'We just got manhandled': State stunned to be swept at home

Mississippi State pitcher Jackson Fristoe throws during a game against Arkansas on Sunday, March 28, 2021, in Starkville, Miss. (Photo courtesy Mississippi State Athletics, via Pool)

Arkansas landed some haymakers in a three-game sweep of Mississippi State, and Bulldogs coach Chris Lemonis didn’t pull any punches afterward.

The No. 2 Razorbacks (19-3, 5-1 SEC) completed their banner weekend with a 6-4 decision on Sunday that handed No. 4 Mississippi State (17-7, 2-4) its first home sweep since 2018.

More from WholeHogSports

https://www.wholeho…">Razorbacks finish sweep of Bulldogs

https://www.wholeho…">Notebook: This type of performance rare for Arkansas

“We just got manhandled in all phases of the game, and that includes coaching,” Lemonis said. “We got beat in every phase and we’ve got a good team, but we did not show up ready to play this weekend.”

Lemonis didn’t think his team’s struggles were limited to some young players that might have been nervous on a big stage.

“It does a little possibly,” Lemonis said. “I think you’ve got a little of that going on, but I have got guys who have played here for four years that didn’t play well. It is across the board. I do think it does matter, but the kid (Jaxon Wiggins) that closes the game for them hadn’t done it either.

“It is a little bit across the league, just a lot of young kids right now and we’ve all got to be able to handle it.”

Lemonis, whose team was swept by Arkansas in Starkville for the first time since 2010, pointed to how his club fared offensively and defensively with two outs.

A key point in the game came in the third and fourth innings. The Bulldogs had a pair of two-out hits to load the bases, but stranded three when Tanner Allen flied out against Arkansas starter Lael Lockhart.

The Razorbacks scored four runs with two outs in the top of the fourth against Mississippi State starter Jackson Fristoe.

“We always talk about getting two-out hits, but it really is about making two-out pitches and it’s about making two-out plays, and we didn’t get off the field this weekend, and it kills us,” Lemonis said. “We couldn’t get off the field today. It killed us in the fourth inning, and the other side is we don’t get a lot of two-out hits today.

“We are in counts, positive counts, and we just get really bad at-bats. We swing at bad pitches in those situations and we let them off the hook. I don’t know what to say. Tip your cap to them. They made the pitch, but we are not looking to hit 2-0 changeups with the bases loaded.

“You have got to be able to dang box somebody up and make them pay. That is what they did to us.”

Lemonis thinks some of his hitters are pressing even though they out-hit Arkansas 11-7 on Sunday.

“I think a little bit for us is pitch selection,” Lemonis said. “It is overly aggressive, it is trying to do too much, it is trying to swing too big. We give away counts. If you are sitting 1-1 and he throws a ball, it should be 2-1, and now you get to sit on a fastball and you have a better chance to hit.

“I can promise you this, our guys are better fastball hitters than curveball hitters, but we have to get in fastball counts and get pitches we want to hit and put a good swing on it.

“That takes time and being able to relax a little bit. Some of these guys that are struggling, they are doing the same thing, just repetitive over and over and you have got to step back and change that.”

He feels better about his pitchers than he does his hitters, but was not happy with this weekend’s efforts on the mound.

“I just think we had some guys with some bad outings, to be honest with you,” Lemonis said. “I think we’re good, I think they’re good, but we had a couple of guys have bad outings that we haven’t see all year.

“Is that Arkansas? Are they that good? I do think we can pitch better. I do think (MSU Friday starter) Christian McLeod can make better pitches. I think (Saturday reliever) Brandon Smith can make better pitches.

"Even today, I guess (reliever Landon Jackson) gives up a run that isn’t his, but he wasn’t even as sharp as he was normally, but he got through it because he is such a competitor.

“I do think we have a really good pitching staff. We have some very talented guys on there and I think we will pitch well in the future.”

Lemonis offered some hope to his team.

“I just told them that we have got a good team, but we have got to play better,” Lemonis said. “The only thing we can do and the only thing we can control is how hard we work this week and try to get back on the practice field and improve and get that good feeling again.”