No. 18 Ole Miss began the ninth inning against No. 6 Mississippi State with a one-run lead, but the Rebels couldn’t keep it and ended up losing Friday night’s series opener, 5-4.
Afterwards, Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco and catcher Austin Fawley, whose three-run home run in the seventh put Ole Miss ahead 4-3, met with reporters to talk about the game. Here’s everything they said.
Mike Bianco, Head Coach
On Hunter Elliott’s pitching…
“I thought he was really good, especially through the first five innings. Honestly, it might’ve been his best command day of the year. He had all four pitches working, and more importantly, he was commanding all of them. That’s not something you see every day, even from guys who throw four pitches. I thought Joel did a great job calling the game early on, too. It was just a tough sixth inning. Some bad fortune — a few balls found holes that weren’t hit particularly well. That’s baseball sometimes. But overall, I thought he pitched excellent.”
Wind conditions’ impact on offense…
“It was a tough night to hit. It was cold, the wind was blowing in — just not great conditions offensively. I actually thought we swung it well, though. I know it can sound like a poor excuse after a loss, and I don’t mean it that way, but we hit some balls really hard. They played really good defense and were positioned well. There were moments where it felt like we were about to take control, especially with a couple of home run swings, but we just couldn’t finish it.”
On approach at the plate against Mississippi State…
“I thought we handled Foster pretty well overall. Again, we hit some balls hard — just didn’t always have results to show for it.”
On pitching plans for the weekend…
“(Hudson) Calhoun will go tomorrow, and (Cade) Townsend will start on Sunday.”
On Townsend’s health status…
“He’s looking good. He threw a bullpen that turned into more of a live bullpen — faced a couple hitters. The biggest thing for us was making sure he felt good the next day after throwing. He hasn’t felt anything for about a week now. After missing a start, we just wanted to make sure he got some work in and didn’t feel any rust from having the weekend off.”
On Marko Sipila’s injury…
“He’s dealing with some elbow soreness — maybe more forearm than elbow. He’s had an MRI, and we’re still waiting to hear back from the doctors. Hopefully we’ll have more clarity soon.”
Austin Fawley, C
On Hunter Elliott’s performance early…
“Through the first five innings, he was really good. Like I’ve said before, he was throwing every pitch for a strike, and even his new splitter was working. That pitch was dominant tonight. It looked like they were sitting on the fastball early, but he adjusted — mixing soft stuff early and coming back with velocity late.”
On Elliott’s recent form…
“Yeah, I think he’s just gotten more comfortable the last couple of weeks. It looks like he’s found something that’s clicking, and he’s just rolling with it right now.”
On the home run in windy conditions…
“With the wind like that, I wasn’t sure it was getting out off the bat. But I knew I hit it hard, especially based on the previous at-bat.”
On Walker’s development out of the bullpen…
“I think he’s definitely improving in those close-game situations and learning how to shut it down. His stuff is really good — it’s just about continuing to trust it more.”
