Mark Ecker talks his ascension, Aggies' prep for visit from Ole Miss

"We are just going at it every single day. Just coming out here, putting in the work and hopefully getting the result we want on Saturday."

On what to expect from this Rebels team...

"They are just going to play hard and they are a tough team. They swept their last series against, I can't remember who it was, but they are pretty hot right now — so we have to play our best baseball and give it our best shot."

On the secret to his success when taking the mound...

"Coming from this year to last year, last year I was just a thrower and I could throw hard and that's all I had. This year it was like the third week of the season I really developed my change-up and I could throw my off speed stuff for strikes. That's been able to keep hitters off balance enough to respect my other pitches, so that's really helped out this year."

On relationship with Rob Childress over the last three years...

"He's always telling me to stay within myself and not do too much, especially with the BBCOR bats now. You just want to attack the hitters and just trust all your off-speed."

On how the team has maintained such focus in such a tough conference...

"Last year in the second half of the season we dropped off a little bit in the SEC, and this year being able to keep coming out and keep having constantly good weekends has been a big difference, and always playing our best. It's really hard to keep your morale up and play at the top of your game, but we have done it this year so far, so it has been good."

On his mentality when he is called in to close out a game...

"I'm just going to be aggressive and attack the hitters. I go up there right now kind of with the mentality of, 'I'm going to get you out no matter what. If you put your best swing on it, I'll still strike you out.' Having a high level of confidence has really helped me out, but that's pretty much what it is."

On his favorite memories from being a part of the Aggie baseball team...

"My favorite memory was last year in the California series. It was an unreal series and we had to come back after we lost the first game there. Coming in to pitch the 7th through 10th inning, I didn't really think about it at the time but that was the biggest series of my life so far. Especially being about to come out with a victory and win that regional, and then getting to turn our hats backwards was a very surreal moment."