June 6, 2010
UCLA Head Coach John Savage
"First of all, I'd like to congratulate UC Irvine for an outstanding season. They are one of the toughest programs to play against in the country, and I feel real strongly about that. They have the best coach in the country in Mike Gillespie. I've coached with him, I've coached against him, and I think there are a lot of people who would say the same thing. My hat is off to UC Irvine and their baseball program for having an outstanding season. The ball game (tonight) was a tight ball game, where a three-run homer was the difference in the game. I thought that (Eric) Pettis and (Matt) Summers kept them in the ball game, and you have to give a lot of credit to Rob (Rasmussen). He really pitched well with seven strikeouts and no walks. He gave up the two home runs, and that's all he really gave up, and we played outstanding defense. It was a total team effort. I know I'm saying a lot of different things, but I have a lot of emotions going through me right now. I'm very proud of our team in taking that next step, and we're looking forward to next weekend."
(On what hosting the Regionals meant to the program): "We owe a lot to our fans. Our fans came out this weekend and supported our team. And it was a really good showing. We had four very good teams here, and it was a combination of really good defense and really good pitching. We are very excited. If we are able to host next weekend, we are very excited to host whoever is coming in."
(On breaking the school record for wins in a season): "It's quite an accomplishment. This team takes one game at a time and one pitch at a time, like a lot of coaches say, but this team really lives it. I think this team is on a mission. I think we have the big picture ahead of us. After the game, we had a normal celebration. There wasn't any dog-piling or huge celebration, which shows you that these guys are really focused and know what the goal is, but we are very proud of breaking the record for the most wins in school history. And the credit goes to all the players on the entire roster."
UCLA Third Baseman Cody Regis
(On being given the green light to swing away): "Coach (Rick Vanderhook) came over to me and talked to me before the at-bat and said 'he's going to throw that first pitch as a fastball, so jump on it.' So I did."
UCLA Pitcher Rob Rasmussen
(On being taken out of the game after six innings): "I felt very good. Coach Savage and I talked, and the guys that were coming up were the two guys that had jumped on me, and obviously we have a great bullpen, and we hadn't really used Erik (Goeddel) or Dan (Klein) or Matt Grace. So we felt that it was in our best interests to hand the ball off to those guys. The whole team and I have a lot of faith in those guys. In a game like this, it's nice to have them, and they were the right guys to go to."
UC Irvine Head Coach Mike Gillespie
"First of all, hats off to UCLA, who we all think and realize is a really, really good, good team. They're a very well-coached team and well-schooled team with really deep and outstanding pitching, and they're one of the teams who if they keep going they can be standing on the last day. But we're really proud of our guys. We think our guys really gave a great account of themselves and really competed and played well. So obviously we're disappointed that we won't be playing again tomorrow, but I'm really very, very pleased with how we did. I think that Eric Pettis did what we've seen him do. Ever since I met him - he's heard me say this ad nauseum - but he's a premiere competitor and always did and always will give all he has. I thought Matt Summers did a really good job. I'm really happy with what our guys did tonight. Francis Larson really showed what he is as a player this weekend. It was a great performance by a really top-notch human being. So I'm proud of our guys."
(On beating LSU in the first game today): "We did feel good. I think we felt justifiably good and proud. Evan Brock gave us a really good outing. He did really well. For a freshman in this environment against that team, I think he did outstanding. Nick Hoover went in there and really picked us up and gave us two big innings - the two best innings he's pitched for us. I think we got key hits and clutch hits and had good defense. We did some really good things. So we did feel good, and we got to enjoy it for about 20 minutes, and then back to business."
(On how tough this regional was): "I'm certainly comfortable saying it was a very, very strong regional. I also think it's fair to say that there probably wasn't a stronger regional. We knew coming in it was a strong regional. We were in for a dogfight, and I think we held up our end of it."
UC Irvine Pitcher Eric Pettis
(On his physical status for the last game): "I did warm up in the LSU game just in case. Nothing too much. I wasn't hot or anything. In this game, it's a little different animal throwing three innings on Friday, and then coming back, so I don't think anyone expected a complete game. Like Skip said, I went out there and gave it all I had and then handed the ball to (Matt) Summers, and he did an outstanding job. Couldn't ask for more from him."
UC Irvine Catcher Francis Larson
(On if there's any satisfaction in knocking out LSU): "It was great to win that game today to send them home, but it doesn't matter if you don't get this one against UCLA. But like Skip said, it lasts 20 minutes. I wish we had gotten this last one."