SE Missouri State coach Andy Sawyers, players speak ahead of NCAA Fayetteville Regional

yeah um pretty proud moment for us you know obviously the OBC being a one bid League we actually have to win the tournament uh to get here and if you look back at what our seniors have accomplished um our group of seniors you know Kyle being one of them they they've won our tournament three times in the last four years and I think that's a pretty remarkable accomplishment um it hasn't always been easy we were pretty banged up for a good portion of the year and I didn't know if we were going to get to this point but uh our group showed REM markable resilience we finished up one in 12 our last 14 games um thought our group and our seniors especially showed tremendous leadership and tremendous heart to to finish the year the way they did and uh we're super happy to be here you know we played in two of the last three of these things um or three the last four now I am am hopeful at some point that we can break through and and uh win one of these things and and and come out on the right side of it but uh that's what we're here for so that's what I got aome yes yes sir know3 they Haven what are your thoughts coming in and having to play you the team yeah I mean they're going to be a good they're going to be a great ball team and uh this is number one atmosphere in college baseball so I'm expecting a big crowd and just to come out and you know play our best game and to have fun with it yeah we're looking I'm looking for my first one in the regional it's my third time here Josh is looking for his first one too everybody on the team is um so we're we're really excited to play here and get a good chance to be a good team for both of you coach was just saying how y'all play finish the season strong just kind of what what's been going right for y'all lately kind what's been the key y''s you know surge to end the season um I'd like to say we we've come together well I mean towards the end of the year and that's what you hope to have in a ball Club you know you don't want to play your best baseball early on in the season you want to well I mean you always want to play your best baseball but you're looking to play it more towards the end of the season when everything's on the line and everything matters and I think we've done a a great job of coming together as a I mean as a as one unit and playing a great baseball game every time we go out and I think that's been a big key in and winning the last 12 of the 14 games we played he nailed it we had a meeting about a month ago and talked about just that a play for the guy next to you and we turned it around Kyle you know with the experience of playing in The Regionals just kind of the senior late in team I mean has this season felt maybe a little bit different than even some of the Past Times you made it to a regional just with the experience that you guys have on the roster yeah so personally I it's my last go so it's been an exciting season been super excited for every game um but yeah there's definitely a different Buzz this year um some of the guys have been to two regionals and gone 0 and two both times so I think there's a different feeling we like we have a we have a chance to win a game two three here so it's definitely a different bus yeah for Josh and Kyle and Josh you can go first but you guys being able to be such an off team and and have that be an advantage here uh against an Arkansas Team where I don't think anybody knows who's going to pitch tomorrow yet so using that to your advantage and and using the offensive power that you guys have to to try to get that first win that you guys talk about right always and I think offense is a big you know part of the game you got to score runs to win but you also need to play great defense and and you need to pitch it well so no matter what aspect of the game you look at I mean we're going to have to come out and give it our best go whether that's offense defense pitching everyone's going to have to be at their best to be able to play great baseball in this type of environment you got it I don't I don't do any of the offensive stuff right Kyle I think you played here a few years ago at bomb just do you have any memories of that and maybe has there any advantage of having that experience yeah I got I got one good memory of it I got Robert Moore hit a ball off the top of the wall and I uh I got the loss but uh besides that I think there is an advantage of playing here in front of a bunch of bunch of fans and this place is this place is pretty cruel if if anything goes wrong for you so I think there is an advantage to playing here before we we we came here last year on a Tuesday and we know it's going to be a different environment than that even but just just having that that one or five games for me under my belt yeah it it makes a difference for sure we're ready for it Jos you got an Arkansas guy trevors your your your batting coach uh what would you say about him and now you guys want to have 100 home runs or some some crazy number yeah he's a he's a great dude he's a he's a great coach to say the least I mean he he knows what he's talking about and he's been in these type of games and he's been in these type of situations and he does a great job of um you know spreading the message of what he's trying to put off hitting wise and he knows how to connect with the players and he knows how to you know get the word out there what needs to be done I think he does a great job with the whole team on on being a great hitting coach hey Josh coach wasn't sure if you guys would see Hagen Smith or you wouldn't so how do you prepare for a game like this do you study a little bit on him and what he does and everyone else great arm he's got great stuff you get in there and you you compete that's what that's what you do so you get in the box and you compete with them they say throw a rightand or I mean what kind of prep did you do to get ready then we haven't done anything yet so we find out who yeah we don't I mean we don't know who's we don't know who's throwing but whoever they do throw I think we can get in there and just competitive bets all game long and I think that'll do is the right way thank you thank you coach as of when we talked you weren't sure who among the four you'd start are you closer what what what kind is going to play into this uh yeah we know who we're going to throw I'm just not going to say anything till we know who they're throwing honestly so it's all going to come out at the meeting tonight apparently we'll all find out the worst kept secret in baseball you played here a number of times and what what what are you expecting to see tomorrow night one of the top three one of the top three atmospheres in college baseball um you know uh it's an electric environment I've coached here as a as an Aggie as a Husker as a red hawk um you know they probably hated the aies worse than everybody but uh it's a a great it's a great atmosphere obviously as youall know wonderful fan face they're going to be excited and uh I do know that if the game is close it's going to be a little little anxious I do know that um so hopefully we can keep it tight and make it a ball game late and uh cause some of those uncomfortable feelings yeah Andy obviously AR's had a great year overall but they have lost three in a row they went to Hoover and lo went on and two although last time they went to home I don't know it but what's your take on maybe what you what you're expecting from them when they they haven't won they haven't won in two weeks they haven't won a game in two weeks yeah nobody cares about that if you're a national seed no one cares what happens in Hoover certainly not the the Razer backs um you know having to go play that conference tournament when you're already in the tournament and already in National seed that's uh 100% afterthought and you look how they pitch that thing they weren't pitching to win it they were pitching to set themselves up for for this weekend and so I'm not going to read anything into what happened in Hoover Uh I know how that game is played but uh obviously they've got Elite level pitching um it seems like they've had a hard time finding a lineup they wanted to stick with throughout the course of the year but um the the pitching and the stuff that we're going to see is significantly different than what we're used to in our league um I think we're just kind of waiting to see who's going to be available I think that's the big thing I'm not sure you know there's rumors of guys not being available we're waiting to see who we're going to throw I think they're just trying to find out what they need to do to put themselves in the best spot to win the tournament so um yeah I think there's a little bit of a waiting game to see what they're going to do it's probably not fair but you got to win that tournament you know to do you think that mindset helps you guys or whoever wins wins a league tournament with where a must win and then you can carry that mentality over into a regional I think it does um you know we had that same deal in the last weekend of the of the regular season as well so we have the the Ohio Valley Conference tournament is structured there's a double buy teams one and two the top two seats get a double bu and so certainly that is a huge Advantage into a tournament we needed to sweep the last weekend to secure the secure that double bu um and you know we did we played great the last weekend we ended up winning eight of the last nine conference games and took that in the tournament so we've been kind of playing in that mindset for a couple weeks now um I was really proud of our kids how we played we played we played good games even the game we lost to the conference tournament we led the entire game and just didn't finish it off against one of the best power hitters in the country Roman CS who finished with conference records for home runs in RBI I was stupid enough to pitch to him in the ninth inning and he a homer office but uh you our kids played great they played great for the last two weeks and they they've known what's at stake for the last couple weeks so um certainly um being in a in a you know Regional environment is not going to be a different feeling in terms of that aspect to that meeting later are you and Dave gonna have like a stare down to see who who blinks first and names a starter How's that gonna be I'll say coach it's good to see him and I will let him tell me what he wants to do you played for coach Van hor just kind of what's your relationship like with him and you what was your reaction you know getting squ matched up with him in the regional um my relationship with him is like any former player coach relationship where the player has a ton of respect for for the coach I mean he changed my life he changed my career um our story is pretty interesting um he and and Rob chis arrived at at Christmas break at Nebraska my senior year um coach Van Horn rode me like a rened mule like was hard on me um I was the senior starting catcher uh played every day the year before I was kind of a catch and throw Defender type guy and coach Van Horn preferred offensive catchers at that time in his career and I lost my starting job and I felt like he was trying to make an example of me every day in practice he was very hard on me um he was a little more demonstrative when he was younger I'll say that um at the end of the year I walked in for my my meeting and he said Andy I was harder on you than you deserved but I knew you were tough enough to take it I'm trying to change the culture and I needed to have somebody who could wear it for me and you were that guy so I was thanks uh but he said I know you want to go coaching I've got a job lined up for he already had a job lined up for me I went down to Northwestern State he'd already got it set up I got to teach classes in the P Department got to be the volunteer for John Cohen who's now the ad at Auburn um he did all of that without my knowing it w he was making an example of me to the team like riding me hard um and I have the utmost of respect for coach Van Horn um the team that he inherited my senior year we had four guys living in a house three of those four are division one head coaches that's pretty amazing his coaching tree is long it's extensive and all of us I know credit you know a good chunk of our career to having played and worked for him so have a ton of respect for him um happy to you know we're happy to you know I'd be happy to be at Mississippi State even though I don't like those guys very much right uh just kidding but uh we're happy to be in this situation it's special for me to get to compete against my former coach I'll say that also I want to ask got trevel you know he's a guy that played for you then transferred out came to our sub and now you've got him hired back just kind of what what does he meant to your team and and what do you think of him as a as a coach I think he's one of the best young hitting coaches in the country um I hope I L him someday I hope I lose him to the University of Arkansas and he come back here and work with y'all's guys um when that time comes when uh you know when Nate gets his program um but you know Trevor's been back for four years in those four years we've been to three regionals we've set the school record for home runs two times like you can do the math and figure out how important he's been to our program kind of been a main stay for the program what does he meant to you guys you know his career he's our most talented offensive player um didn't have the year we thought he have I thought he was going to be a conference Player of the Year type guy he's got four tools um Dynamic player really struggle in there halfway through the year I had to bench him a couple times because he was striking out at a prodigious rate just really scuffled early in the year kind of got it going and carried us like if you look at his conference numbers they were fantastic um hit Dar near 400 with with 10 home runs in conference play so he had a really good conference season even though he struggled a lot early but uh Josh is special to me he's a little bit rough around the edges he's the guy that always plays hard um you know his heart's in the right place but sometimes you got to work hard to keep between the lines but uh I think that's why you coach because I think I was that same young man when I was 21 years old I needed to be kept between the lines sometimes but uh he's probably our most gifted offensive player and he plays with a lot of heart and a lot of passion and um um as sometimes with your best player as he goes you go and when he plays good we usually play well thanks