No. 20 Ole Miss had a long day at Swayze Field on Saturday, but it wound up being a productive day as the Rebels won their series against No. 9 Texas A&M.
Afterwards, two of Ole Miss’ key players, Judd Utermark and Taylor Rabe, talked to reporters about the double-header day, including what a baseball team does for an hour in between games. Here’s everything they said.
Judd Utermark, 3B
On series win…
I mean, I’d like to say, the professional in me wants to say that it’s just another series and I’m glad that we won it, but it really is special. I think it’s a story that a lot of people don’t know, but I was born in College Station. I grew up an A&M Aggie. I grew up during the Johnny Manziel era, so it was really easy to be an Aggie. My dad was an alumnus there, but playing here, especially on senior weekend, honoring the seniors and, of course, getting a win, especially in this fashion, meant a lot.
On playing behind Taylor Rabe…
Great. He was lights out. What gets lost in there was J.P.’s inning, or inning and a third or something, Calhoun, who ended up getting a hold, and then obviously Hooks. You know what we’re getting with them. They were all just lights out. We had that one inning kind of blow up on him, but I think the impressive thing is that he bounced back and put up zeros. That just shows you what type of player he is and what his mindset is. He’s a starter. As soon as he gets banged up, it’s not the end of the game for him. He’s got a long way to go.
On bouncing back from 18-5 loss earlier Saturday…
Coach B got it in our heads to shower real quick because we only had an hour. But I think it was kind of a wake-up call for all of us. Nobody likes to get run-ruled. Nobody likes to get run-ruled at home, and nobody likes to get run-ruled by the Aggies at home. I think it was just trying to be professional about it, knowing that it’s a separate game. You can’t take at-bats from the previous game into this one, or outings, or whatever it may be. I thought we did a really good job of that.
On team’s activities between games Saturday…
Well, I was busy trying to stay alive. I was eating my Jimmy John’s sandwich. Some of the guys were playing, I don’t know if y’all know the game Mafia. They were playing Mafia. We were playing some music. Some of the guys were probably on their phones. You’re trying to cool off but not get too cooled off because, again, you’ve got a game in an hour. So, it’s kind of a mental reset. How do we get as far away from the baseball field as we can and then get right back on there? I don’t know. I guess there’s an art to it. I’m sure there’s a best way to do it. That’s how we do it.
On Jimmy Johns order…
Oh, I don’t even know. Well, my order has tomatoes on it, and I hate tomatoes, so I pull them off every time. I’m fine with the onions, but I think it’s just ham, cheese, lettuce, onions, of course tomatoes, and mustard.
On importance of a win series win…
Yeah, it was massive. We can only control one game at a time and one at-bat at a time. But being able to look back on it now, it’s huge, and A&M is a really good team. They can, obviously y’all saw, really swing it. But we were able to scratch off two wins, and that’s been really good.
Taylor Rabe, RHP
On what was working for him against Texas A&M…
Yeah, the fastball was working early. Then in that middle inning there, I kind of just grooved a few in there and left them middle. We were throwing a lot of fastballs there, and they started to realize that. So I was able to adjust and start spinning the ball better and getting to the bottom of the zone. I was able to get us to 1-0, so it was awesome.
On pitch selection in Aggies’ five-run fourth inning…
Yeah, I think it was the second time through, and we were still throwing a lot of fastballs. They’re a really good hitting team, and they’re going to see that. The combination of that and pitches that were supposed to be going outside ending up middle-up, they took advantage of it.
On mental development…
I think a big part of what I’ve learned being a starter is being able to have a rough inning and then regain focus. You have to be able to find what you were doing wrong and correct that in the middle of the outing. I came back in with Joel, and he just said, “Take it one batter at a time.” He said, “You’ve got to give us another one in the fifth,” and I was like, “Absolutely.” Then he gets my back up there, and Jeff said, “We’re up to six.” I was like, “For sure.” It was awesome to get his support.
On importance of series win…
Yeah, it’s huge. Especially after playing a doubleheader and that first game going how it did. Those games were tough, but being able to flush it quickly and bounce back was awesome. It was a big series for us, especially coming down here.
On adjustments moving from bullpen to starter role…
Yeah, it’s been fun. I liked being in the bullpen. It was fun. There’s a lot of adrenaline. Starting, I feel like I’m able to kind of set the tone, and I love giving us the chance to win. Both of them I’ve really enjoyed. I think it’s been a nice adjustment, probably, to the thing. But it’s a close call.
On differences between being a starter and bullpen guy…
Yeah. Being a starter, it’s more like you’re not really trying to blow anything by anyone. You’re just trying to throw the ball to the zone where Joel calls it. For me, I’ve kind of tried to think of his pitch calling like a video game. It’s just trying to act out what he’s doing. If you throw a pitch and he calls it out and they don’t swing, you have to reward yourself and know that was a good pitch. You have to be able to think of it like that and not be so focused on the pitch calling and stuff like that.
