And kind of to build off of Mark, you kind of talked a little bit about this, but what have you kind of seen so far this fall from the team? Are there some guys sticking out that you're like, oh, we're going to get a chance to really perform here? What's been like the big takeaway for you all for this fall so far?

Well, you know, Tag Andrews was our high leverage closer, a transfer from Arkansas two years ago, pitched the second half in the Cape.

And, you know, it, started with him.

He was the OVC Conference Tournament MVP, started with him.

He came back.

Blake Simpson, his Missouri transfer, he was the Hattiesburg Regional MVP.

Get him back, and then you get Cade Smith, and take you around the horn.

What are some of the goals as you continue to build this program into 2027 and beyond in terms of facilities, development of players, those kind of things? What are some of the key things that you really want to continue to continue but also achieve and strive for for the next level?

Yeah, yeah,

yeah.

Okay, so frontline shortstop, there are a couple.

One made a million dollars to return back to his university and forego the draft.

That's a Division I college shortstop.

And then the going market, they're – There was a catcher.

You defend the field up the middle, and so the guys that get paid, think quarterback, think skill guys.

What did you think of them? Very talented.

I mean, that was seven years ago, and look what's happened the last couple of years and all the momentum you've got your program building forward and, you know, it's just, uh, it just, it just makes me smile 'cause in these last seven years a lot, a lot has changed for you, and it's been in a positive direction.

I, I appreciate it, Phil, and, and you're right.

Your, your memory's dead on.

You know, I remember when Coach called me, you know, that summer when, when they decided they were gonna open up outside competition and, and said, "Hey, we, we wanna play, and not only do we wanna play, we, we wanna play at your place." And so, uh, the team came down.

I think, think Isaiah Campbell started.

Um, and, uh, uh, it, it was just good for everybody.

The place was packed and, uh, no matter who you were rooting for, it wa- it was a, a great chance to see some good baseball and You know, I'm, I'm all for having a good baseball state.

Mm.

Talk about the, you guys playing in Fayetteville tomorrow night.

Yeah, it'll be good.

I think it's the third time, Baz, in, in the, we've played, uh, uh, Coach Van Horn and, and the guys in the fall.

And, uh, the first one was actually, uh, here in Little Rock.

I think it was 2019, 20, 2020, right along in there.

And, uh, we try to keep that going.

It, it makes just a ton of sense from a travel standpoint, from a budget standpoint, and, uh, it's good baseball.

And Trey, you were br- br- brought up during the break just about how good Chris Curry's staff is and, uh, and how, uh, Chris, you understand having great coaches, uh, helps you in what you're doing in trying to get your players to play the best they can and be the best they can be.

Talk about the, you guys playing in Fayetteville tomorrow night.

Yeah, it'll be good.

I think it's the third time, Baz, in, in the, we've played, uh, uh, Coach Van Horn and, and the guys in the fall, and, uh, the first one was actually, uh, here in Little Rock.

I think it was 2019, between 2020, right along in there.

And, uh, we try to keep that going.

It, it makes just a ton of sense from a travel standpoint, from a budget standpoint, and, uh, it's good baseball.

It'll give us a, a good barometer on, on where we're at as a team, uh, what, what we strengths and weaknesses wise.

Uh, Chris, you know I did the Bru- I started the Bruell's Award 31 years ago, recognizing the important role of the assistant coaches, and Trey, you were br- br- brought up during the break just about how good Chris Curry's staff is and, uh, and how, uh, Chris, you understand having great coaches, uh, helps you in what you're doing and trying to get your players to play the best they can and be the best they can be.

Is the tech just better or is it both?

I think it's yes to both.

I think part of it is the tech and science transition.

The original trackers were very focused because they had to be because there wasn't a broad slew of sensors to pick and choose from.

And so some of them came to market as like step counters, right, or activity trackers.

And that has value, but there's a limited value.

there's limited value to a single data type.

And it feels like not to put words in your mouth, but it feels like you're assuming context like that the patient or the consumer has like awareness of what's going on in their lives and they're doing that interpretation for themselves.

[laughs]

Well, number one rule, JP, as you know, when you go in the big league clubhouse as a, as a player, don't ask for autographs.

That's a sacred, you know, holy of holies.

Uh, you know, big leaguers understand when they leave the clubhouse that they're on the stage and, you know, they're open.

But the, the...

Don't ask.

So they told us as minor, "Don't ask for autographs." Well, my dad had always told me, "When you get in a room with someone that's a once in a lifetime meet, meeting, uh, go up and introduce yourself, shake their hand." And so we, we get there, we go to the corner of the locker room and we throw our stuff in the corner.

Yeah.

So have you finally, has the dust settled on all things baseball and the craziness and success that you had getting to the Super Regional?

I wish that was the case.

I was actually, I wanted to come on last week.

I was in Omaha before the games on the All-American Committee voting for that.

And then I'm on my way to an 8 o'clock recruit breakfast.

And so a lot of people, you know, the portal closed, Baz, on the 29th.

But I think you guys understand, Baz and Raj, but That just meant that was your opportunity to get in the baseball portal.

You didn't lose anybody, right? You got them all.

we want to

have a ballpark that you can host a regional.

And then the last piece for us when a kid takes a visit is we're able to get the financial piece where the kid needs it and their family needs it.

The last piece they want to see is player development and how are we going to be able to help them move forward in their path towards being a draft pick and a major leader.

And we do have the things that we need to develop our guys.

The proof is in the pudding there.

I think Brandon Westmoreland is going to be a top 10-round draft pick, but the kids really want to see that state-of-the-art stadium with all of the amenities for nutrition, player lounge, player development, weight room, pitching lab.

What are your thoughts going into this as far as the new league and what that will look like?

There's, there's a lot of fast decisions to be made both for your staff and, and the players on your team.

Phil, you're exactly right.

It's, it's, it's almost like you're, you're in our office knowing what's going on.

So we, uh, we finished our game on, uh, Saturday and, uh, went back to the hotel.

We showered.

Uh, you know, thankfully, uh, you know, through the support of, of Frank Cueva, our athletics director, and some supporters, we were able to charter, uh, a flight down there and back.

So we were actually home Saturday night by, by ten thirty, which was awesome.

How important is a new ballpark to continue, uh, momentum that your program has? I know that that's something that's still, you know, uh, in the, I guess you could say far future, but it's still part of the future.

And with that accomplished last year, how did you go about preparing for this season?

Yeah, well, first of all, thanks for having me on.

Thanks for covering college baseball and elevating our sport.

Thank you for all that you do.

We very much appreciate it.

I think it's official that we can say college baseball is on the national scene, and it's one of the big three sports.

And so I appreciate guys like you grinding and telling our story.

So how did he earn that moment on Sunday?

What were you doing a year ago today?

We finished on a Monday because we pushed the final game, game seven.

And we stayed that night.

We got up early.

The next day, I spent the entire day on the phone talking to players and lining up visits for when we got back.

And I feel like our feet never hit the ground for recruiting when we got back.

And that's what you're alluding to is all the teams, anybody that's done.

But I'm curious about the approach from a coach's standpoint, and you can give us your thoughts on the change potential too, but regional versus super with the best of three.

What were you doing a year ago today?

Uh, we finished on a Monday, uh, because we pushed the final game, game seven, and, uh, we stayed that night.

We got up early the next day.

I spent the entire day on the phone talking to players and lining up visits for when we got back.

And our...

Phil, I feel like our feet never hit the ground for recruiting when we got back, and that's, that's what you're alluding to, is all the teams, anybody that's done, they're recruiting.

They have kids on campus right now, and, and it's very tough because if...

But, um, regional versus super with the best of three.

Yeah.

No, we, uh ...

You know, we get down to the end, we get down to the end of the year and, and, and, you know, if it's not going our way ...

And there, there was a scenario, Baz, this year where, you know, if, if we'd have, if we'd have taken care of business, we could have won the regular season.

Um, but once, once Friday night didn't go our way, um, once some other things happened around the league and we knew mathematically we couldn't win it, I immediately shifted our, our focus to the tournament, and I had to get their, their minds off of, "Hey, this weekend, this last series at home, even, even though it's frustrating and I don't ever wanna lose at home, especially to a, a, a rival, uh, it's not about this weekend.

This is not our season.

So let's just, let's just get back, uh, to playing good baseball and, and playing our best when we get to the tournament." And I really try to reset their minds when we get on that bus and we pull into the stadium of this, this is brand new.

Yeah

Mm.

Um, there's just, there just can't be any panic.

Uh, can't be.

The only time, the only time that I'll, I'll ever raise the intensity is if the effort is bad or the attitude or body language.

That's the only time I get animated because those are controllables.

But we're c- just constantly managing what happens in the game.

Did I know it?Um, there, there were small, there, there were clues.

[laughs]

As I was talking about it earlier, I mean, again, you still have a shot to win the league, but what does second place in the conference mean to you versus being in the eighth spot where you were last year?

Yes, complete ends of the spectrum.

You're right.

You know, as the eighth seed, you've got to play a play-in game this Tuesday, and that's a single elimination.

You win that one, you've got to play another one just to get into the top four double elimination portion.

And so that's why we had to win five games in four days Versus going in as the top one or two seed, you get a double bye the next Thursday, which lines up your pitching.

And so we'll throw Brennan Westmoreland, our number one tonight, who, by the way, some projects he could get into the top ten rounds in the MLB draft here next month.

Do you guys change it up if you end up as a three seed versus a two or as a one seed? I mean, do you change your travel plan to go to Marion?

As I was talking about it earlier, I mean, again, you still have a shot to win the league, but what does second place in the conference mean to you versus being in the eighth spot where you were last year?

Yes, complete ends of the spectrum.

You're right.

You know, as the eighth seed, you've got to play a play-in game this Tuesday, and that's a single elimination.

You win that one, you've got to play another one just to get into the top four double elimination portion.

And so that's why we had to win five games in four days Versus going in as the top one or two seed, you get a double bye the next Thursday, which lines up your pitching.

So we'll throw Brennan Westmoreland, our number one tonight, who, by the way, some projects he could get into the top ten rounds in the MLB draft here next month.

But what's the matchup like tonight?

Is it UT Martin? No, it's, uh, SEMO, right? Which one is it? Who's, who's today?

It's SEMO, yes.

This, this is the last regular season for, uh, D1 college baseball, so everybody's playing a, a shorter weekend, Thursday through Saturday series, which bumps us up a day to get ready for the conference tournament, uh, next week.

So we've got SEMO.

They're, uh, a long time great program.

Uh, their, their program and, and, and us have been to regionals, uh, the last few years out of our league and, uh, the weather's gonna be great.

Yep, yep.

And so this summer, uh, in, in the dra- in the portal in recruiting, we addressed our pitching depth.