The University of Mississippi Athletics
Mike Bianco Media Day Press Conference
2/12/2019 | Baseball
<i class="icon-video"></i> Will Ethridge Interview<i class="icon-video"></i> Ryan Olenek Interview<i class="icon-video"></i> Thomas Dillard Interview<i class="icon-video"></i> Grae Kessinger Interview
Head Coach Previews 2019 Ole Miss Baseball Season
Head coach Mike Bianco met with the media prior to the start of the 2019 Ole Miss baseball season. A transcript can be found below.
Opening Statement…
"Obviously, this is a great time for us. This meeting always means that the season is right around the corner, just a couple of days away. It's been eight months since standing here in a press conference after a tough Monday from a very good club. Players, coaches and fans, I know, are excited to put the uniforms back on and get started again. A lot of you ate lunch over in our Dugout Club and got to tour a little bit and see our new facility that has been building now for a couple of years. We've been in the building since mid-September, and man, what an awesome place, as you can tell. We're very fortunate—the players, the coaches—to be part of a university, an athletic department and a community that really cares about baseball to build that facility for your baseball program. We're fortunate to be in there. What a building."
On ticket sales…
"We broke a season ticket record today, but I'm very privileged to announce today that 7,101 season tickets have been sold, which breaks 2017's record (6,275) by almost 900 tickets—not a reserved seat left in the stadium. The last expansion came in 2009 when we had four sellouts in a row of reserved seat season tickets. That was back in the days when people would buy their chairs at Walmart, and if you bought your chair there, you could cut off your back legs and put on the hill. We remedied that by selling them season tickets. Maybe another motivation for Ross Bjork and Keith Carter to look at the next expansion. But we're excited to announce that. What a neat thing to announce that we sold over 7,000 tickets for a baseball season."
On the team…
"It was a great fall. As we got back on the field this fall, watching the kids get after it. Certainly the way the season ended last year was tough for us, but we return so many from last year's team—seven of the starting nine, 11 pitchers who lettered for us last year. It was one of those falls different from maybe two years ago where you had so many new guys. This year, when you go over things like bunt defenses and first-and-third offense and first-and-third defense and things of that nature, guys like Grae Kessinger and Thomas Dillard and Ryan Olenek, they've been through it so many times. You don't take it for granted, but it's much easier. You love when you have older guys like that, great leadership. You have any coaches out on the field, not just the ones you see in the media guide, but guys like Grae who can help out younger guys like Justin Bench and so on in the infield. It was a good fall, a little different for us because we were able to play two fall games. I don't know, from a coaching standpoint, if we learned any more from the team. I don't know if it helps you in any way, but the one thing it does, it really doesn't cost any money, and it certainly breaks the monotony up for the programs and the student-athletes to go out there and play somebody in a different uniform. I know that was a lot of fun. We've had a good three weeks of preseason practice here. Although it was relatively dry until last week, it's been a little chilly, but we were able to get in all the games on the scheduled days, so the pitching is in order and ready to go for this weekend."
On the pitching staff…
"On Friday night, we'll start Will Ethridge. Will is a junior right-hander who, for most of his career, has pitched in the bullpen. As a freshman, he got a handful of starts early in the season, but he has really been a mainstay and a big part of our bullpen and a big reason why we've had so much success with our bullpen the last couple of years. Going into the fall, Will and I talked over the summer. He really is the guy that should be that person. He knew he had to go out and earn it, but when you look on paper, he's the guy who has thrown the biggest innings of all the guys returning. As all of you know, we lost the three starters from last year, so that's probably the biggest question mark. Will, and I don't want to say arguably, left a doubt. I don't think there is an argument. He pitched better than anybody on our staff from the first intrasquad until last weekend. He's only given up two or three runs over eight or nine starts in intrasquad games, including a couple of scrimmages against Little Rock and Delta State. Starting on Saturday will be Zack Phillips. Zack is a junior college transfer who has electric stuff. We knew that from the fall, but he has really pitched well the last couple of weeks of intrasquads and has really pitched as well as anybody on the staff and has looked really dominant. He gives us a little different look with a left-hander sandwiched in between Will and our Sunday starter in Gunnar Hoglund. Gunnar is a big power right-hander. As many of you know, he turned down the draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, being drafted in the first round to show up on our campus. He's the big marquee name of that recruiting class that came on campus this fall. That'll be the starting rotation for the first weekend. Another guy who could've started the first weekend, but we decided to put him in the bullpen, is Houston Roth. He'll probably be the first guy out of the bullpen on Friday and will probably log a couple of innings in that game and start on Tuesday. Parker Caracci will be our closer. Then all the guys who I haven't mentioned yet will be in the bullpen to start the season."
On the offense…
"Going around the infield, Tyler Keenan will start at third base on Friday night. At shortstop, we expect Grae to be better. As many of you know, he twisted his ankle a few weeks ago. If he's not quite ready to go, that'll not be great for us, but he'll be back quickly. I'm sure if he's not back this weekend, he'll be back soon after that. But if he doesn't start, Anthony Servideo will start in his stead. But if Grae does start at shortstop, Anthony Servideo will start at second base. Another huge competition as a lot of you beat guys know, Jacob Adams and Anthony both have played very similar and very good all fall and early spring at second base. At first base, Cole Zabowski will start. Cooper Johnson will start behind the plate. Thomas Dillard will catch this year. He's been catching with us but just hasn't done it in the games yet. Within the first week or so, you'll see him start behind the plate for sure. In left field, Thomas will start there. In center field, Ryan Olenek will start. In right field, Tim Elko will start. The starting DH will be Chase Cockrell. A lot of you who have watched us, both Cockrell and Elko have moved as corner infielders to the outfield. And really, it's a move I think they wanted as much as we did. They wanted to get on the field. When you look at as talented of a team as we return, they knew that maybe the best opportunity was to move to the outfield. Both of them can play the infield and may play the infield at some point, maybe even as early as this weekend. Other guys to look for out in the outfield—Carl Gindl, who had a really good fall and a good last two weeks before we start the season. He might get a start the first weekend out in the outfield. Without a doubt, you'll see him on the field as a baserunner or defensive replacement before the week ends."
On Houston Roth…
"It helped the fact, knowing that he's been such a big part of our bullpen the last couple of years. I liked having a left-hander sandwiched between Ethridge and Hoglund. The other fact is how dominant Phillips looked the last two weekends entering the season. Roth is certainly a guy who we knew would be an option and still may be. It's the first weekend. Last year, we kept all three guys starting all year, but I can't remember a time where we kept all three guys all season. We're just trying to get through the first weekend."
On moving on from last season…
"It was tough. It was as tough a day in baseball as I've ever had. I've had a lot of days in baseball. One example, a guy named Ryan Rolison, during that game, gets drafted in the first round. To know that he's going to live his life-long dream of being a professional baseball player, but he also instantly became a millionaire. To watch how emotional he got after the game was tough to watch. And to watch other guys like Will Golsan and others, who put so much into their baseball careers here, to have it end—and I said it then—in a way that I felt it wasn't supposed to. We were a better team than Tennessee Tech. Not taking anything away from them, they're a great baseball team. But our game is great because you have to play better than the other team, and they played better than us that day. It was an unfortunate ending to a great season. It took me a while to get over it, and I'm sure it did the players. But the players are resilient. I know these guys are excited to get another opportunity at that. Once you get out on the field, I don't think you see any hangover effects of that. Once we got out there in late August, everyone was excited and looking toward the next year."
On addressing the end of the 2018 season…
"People handle it differently. I've said this in a couple of interviews. I'm not build that way, but it doesn't mean other people shouldn't be. I'm not here to judge. That's one of the reasons I've been at the same school for 19 years. Every year for me is a new team. That's what's so refreshing about intercollegiate athletics—every year they're different. And people say, 'Well you've got Kessinger, Ethridge, Dillard, Olenek and all of those guys back. It's the same old team.' No, it's not. Those guys are a year older, a year better, a year more mature. Their lives, when you're 18, 19, 20 years old, your life changes so much in just 365 days. As you get older like us, one year doesn't seem like anything. So they get motivated by different things. Some of them, maybe if you ask them, they might say that motivates them. We're always motivated in this program to get back to the College World Series and win a national championship for our university. That's what motivates me."
On what he hopes to learn on opening weekend…
"One is to really try to, and not just this opening weekend, but the first four weekends, is to really answer the most-asked question since we started fall practice—the rotation, the roles of the bullpen and so on. To me, position player-wise, there may be a few changes and maybe a guy who was designated hitting ends up in the outfield or maybe another guy switches positions, but for the most part, there will be enough of that movement throughout the year. The biggest key for us going into the first weekend against Alabama in conference play, is that we can feel really good about the rotation and that the bullpen understands their roles going forward."
On Gunnar Hoglund…
"It's not really this spring, it's since he walked on campus. As mentioned about Will having the best fall and spring of any pitcher, and the second without a doubt would be Gunnar. Gunnar had a little rough Saturday this past weekend, but prior to that, I don't know how many starts, but he had only given up three runs. He's been really dominant in our intrasquad games. He's a guy who possesses a big-time fastball but a good breaking ball and changeup, excellent command. He really can throw the ball on both sides of the plate. For a true freshman, he has a lot of poise. Gunnar will also hit. I don't know how much he'll hit on this team. We don't have a doubt that he will hit in this program. It's going to be tough on this team to hit. I think he'll get some at-bats this year, but I don't know if we foresee him being the DH on days he doesn't pitch right now because of the depth that we have offensively. But anything can happen, so we'll watch as the season gets going here. He'll pitch. He continues to hit in batting practice, but it's tough to break through the top 11-12 hitters on this team."
On Cooper Johnson…
"He's played really well. We all know about his throwing prowess, but he has received well, he has blocked the ball well and he has swung it well. He had a really good fall and early spring. He has always brought a lot of energy, but we've seen even more leadership out of him, as we thought we would with him being in his third year."
On the tough midweek schedule…
"We lost one midweek game last year and two non-conference games—one was midweek one was out at Long Beach State. Last year will show you how important those games are. You have to win on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to help your overall record at the end of the season when it's selection time. It was one of the reasons we were a national seed and had such a good RPI. This year, with Louisville a couple of games, East Carolina, not to mention Southern Miss twice, Mississippi State in the midweek—a lot of challenges for us in the midweek. The guys who will start those games and pitch in those games will be important. Getting out of the gate here, and not just Houston, but other guys. Houston being in the pen the first weekend and being able to start that game. A lot of those faces you're talking about are new to the bullpen and new to college baseball and those Tuesday games. We'll be able to ease our way a little easier with Houston."
On separation between Servideo and Adams at second base…
"I think they'll both play."
On returning many starters on offense…
"You could've said the same last year, that maybe we felt good because we had Ryan Rolison, Brady Feigl and James McArthur to be the first three guys running out there first weekend. So we could hopefully hold them down while the offense to figure it out. But it didn't take them long to figure it out. I agree in the sense that, hopefully it gives them a little more confidence and allows them to be a little more aggressive in the zone realizing that this team is going to score runs and help them out a lot on the offensive side. We just need to do our job and continue to pound the strike zone and try to get outs. We have a lot of good pitchers. I think we're going to be really good on the mound. It was like last year, we said we thought we would be really good offensively, you just don't know the names yet. But I think people will get to know the games."
On Greer Holston…
"Greer's velocity is down a little bit. He has struggled a little bit in some intrasquad games. He would've been one of the guys who we would've looked to maybe be one of those weekend guys. Now he's back in the bullpen in a similar role to he's been before. There have just been guys who have pitched better than him."
On Doug Nikhazy…
"He's been terrific. He's one of those guys that I don't know exactly going into the fall what our expectations were. We knew he was good but we didn't know what role. There have been some outings where he has been as dominant as anybody out there. I really think he's going to be an important part of the bullpen. Like we've said already, this is the first weekend. I wouldn't discount that he might not find himself as a Tuesday starter or even on the weekend at some point, because the stuff is really that good. But it gives us another left-handed option out of the bullpen, which we haven't had a ton of over the years. He's a strike thrower. He's a great competitor, and there's no doubt in my mind he's going to pitch the first weekend."
On expectations for opening weekend…
"My expectation is to play well, especially for an older group. That's always your hope for opening weekend, but we expect it from this older group—that we come out and are mature and aggressive and that we go and play that way offensively, defensively and on the mound. That would be my expectation. Obviously, we like our club. But everybody does. There are 300 people who are having press conferences across the country talking about Omaha and talking about having success, and I think that's what's neat about the start of the season. We really like our club. We think it's a really good mix of offense and defense and pitching and an older group. Usually older groups play better, they're more experienced. One of the reasons for that, our game is tough. There are a lot of ups and downs. It's a long season, a lot of games. There are going to be times where we don't play to our expectations. Usually older teams can handle that. Younger teams seem to wallow in those lows longer. Older teams seem to handle the adversity much better, and I think this group will do that as well."
On Knox Loposer…
"He caught a little bit this weekend. So he's basically 100 percent now. He caught some in the intrasquad and swung and ran and did everything to show us that he's ready to play."
Opening Statement…
"Obviously, this is a great time for us. This meeting always means that the season is right around the corner, just a couple of days away. It's been eight months since standing here in a press conference after a tough Monday from a very good club. Players, coaches and fans, I know, are excited to put the uniforms back on and get started again. A lot of you ate lunch over in our Dugout Club and got to tour a little bit and see our new facility that has been building now for a couple of years. We've been in the building since mid-September, and man, what an awesome place, as you can tell. We're very fortunate—the players, the coaches—to be part of a university, an athletic department and a community that really cares about baseball to build that facility for your baseball program. We're fortunate to be in there. What a building."
On ticket sales…
"We broke a season ticket record today, but I'm very privileged to announce today that 7,101 season tickets have been sold, which breaks 2017's record (6,275) by almost 900 tickets—not a reserved seat left in the stadium. The last expansion came in 2009 when we had four sellouts in a row of reserved seat season tickets. That was back in the days when people would buy their chairs at Walmart, and if you bought your chair there, you could cut off your back legs and put on the hill. We remedied that by selling them season tickets. Maybe another motivation for Ross Bjork and Keith Carter to look at the next expansion. But we're excited to announce that. What a neat thing to announce that we sold over 7,000 tickets for a baseball season."
On the team…
"It was a great fall. As we got back on the field this fall, watching the kids get after it. Certainly the way the season ended last year was tough for us, but we return so many from last year's team—seven of the starting nine, 11 pitchers who lettered for us last year. It was one of those falls different from maybe two years ago where you had so many new guys. This year, when you go over things like bunt defenses and first-and-third offense and first-and-third defense and things of that nature, guys like Grae Kessinger and Thomas Dillard and Ryan Olenek, they've been through it so many times. You don't take it for granted, but it's much easier. You love when you have older guys like that, great leadership. You have any coaches out on the field, not just the ones you see in the media guide, but guys like Grae who can help out younger guys like Justin Bench and so on in the infield. It was a good fall, a little different for us because we were able to play two fall games. I don't know, from a coaching standpoint, if we learned any more from the team. I don't know if it helps you in any way, but the one thing it does, it really doesn't cost any money, and it certainly breaks the monotony up for the programs and the student-athletes to go out there and play somebody in a different uniform. I know that was a lot of fun. We've had a good three weeks of preseason practice here. Although it was relatively dry until last week, it's been a little chilly, but we were able to get in all the games on the scheduled days, so the pitching is in order and ready to go for this weekend."
On the pitching staff…
"On Friday night, we'll start Will Ethridge. Will is a junior right-hander who, for most of his career, has pitched in the bullpen. As a freshman, he got a handful of starts early in the season, but he has really been a mainstay and a big part of our bullpen and a big reason why we've had so much success with our bullpen the last couple of years. Going into the fall, Will and I talked over the summer. He really is the guy that should be that person. He knew he had to go out and earn it, but when you look on paper, he's the guy who has thrown the biggest innings of all the guys returning. As all of you know, we lost the three starters from last year, so that's probably the biggest question mark. Will, and I don't want to say arguably, left a doubt. I don't think there is an argument. He pitched better than anybody on our staff from the first intrasquad until last weekend. He's only given up two or three runs over eight or nine starts in intrasquad games, including a couple of scrimmages against Little Rock and Delta State. Starting on Saturday will be Zack Phillips. Zack is a junior college transfer who has electric stuff. We knew that from the fall, but he has really pitched well the last couple of weeks of intrasquads and has really pitched as well as anybody on the staff and has looked really dominant. He gives us a little different look with a left-hander sandwiched in between Will and our Sunday starter in Gunnar Hoglund. Gunnar is a big power right-hander. As many of you know, he turned down the draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates, being drafted in the first round to show up on our campus. He's the big marquee name of that recruiting class that came on campus this fall. That'll be the starting rotation for the first weekend. Another guy who could've started the first weekend, but we decided to put him in the bullpen, is Houston Roth. He'll probably be the first guy out of the bullpen on Friday and will probably log a couple of innings in that game and start on Tuesday. Parker Caracci will be our closer. Then all the guys who I haven't mentioned yet will be in the bullpen to start the season."
On the offense…
"Going around the infield, Tyler Keenan will start at third base on Friday night. At shortstop, we expect Grae to be better. As many of you know, he twisted his ankle a few weeks ago. If he's not quite ready to go, that'll not be great for us, but he'll be back quickly. I'm sure if he's not back this weekend, he'll be back soon after that. But if he doesn't start, Anthony Servideo will start in his stead. But if Grae does start at shortstop, Anthony Servideo will start at second base. Another huge competition as a lot of you beat guys know, Jacob Adams and Anthony both have played very similar and very good all fall and early spring at second base. At first base, Cole Zabowski will start. Cooper Johnson will start behind the plate. Thomas Dillard will catch this year. He's been catching with us but just hasn't done it in the games yet. Within the first week or so, you'll see him start behind the plate for sure. In left field, Thomas will start there. In center field, Ryan Olenek will start. In right field, Tim Elko will start. The starting DH will be Chase Cockrell. A lot of you who have watched us, both Cockrell and Elko have moved as corner infielders to the outfield. And really, it's a move I think they wanted as much as we did. They wanted to get on the field. When you look at as talented of a team as we return, they knew that maybe the best opportunity was to move to the outfield. Both of them can play the infield and may play the infield at some point, maybe even as early as this weekend. Other guys to look for out in the outfield—Carl Gindl, who had a really good fall and a good last two weeks before we start the season. He might get a start the first weekend out in the outfield. Without a doubt, you'll see him on the field as a baserunner or defensive replacement before the week ends."
On Houston Roth…
"It helped the fact, knowing that he's been such a big part of our bullpen the last couple of years. I liked having a left-hander sandwiched between Ethridge and Hoglund. The other fact is how dominant Phillips looked the last two weekends entering the season. Roth is certainly a guy who we knew would be an option and still may be. It's the first weekend. Last year, we kept all three guys starting all year, but I can't remember a time where we kept all three guys all season. We're just trying to get through the first weekend."
On moving on from last season…
"It was tough. It was as tough a day in baseball as I've ever had. I've had a lot of days in baseball. One example, a guy named Ryan Rolison, during that game, gets drafted in the first round. To know that he's going to live his life-long dream of being a professional baseball player, but he also instantly became a millionaire. To watch how emotional he got after the game was tough to watch. And to watch other guys like Will Golsan and others, who put so much into their baseball careers here, to have it end—and I said it then—in a way that I felt it wasn't supposed to. We were a better team than Tennessee Tech. Not taking anything away from them, they're a great baseball team. But our game is great because you have to play better than the other team, and they played better than us that day. It was an unfortunate ending to a great season. It took me a while to get over it, and I'm sure it did the players. But the players are resilient. I know these guys are excited to get another opportunity at that. Once you get out on the field, I don't think you see any hangover effects of that. Once we got out there in late August, everyone was excited and looking toward the next year."
On addressing the end of the 2018 season…
"People handle it differently. I've said this in a couple of interviews. I'm not build that way, but it doesn't mean other people shouldn't be. I'm not here to judge. That's one of the reasons I've been at the same school for 19 years. Every year for me is a new team. That's what's so refreshing about intercollegiate athletics—every year they're different. And people say, 'Well you've got Kessinger, Ethridge, Dillard, Olenek and all of those guys back. It's the same old team.' No, it's not. Those guys are a year older, a year better, a year more mature. Their lives, when you're 18, 19, 20 years old, your life changes so much in just 365 days. As you get older like us, one year doesn't seem like anything. So they get motivated by different things. Some of them, maybe if you ask them, they might say that motivates them. We're always motivated in this program to get back to the College World Series and win a national championship for our university. That's what motivates me."
On what he hopes to learn on opening weekend…
"One is to really try to, and not just this opening weekend, but the first four weekends, is to really answer the most-asked question since we started fall practice—the rotation, the roles of the bullpen and so on. To me, position player-wise, there may be a few changes and maybe a guy who was designated hitting ends up in the outfield or maybe another guy switches positions, but for the most part, there will be enough of that movement throughout the year. The biggest key for us going into the first weekend against Alabama in conference play, is that we can feel really good about the rotation and that the bullpen understands their roles going forward."
On Gunnar Hoglund…
"It's not really this spring, it's since he walked on campus. As mentioned about Will having the best fall and spring of any pitcher, and the second without a doubt would be Gunnar. Gunnar had a little rough Saturday this past weekend, but prior to that, I don't know how many starts, but he had only given up three runs. He's been really dominant in our intrasquad games. He's a guy who possesses a big-time fastball but a good breaking ball and changeup, excellent command. He really can throw the ball on both sides of the plate. For a true freshman, he has a lot of poise. Gunnar will also hit. I don't know how much he'll hit on this team. We don't have a doubt that he will hit in this program. It's going to be tough on this team to hit. I think he'll get some at-bats this year, but I don't know if we foresee him being the DH on days he doesn't pitch right now because of the depth that we have offensively. But anything can happen, so we'll watch as the season gets going here. He'll pitch. He continues to hit in batting practice, but it's tough to break through the top 11-12 hitters on this team."
On Cooper Johnson…
"He's played really well. We all know about his throwing prowess, but he has received well, he has blocked the ball well and he has swung it well. He had a really good fall and early spring. He has always brought a lot of energy, but we've seen even more leadership out of him, as we thought we would with him being in his third year."
On the tough midweek schedule…
"We lost one midweek game last year and two non-conference games—one was midweek one was out at Long Beach State. Last year will show you how important those games are. You have to win on Tuesdays and Wednesdays to help your overall record at the end of the season when it's selection time. It was one of the reasons we were a national seed and had such a good RPI. This year, with Louisville a couple of games, East Carolina, not to mention Southern Miss twice, Mississippi State in the midweek—a lot of challenges for us in the midweek. The guys who will start those games and pitch in those games will be important. Getting out of the gate here, and not just Houston, but other guys. Houston being in the pen the first weekend and being able to start that game. A lot of those faces you're talking about are new to the bullpen and new to college baseball and those Tuesday games. We'll be able to ease our way a little easier with Houston."
On separation between Servideo and Adams at second base…
"I think they'll both play."
On returning many starters on offense…
"You could've said the same last year, that maybe we felt good because we had Ryan Rolison, Brady Feigl and James McArthur to be the first three guys running out there first weekend. So we could hopefully hold them down while the offense to figure it out. But it didn't take them long to figure it out. I agree in the sense that, hopefully it gives them a little more confidence and allows them to be a little more aggressive in the zone realizing that this team is going to score runs and help them out a lot on the offensive side. We just need to do our job and continue to pound the strike zone and try to get outs. We have a lot of good pitchers. I think we're going to be really good on the mound. It was like last year, we said we thought we would be really good offensively, you just don't know the names yet. But I think people will get to know the games."
On Greer Holston…
"Greer's velocity is down a little bit. He has struggled a little bit in some intrasquad games. He would've been one of the guys who we would've looked to maybe be one of those weekend guys. Now he's back in the bullpen in a similar role to he's been before. There have just been guys who have pitched better than him."
On Doug Nikhazy…
"He's been terrific. He's one of those guys that I don't know exactly going into the fall what our expectations were. We knew he was good but we didn't know what role. There have been some outings where he has been as dominant as anybody out there. I really think he's going to be an important part of the bullpen. Like we've said already, this is the first weekend. I wouldn't discount that he might not find himself as a Tuesday starter or even on the weekend at some point, because the stuff is really that good. But it gives us another left-handed option out of the bullpen, which we haven't had a ton of over the years. He's a strike thrower. He's a great competitor, and there's no doubt in my mind he's going to pitch the first weekend."
On expectations for opening weekend…
"My expectation is to play well, especially for an older group. That's always your hope for opening weekend, but we expect it from this older group—that we come out and are mature and aggressive and that we go and play that way offensively, defensively and on the mound. That would be my expectation. Obviously, we like our club. But everybody does. There are 300 people who are having press conferences across the country talking about Omaha and talking about having success, and I think that's what's neat about the start of the season. We really like our club. We think it's a really good mix of offense and defense and pitching and an older group. Usually older groups play better, they're more experienced. One of the reasons for that, our game is tough. There are a lot of ups and downs. It's a long season, a lot of games. There are going to be times where we don't play to our expectations. Usually older teams can handle that. Younger teams seem to wallow in those lows longer. Older teams seem to handle the adversity much better, and I think this group will do that as well."
On Knox Loposer…
"He caught a little bit this weekend. So he's basically 100 percent now. He caught some in the intrasquad and swung and ran and did everything to show us that he's ready to play."
Players Mentioned
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OF
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IF/OF
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RHP/IF
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RHP
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C
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IF
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IF
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C
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LHP/OF
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IF/OF/RHP
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LHP
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IF
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IF
/ BaseballHIGHLIGHTS: Baseball at Southern Miss (3/10/2026)
Wednesday, March 11
PRESSER | Mike Bianco - Evansville Postgame (3/8/26)
Sunday, March 08
PRESSER | Walker Hooks - Evansville Postgame (3/8/26)
Sunday, March 08
PRESSER | Topher Jones - Evansville Postgame (3/8/26)
Sunday, March 08