Everything No. 4 Coach Brian O'Connor Said After Win Against Austin Peay

No. 4 Mississippi State dominated Austin Peay in a Tuesday evening game at Dudy Noble Field. Afterwards first-year coach Brian O'Connor talked to reporters about the game and other items of interest. Here's everything he said:

On team's ability to finish games...

Well, that’s a great quality for a team to have. When you get a chance to put somebody away, you need to do it, because you never know when your opportunities are going to come.

We talked about that in the preseason — that one of the trademarks of what we want this team to be is that when you have a lead, you extend it and put somebody away. That’s especially important at home. It’s obviously more difficult to do on the road, but tonight showed the depth and balance of this lineup.

I’m really proud of a lot of guys. That’s going to be important moving forward. In league play, you might have a two-run lead, and you need to turn it into four, because the other team is highly qualified and they’re not going to go away. We’re learning that early this season.

On Aiden Teel...

First, I’d say I’ve had a long relationship over many years with the Teel family. Aiden’s older brother, Kyle, played for me for three years at Virginia, and then we recruited Aiden. It’s a strong baseball family — his dad played pro ball.

When I made the decision to come from Virginia to Mississippi State, Aiden knew pretty quickly that this is what he wanted to do. He’s a fighter. Maybe he hasn’t started the season quite up to his own expectations, but he’s a high-quality player. He had over 25 extra-base hits last year and plays a great center field.

It’s a terrific family that believes in what we do, and I believe in him.

On defeating Austin Peay...

Somebody told me that a couple of years ago they came here to Starkville and won two games on a Tuesday and Wednesday. That doesn’t surprise me. That club won 45 games last year, and that’s really hard to do in college baseball.

So I challenged our guys, especially coming off an off day — which always scares you because you don’t get to look them in the eye or practice — to see how they’d show up. They showed maturity by being ready from start to finish.

I have a lot of respect for that team and that coaching staff. I know what that coach has done in a short period of time, and they’ll win a lot of games this year. But I think it showed the quality of our ball club — that we came ready to play today and weren’t looking ahead to what’s coming this weekend.

On status of William Kirk (left Tuesday's game early with an injury)...

I don’t know yet. It’s something with his hamstring or knee. Our doctors will look at him. It’s not the knee he had surgically repaired last year, so that’s good. We’ll see if it’s something short-term or if there’s more to it.

On challenge of creating lineup with so many players playing well...

It’s great. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I get to make those decisions, and I get excited every morning thinking about the lineup and the best matchups to give us the best chance to win that day.

Tonight, we led off Drew Weyers against a left-handed starter, had Blake Bevis in there, Sean James catching against a left-handed pitcher — and we’ll see what Friday brings.

We’re nine games in, and every guy is putting the team first. I told them before the season started that roles would evolve. Some guys didn’t play much early and now they’re getting opportunities and doing a nice job. I don’t know when it will fully narrow down, but I like what we have right now.

On team's baserunning ability...

I’m seeing aggressiveness. And as a coach, that’s hard, because you like that guys are pushing, but we’ve got to play a little smarter.

On that play tonight, Noah Sullivan saw the throw sail over the relay man’s head and thought he could take the extra base. The problem is he hit the ball so hard that it got to the outfielder quickly, and he wasn’t far enough around the turn to make it work.

I talked to him about it in the dugout. These are learning moments. We’ve also had a few guys thrown out at second on dirt-ball reads that just haven’t been quite right.

We’re going to be aggressive — we’ll steal bases, we’ll go on first movement against left-handers — but there have been five or six plays in these nine games that can’t happen. At least they’re not tentative. We just need to pull the reins back a little and play smarter baseball.

On Chris Billingsley's pitching performance Tuesday...

Coach Parker and I talk every morning on game day about matchups and what we like. No matter the situation, we were getting Chris into the game because we believe in him.

He didn’t pitch up to his capability last time, but he did tonight, and I’m proud of him. I tell our guys all the time — in this game, you better have a short memory. There’s going to be plenty written about you, good or bad, and you’ve got to handle it.

To have success, you have to move on to the next opportunity. Tonight was a great bounce-back lesson for him after his last outing.