course Alan Horne and others from the last two recruiting classes and how much of an impact they've made. It's amazing how many freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomores we expect to contribute this year.
Q: Talk about T.J. moving from a closer to a starter and how that has worked out so far?
Bianco: He's done a great job with it. He is one of those guys that is probably going to pitch in the big leagues. He has a great arm. Last year in our opinion, and I would think in most other's opinions, he was the most dominant closer in the Southeastern Conference. It's always been my belief, and people have heard me say this before, but everyone wants to talk about the closer. If you're not winning, than there is nothing to close. You have to be winning for that guy to be effective. So in college baseball, you want to take your top three pitchers and let them start if they can. Some may not have the ability to pitch over a couple of innings or be effective over a couple of innings, so granted they may have to be the closer. T.J. can close or start. He has the ability, arm strength and the stamina. There is no doubt that he is at least one of the top three pitchers on the team, and for right now the best thing for the program is for him to start. But I think he can do both, and before it's done, he may do both. I haven't mentioned it to him yet, but as the season progresses and if he is capable of filling that role as the Sunday guy, and who knows what is going to happen from week-to-week, but we've seen it before where a kid comes in Friday night, throws 12 pitches to close it out and then start on Sunday. Or you don't need him on Friday and he starts on Sunday, or he closes on Friday and the rest of the weekend and you find other options on Sunday. So knowing that he can do both, I just think makes us a better team.
Q: You addressed what happened at the end of last season right at start. Are you worried that the desire to correct that may force your guys to press?
Bianco: Will they press? To me, pressing comes with confidence. The players and the teams that have confidence, tend to press less. Teams that don't believe in their abilities or are unsure are the ones that don't handle that adversity. I think that is part of what happened last year. We didn't handle it very well so it kind of snowballed and got away from us. I think having what happened to us last year, we're all better for it. There's the old adage that you either become better or worse because of it, and I think this team has gotten better. Really the truth of the matter is, and we wouldn't have given you this answer last year while it was going on, but it is probably better for this team and this program that it ended the way it did, than if we would have won one more game and made it to postseason. It would have sugarcoated it a little bit, but it wouldn't have changed the problem. At the time, we would have loved to win one more game, but looking at it now in retrospect, we've grown a lot as a staff and a team. I know as a staff we met often the first month after the season and discussed what went wrong and what we can do to change and different things. I think you also have to be careful. It is important and very critical that you are critical and you do evaluate what you do and you don't just brush it off as baseball luck or say that's the way the ball bounces. All the excuses that you can make, to me, to just brush it off to that would be a huge mistake. And that's what we tried to let the players understand. The bottom line was we just weren't good enough, for what ever reason that is. I think more so mentally than physically. Physically, I think we were a good club but mentally we couldn't handle the adversity and that's part of the game. Returning those kids that went through that last year, gives them more determination to not let it happen again. I want them to also understand, let's not use this as a revenge factor, because to me, that's not what the successful people do. We understand that we were in position to have a great year and we failed. Well, let's not fail again. It was no one's fault but our own.
Q: T.J. and Chad, being seniors, did the effects of last season linger into the fall? Did you think about it during the offseason and what were the emotions like in the fall?
Chad Sterbens: The end of last season was hard on everyone but I think what we went through made us come out in the fall excited and made us work harder, so that wouldn't happen to us again. For me, that bitter-taste in my mouth from last season has really made me come out and get after it in my final season.
T.J. Beam: I know as far as the pitching staff we've been more focused. Last year, we would have a run and we wouldn't always make our times. But this year, we've come out and we've made the time during our runs. You can just see the determination in our pitchers and our seniors. You can see an aura in our locker room every day that we're going to come in and work hard. I think that's because of what happened last year. It's really not talked about a lot, but you can see it in the guys' eyes. Last year, was something that wasn't suppose to happen and we can't wait for Feb. 14 to come. This past month has been one of the longest months of my life.
Q: You've talked about the separation of the pitching staff between the top three guys and who might emerge. Does that mean Zick and Head have also done that, and is there anyone else close to doing that?
Bianco: The three, Alan, Mark and T.J., there's no doubt right now that they're the best three right now. They're the ones that dominated just about every single scrimmage. I said the offense has dominated the scrimmages, but not when those guys pitched. They have handled a very good offensive club. Next in line is Zick and Head. Jeremy has pitched nine innings during the scrimmages and only given up one run and two hits. He has really pitched well. Stephen has pitched the best of all the left-handers, and I think he has even higher capabilities. We haven't even scratched the surface with him. He's a true freshman and hasn't been through this type of workout before, so it's going to take him a while. But there's no doubt, those two have separated themselves, at this point. It's a long season. We talked to the staff last night that this is what we're going with this weekend, but there's no guarantee for the next weekend. We'll take it game-by-game and the ones that pitch the best will pitch more. You have to earn your spot everyday you walk out there.
Q: How hard do Holliman and Head throw?
Bianco: Mark Holliman is going to throw in the upper 80s and low 90s. He's going to throw a slider in the upper 70s, and may touch 80 with it. He's a four-pitch guy so he's going to throw a curveball in the lower 70s and a changeup. I hate to say is not a power pitcher because can throw harder than a lot people expect him to. When you look at him, he looks like a small guy when you're use to seeing a Horne or a Beam out there, even though he's 6-feet-1. But he will run it up there and hit the 90s. He has a tremendous arm. Stephen Head is a left-hander that could win throwing it 84-85 mph, but can throw it as hard as 90. I think that's the kind of maturity that his arm has to have. We'll have to be careful with him in the sense that the more he plays the field the more that we try to protect his arm. When I say protect his arm, I don't mean from so much from injury, but prevent it from getting tired.
Q: Could you size up your schedule this year? You have a pretty good road trip to Houston for the Rice Tournament.
Bianco: Last year was a coaching mistake in not being able to go on the road prior to the first conference weekend. And actually we tried, and our goal is to always go on the road one weekend prior to the start of conference. The reason for it is to iron out all the problems, let them get on the bus, and let them stay in a hotel and do those types of things so the first time you do it is not against a conference team. Obviously last year, to do that against the University of Florida, when they were ranked fifth in the country, probably wasn't the best scheduling. This year, we get to go to Rice on the season's second weekend and play UT-Arlington on Friday, Rice on Saturday and Stetson on Sunday. We're going to play two teams (Rice and Stetson) that are ranked in the top 20 at a beautiful stadium at Rice University in downtown Houston. And I think that's a good thing for us. We play the Mayor's Trophy game and we have a home-and-home with Southern Miss and Memphis. Of course, life in the SEC is, as one of the former coaches in the Southeastern Conference said and it really is true, life in the SEC is very exciting but very dangerous. I see the SEC West probably being as strong or more so than it has been the last few years.
Q: You mentioned the national rankings earlier and you guys aren't ranked in any of the preseason polls. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Bianco: I don't think it's either, but if I had to say one or the other, I would say it is a bad thing. The reason I say that, and I'm probably looking at a little differently, but when I look at the teams ranked in the top 25 I don't necessarily think those are the teams that are going to be there at the end. I look at it as those are the teams that either have the tradition or have had a lot of success in the past. When in doubt, pick LSU, pick Miami, pick Texas, pick the programs that always seem to have success. Or pick a team that has a big No. 1 pitcher coming back. Last year, we had a big No. 1 pitcher returning and we made it to the postseason the year before. People really don't know who a Charlie Babineaux or a Mark Holliman is. Nobody in Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, they have no idea who these people are. And it's not their fault, because I don't know who there players are as well. I hate voting in the preseason because I don't know who is good and who their recruits are. It's not like in football or basketball where they have the Parade All-American and everyone was recruiting them. LSU has players on their team that I've never head of. I looked at their box score from last night and I didn't know half of them. But I do know they return a lot of players, and I think preseason polls have a lot do with that. They have a lot to do with what you did last year and if you have a big pitcher coming back that won 10-12 games, much like Mississippi State. I'm sure Paul Maholm has been projected to be one of the top pitchers if not the best pitcher in the Southeastern Conference, so I would think the expectations levels are high for them. So why are we disappointed in not being ranked? Because, we haven't done more in the last two years. We haven't done enough to be one of those teams that people say, I don't what Ole Miss has, but I'm sure they'll be up there. To me, that's why it would be slightly more disappointing, because we haven't done more in the last two years to get that vote.
Q: Alan, last year at this time you were having back problems. Where are you now in terms of health going into this year?
Alan Horne: I'm finally healthy. I'm having no problems. No back problems. No arm problems. This is the first time in a long time that I've pitched where I could say that I'm in shape. No doubt, this is the best shape I've been in since high school.
Q: Alan, also talk about how it is for you to be the No. 1 starter this year, compared to last year when you came in as a freshman?
Horne: There's a different mentality about it for sure. There's no longer me having to prove myself, especially last year when I couldn't play half the fall and then go into the spring and miss all of the spring intra-squad scrimmages and the first three or four weeks of the season. I'm now out there playing and people know what type of player I am.
Q: Seth, last year you had such a phenomenal year that some people said you made it look easy. What have you done during the off-season to try and build upon such a great season last year.
Seth Smith: With the offseason I had playing football, I stayed in the weight room, since I wasn't playing too much. I worked on my speed and strength, and went out a hit a little bit during the fall. During the last couple of months, I've just been trying to get faster and stronger. For the season, I have to work on staying stronger and keeping my weight up and not lose it like I did last year.
Q: Chad, talk about some of the positives you see for this year.
Sterbens: I'm just excited to be on the field everyday after last year. Our offense is unbelievable. Every scrimmage, it just seems like everybody is crushing the ball. It's very exciting. I'm ready to get out there and start Feb. 14.
Q: How has your facility improvements been?
Bianco: On days like this, it has been tremendous. For those that don't know, we were fortunate to get an indoor batting complex built that is 6,800-square feet. Basically, it's just for hitting. We can do some other things in there, but it was built for hitting. It's where are existing cages were, so it is also our everyday cages as well. It's just not used for inclement weather, but on rainy or cold days it allows us to do some things that in past we couldn't do. And really, one of the coaches made a comment about this, not just when it's pouring do we have a great facility to go and hit in, but on the days that we would struggle to get outside and would be forced to go inside, we knew we would struggle to get things accomplished. It was almost a wasted day. We could only get one hitter going at a time and it would take so long to get through. Now, we're finding that when it is bad weather we will go inside. In year's past we would really fight to go outside because we didn't want to be inside. Not that we don't want to be outside now, but on a day like yesterday as chilly as it was, we would stay outside to do our defensive drills and then we went inside to get our hitting in. So, I think it has helped us a lot. Another thing that we never really thought about until it was built was how much more the players would hit. One of the things that people talk about is locker rooms and arenas, and they're like why do we need to spoil the kids. It's like anything else, why do these big companies have nice offices? And it's because people are more productive when they like they're surroundings. It's the same way in athletics. When you have nice facilities, the kids are in there more. We're hitting more than any team I've ever been around, and I have to believe it's because of that facility. They're walking into that facility that is so aesthetically attractive, they have the radio going on, so it's fun for them. Instead of sitting in the lounge watching MTV, they want to go in there and hit. That's one of the things that I don't think you'll ever be able to judge is how much that facility improved you. I think it will be unmeasurable.
Q: Talk about keeping your staff intact. I know there's been a lot of movement in baseball this past year.
Bianco: This is first time in my six years as a head coach that I've had all three assistant coaches two years in a row and that's made it a lot easier. When you switch coaches, regardless of who it is, there's always a transition. Personally for that coach, it's to move and get his family here. Then there is the transition of learning the system. As the head coach, regardless of who that coach is, the pitching coach, hitting coach, infield coach, you always tend to follow that new person around to help him and make sure he knows what he's doing. To have everyone back is a huge benefit. It's also transferable to the players. There's more confidence out there, we know what we need to do and how to get it done.
