Arkansas Razorbacks players recapping 8-0 shutout win over the Missouri Tigers on Friday night to kick off opening SEC series at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.
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00:00 off and all that. But what about the emotion of it with
00:02 your parents and so many people here, your brother on the other
00:05 side? What it meant to you?
00:07 Yeah, it was pretty cool.
00:09 Yeah, it was a great feeling and
00:12 it's different playing against him.
00:15 I don't think we've ever done that always together or
00:18 whatnot, but it was fun to compete against him and
00:21 it was good to it was good to win against him. And so
00:25 it was cool.
00:27 Hey, again, how nice was it to that your your offense came out
00:30 and gave you that that seven nothing lead pretty quick.
00:32 Yeah, it was really nice.
00:34 Some of you guys stay a little more locked in because when
00:36 they're score like that's kind of you get to kind of watching
00:39 everybody hitting. So I kind of had to stand back a little bit.
00:41 I didn't get to watch that much though.
00:43 Yeah, it's pretty big emotion when you got that last strike
00:46 out. Did you know that Dave said was your last batter no
00:48 matter what did you kind of have a feeling that that was
00:50 your last guy and just what was that moment like?
00:52 No, I didn't really know honestly. I mean coach Hobbs
00:55 and I talked about it maybe but I mean, I just it just kind
00:58 of like a big situation kind of get the dough got going a
01:01 little bit. I don't know.
01:02 Nolan the the two home runs tonight. I think you're your
01:07 first one might have been your you're like softest hit ball
01:10 of the night. I mean just how locked in do you feel right
01:12 now? What's what's going through your mind at the plate?
01:14 I mean, I feel pretty good up there. I feel like I'm seeing
01:19 the ball well and I feel like my swing has been feeling good.
01:23 I've been swinging at the right pitches and that's just
01:26 kind of what's been leading to my success.
01:28 How much of that have you maybe maybe worked on this, you
01:32 know, build up to the season and early on making sure you
01:35 swing at the right pitches because I know, you know, you're
01:37 on getting walks and stuff has been a reason that you've
01:40 been put in the lineup right now.
01:41 Yeah, I've worked on that a lot. That's something that I
01:44 struggled with in the preseason and something that really
01:48 stood out to me is something that I needed to work on both
01:51 when when that fall ended when I went home for winter break
01:55 and then in the spring when I came back. So that's been
01:58 one of the main things I've been focusing on.
02:00 How many two homer games before tonight and do you remember
02:06 many? Zero.
02:07 Nolan before you hit the first home run as a 3-1 county,
02:12 you took a pitch that was kind of on the outer edge like
02:14 a pitcher's pitch. You feel like that's kind of a sign of
02:16 your maturity as a hitter of how you've evolved here recently
02:19 of taking that pitch and then getting a better one to hit
02:21 the next pitch.
02:22 Yeah, I mean, I feel like before I probably would have
02:26 swung at it, but
02:27 I felt like I was able to compete no matter what you
02:32 threw me on that next pitch, whether it was taking it for
02:34 a walk or taking a base hit or whatever. So
02:37 that 3-1 pitch wasn't one that I really wanted to swing at.
02:41 So I just took it.
02:43 And Hagen for you, it felt like a last year. There were
02:45 like a lot of outings where you'd have like one inning
02:47 that kind of blew up or you couldn't work deeper into
02:49 games. Do you feel like you're better equipped this year
02:50 just physically and mentally to work deep into games and
02:53 to give Arkansas like those six, seven inning starts to
02:56 start the weekend? Yeah, for sure. I mean last year,
02:58 I don't know if I ever, I didn't, I struggled when I
03:01 started. There's always that one inning like you said,
03:03 and I think just the biggest thing for me this spring
03:07 or the preseason was just working on mechanics, staying
03:09 true, getting stronger. I think it helped a lot.
03:12 Hagen, it looked like there was maybe some variety to
03:16 the speedier breaking pitches tonight. Was there
03:19 anything different? I mean, are there two different
03:21 breaking pitches and what specifically maybe was
03:24 working for you tonight there? Yeah, I was throwing
03:26 two different. I was throwing cutter and slider and
03:28 then I threw some change-ups or splitters. But that
03:30 was really, I threw cutter and slider a lot. I think
03:34 you might have thrown those pitches maybe more so early
03:36 in the game than you have earlier this season. Was
03:38 that something you guys saw through Missouri or just
03:41 you know, you and Hudson working together out there?
03:44 It was kind of me and Hudson. I mean, we know going
03:46 in that Missouri is a good team and the SEC team.
03:48 So you can't just throw fastballs down the middle
03:51 of them. So you got to keep mixing.
03:52 Ross, it probably wasn't the fall or preseason you
03:56 maybe hoped, but since the season's gotten here,
03:58 you've hit really well. Just what's been the
04:00 key to hitting so well in the regular season?
04:02 I mean, I've been playing this league for three years
04:08 and I think just that experience of playing every
04:11 day for a while helps. I know what I'm getting into
04:16 when it comes to conference and preseason. So just
04:20 really slowing the game down and never make a moment
04:23 bigger than it is.
04:24 Nolan, do you know the pitcher tomorrow at all?
04:28 It seems like it just it's on his bio. It says he's
04:31 from Hawaii. Just wondering if there's any question.
04:33 Yeah, I don't know him personally, but I watched
04:37 him. He was a lot older than me back home. So I
04:39 I've never played against him, but yeah, I've heard of him.