The 2019 NCAA Baseball Tournament is down to eight teams and half of them come from the SEC. In fact, the second day of College World Series action in Omaha will wrap up with an all-SEC battle: Auburn vs. Mississippi State (Sunday, 7:30 p.m. ET).

Friday was press conference day for all eight head coaches, including Butch Thompson (Auburn) and Chris Lemonis (Mississippi State). Thompson, a former MSU assistant, was asked about recruiting Bulldogs standout Ethan Small, per the official transcript::

Q. Butch, you recruited a lot of these guys on this Mississippi State team and specifically about Ethan Small, you saw him in high school and hard-throwing guy coming out of high school, he had the UCL injury and he’s come back and become a little bit different pitcher over the last few years. What have you seen in his development from those high school days and his freshman year when he was pitching to this point?

BUTCH THOMPSON: As soon as we finished our game at North Carolina, you just — if you get so entrenched in what you’re doing right there in the moment, you don’t even know what’s ahead. I’m like, I don’t care who we play, just so we get here. And then of course out of 297 schools, of course we’re playing Mississippi State. Of course that’s who we’re playing.

But Ethan is special to me. His family is special. A lot of those guys, skeleton and Jake Mangum and just all the way around the field, a lot of those relievers. I wouldn’t be the head coach — I may not be sitting here if it weren’t for Mississippi State. This thing really turns into people at the end of the day, and I remember sitting in Ethan Small’s home and not knowing he would have an invisible fastball like he does where hitters would just choose to swing at it even if it’s elevated above the strike zone and all these gifts and layers that he’s built in to make him one of the most special seasons we’ve seen in college baseball.

But Ethan is one to talk about keeping the answers short, but it’s really a whole collection of people that you care about. I was thankful and proud that Chris was able to get this job because, one, I knew he’d do a great job, and I thought he would be genuine with it, and I thought he would lead the program in a great way because I care what happens, growing up, being born and raised 45 minutes away from Dudy Noble field. I’m proud that you’re the coach at Mississippi State. I do cherish every relationship that I have on that side, including John Cohen, who’s been a mentor for me and has developed me and has invested in me is probably the right word to say. But I think Chris would say — hopefully we have a different rhythm with our ballclub. Hopefully we’re a different ballclub. I don’t know what this week will do with this time in between, but when I first saw it, I went like, are you kidding me, and then as the time has went on, I’ve gotten to a deeper level. I went from level 1 to level 2, and I said, this is one of the neatest things ever, to get to play Mississippi State in Omaha.

CHRIS LEMONIS: Before I forget, I want to say thank you for recruiting him. (Laughter).

Small and Lemonis aren’t the only Bulldogs who know Thompson well.

Q. Butch, you mentioned the ups and downs of emotions of playing Mississippi State and growing 45 minutes from Dudy Noble, but have you heard from back home? Have people been texting you just about this week, preparing for playing a team you spent time with?

BUTCH THOMPSON: Yeah, just the shortest way to answer the question for me, to me it’s relationships. I’ve been in this league 18 years, thankfully, so that’s not a brag statement to say how many years you’ve been in the league. I’d hope at the end of the day for me that it’s just about relationships, and I’m going deeper. I’m going to Jim Ellis, who I think is in the room, I see back there, who means the world to me. Everett, to keep us safe on that bus, as scary as it was to ride with him (laughter) —

CHRIS LEMONIS: It’s still scary. We love E, though.

BUTCH THOMPSON: But this is about relationships, and you’ve just got them and they’re deep and they’re special. I have to say there’s so many deep relationships that are all rooting against us Sunday, but I hear from Mississippi State folks when we have success, because it’s sincere relationships. And I think what we’re figuring out through a lot of this stuff is just as you get to a good place, this stuff is bigger than ball. There are things that are, and relationships at the end of the day are more than, and I cherish every one of those real deep relationships that I have at Mississippi State. I could just keep naming names, Joe Dier, who rushed me to the hospital one time when I was having kidney stones. I love him for life. Just all this experiences when you live with people for a long period of time that sometimes these relationships are bigger than ball.

CHRIS LEMONIS: Can I add into that, too? When we were sitting there yesterday for media and they pull up, they’re following us, and we’re all sitting there ready to go trying to get out of there, and Butch gets out of the car and I’m like, I’ve got to give Coach Butch a hug. So my whole team, even the ballplayers, there’s a tremendous amount of respect, and I think you recruited a lot of them, maybe J.T. was the only one not there, but Butch — they had to get off the bus and make a point to go see Coach Butch, and I just thought it was a special piece in this game of the relationship side.

Lemonis’s squad has the challenge of facing an offense that can explode. The Tigers beat North Carolina 14-7 in Game 3 to win the Chapel Hill Super Regional, getting to double digits early, creating a hole too large for the Tar Heels.

Q. Chris, when you see Auburn get shut out against North Carolina and then explode for 13 runs in the first inning, how do you prepare for a team that has that kind of tenacity?

CHRIS LEMONIS: Well, we played them earlier in the year, and this time of year everybody is good and everybody is playing well. So watching that game we were all sitting in our offices and that was a long first inning, so it was a — we had one like that in Missouri a couple years ago that when we didn’t have any pitching left and I know in Butch’s world, getting that big lead was huge. We know we’re just facing a great opponent, an opponent that’s familiar with us and we’re familiar with them, and it’ll be a great game to be able to go out there and compete. But we do know we’re playing a hot team that’s coming in playing well.