Everything Mississippi State Coach Brian O'Connor Said After Midweek Win

Mississippi State left no doubt Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs rolled past No. 11 Southern Miss, 12-0, behind a dominant night on the mound and a lineup that kept pressure on from the first inning on.

It was one of the most complete performances of the season for Brian O’Connor’s club, featuring strike-throwing across the staff and steady production up and down the order.

After the game, O’Connor broke down the decision to mix and match arms, the impact of an aggressive offense on his pitchers and what the win means heading into a rivalry weekend against Ole Miss.

On Chris Billingsley's starting performance...

Coach Parker and I talked Sunday night and again yesterday about how we wanted to approach this game. We knew nobody was going to go out there and throw three or four innings, so we wanted to break it up.

Chris Billings started in junior college, and while we’ve used him exclusively out of the bullpen, we felt like he was the right guy to go one time through the lineup and get us off to a good start. Then we could match up from there.

I thought he did a terrific job. He really attacked in the first inning, and scoring three runs early helped. Everybody that followed did a nice job as well. We’re trying to develop more guys, and maybe this leads to another midweek start for him next week. We’ll take it one game at a time, but he’s earned these opportunities. The stuff is real—it’s really good—and hopefully this is a springboard for him.

On overall pitching performance...

All of them threw strikes—no walks—and that’s always a great sign.

It was also good to get Jack Bauer back out there. It had been about three weeks since he last pitched, and that was intentional. We made some delivery changes coming out of Arlington, and Coach Parker worked with him on those. That meant holding him out of games until he was ready. Tonight was the right time, and I thought he looked terrific. That could be a big boost for us.

On scoring in every inning...

That’s tough to do—scoring at least one run in every inning over that stretch—but it shows the balance of our lineup.

We’ve stuck with the same lineup for a handful of games now, and you’re seeing contributions throughout. Teel had maybe his best night in a State uniform, especially coming back from being ill. Jacob Parker hit the three-run homer, and up and down the lineup, we had guys making an impact.

That’s the sign of a good offensive club—you can score in different ways. We stole bases, took advantage of situations, and these last couple of games have been complete offensive performances.

On Billingsley's confidence...

Ever since Chris got here, I’ve been incredibly impressed with him. First and foremost, he’s a great young man—fun to be around, always has a smile, and brings energy every day.

The stuff has always been good. In the Arkansas game, things got away from him a bit, but that happens. This is a big jump from junior college. As he gains more experience, he’s only going to keep improving. I believe in him.

On Ryan McPherson's injury status...

We did an MRI, and the good news is his UCL is completely healthy—no issues there.

He’s been diagnosed with a mild forearm strain. There’s no set timetable yet. We’re still consulting with doctors and evaluating things. The brace is just precautionary.

Anytime you see something like that, you worry about the UCL, but that’s not the case here. We’re encouraged by the results and will figure out a timeline in the coming days.

On upcoming series at No. 18 Ole Miss...

I think it’s highly doubtful Ryan would be available this weekend.

As for the series, it’s a great rivalry—Ole Miss and Mississippi State. It’s going to be a great weekend with big crowds and two really good teams. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to compete against Ole Miss, and I have a lot of respect for their program.

I’m proud of our guys for not looking ahead. You can’t overlook Southern Miss—they’re the No. 1 RPI team in the country. We handled business tonight, and now we’ll turn our attention to Oxford. It should be a great weekend.