Postgame Quotes (LA Regional Game Two): UCLA 7, CSU Bakersfield 2
May 30, 2015 | Baseball
2015 NCAA DIVISION I BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Los Angeles Regional · Game Two · #1 UCLA vs. #4 CSUB
Final Score: UCLA 7, CSUB 2
Jackie Robinson Stadium · Los Angeles, Calif. / Friday, May 29
GAME QUOTES – UCLA
John Savage, UCLA Head Coach
Opening Statement
“It clearly was quite a game. Bakersfield gave us everything we could handle. I thought they played well. Their starting pitcher competed. They had some good at-bats against James (Kaprielian). It was a hard- fought win. We kept on winning some innings; I think we won five of the last six innings, and that was the difference. Even if it was one run, we put up some zeroes. But that team is very well-coached. It's a tough team, a tough-minded team. It's the first game of Regionals. We've been here before, so there's not an overly-excited group. We survived the first game, and it's time to move on. This tournament's a long tournament. It's double-elimination. Bakersfield played very well, and I'm proud of our guys. We definitely took a punch early and a couple others, and they kept on playing. It's a little bit of a characteristic of our team all season. It was somewhat of a typical win for us: small innings, and at the end of the day, our bullpen did a nice job, and our starter went seven, and we got a W. It was a tough game, and I've got to give them a lot of credit for a lot of fight.”
On scouting Maryland
“Whenever you're in a Regional, you're boxing up everybody. You've got to make sure you watch a lot of video on each team, pitchers and hitters. We've seen Maryland on video and Ole Miss. They're both very good teams, and that was a good game as well. We know Maryland is talented and certainly a good team.”
On James Kaprielian
“James' stuff was pretty good. Walked one guy, went seven innings a couple of hits, two runs. If you're a Major League starter, you would take that any day of week. The expectations are so high on James, and I think he likes it that way. We like it that way. We'll take 7 and 2 any day of the week, and we've been doing that all season. I thought he competed, made pitches, pitched out of problems and made pitches when he had to. I thought he got better a little bit in the fifth and sixth and pitched out of it in the seventh.”
On the execution on little things:
“(James Barragan) is a really good athlete. That pitcher is a tremendous athlete. We had a bunt down the first base line, and (Christoph) Bono had a push bunt with first and third. We were fortunate. We moved him around a little bit, and one was an error and one was a hit. We had five leadoff runners score. We got runners on early, and we executed. It was Bruin baseball for the most part. Even if we made an out, we executed and moved the runner over. I think Chris Keck saw 35 pitches in five at-bats. We saw a lot of pitches tonight. We walked seven times. It wasn't like they were wild, really, but we won a bunch of 3-2 counts, got some bunts down, stole a couple of bases. We had a delay there later in the game that we ended up scoring. We kind of chipped away there. It wasn't a 3 run homer or anything like that, but it seemed offensively we did a nice job of getting to the next guy and getting him over and in. Small victories, but at the end of the day they added up and we got a few runs ahead of them.”
James Kaprielian, UCLA RHP
On his mindset in the seventh inning
“I really just try to get better not only every inning but every game. We're trying to improve weekly, and every single day we have the opportunity to get out on the baseball field we try to be a better team and learn about each other more. When they put up that run on me early, we talk about being able to take blows as a team. Every team that's out here is capable of giving blows. The teams that continue on are the ones that are able to take blows. We went a lot of innings tonight. I trust my guys; there wasn't too much panic out there.”
On having runners in scoring position with one out in the 5th inning
“In a situation like that, I just try to slow the game down as much as possible and give the defense an opportunity to make a play behind me, if that's the case. I was fortunate to get the strikeout there. Coach Savage called the pitches. I really just try to be myself up there. I believe I'm the type of pitcher that embraces that situation and has to bear down in that situation for my teammates because in the game they put up so many runs for me and gave me the opportunity to win tonight.
Kevin Kramer, UCLA Shortstop
On his approach at the plate
“I think I got into good counts, and when I did get a two-strike count, I battled off pitches until I was able to get one, and I tried to put it in play. I thought their starter was really good tonight. He competed, like Coach said. We were just able to have some quality at-bats. We hit some balls hard early, we didn't get discouraged, we just kept plugging away. One of our strengths this year is that in games we get better as we go in the game and in the season.”
GAME QUOTES – CSU Bakersfield
Bll Kernen, CSUB Head Coach
Opening Statement
“It's unfortunate because this is the best defensive team I've ever coached, and you weren't able to see that tonight. We gave away things on defense and we walked seven guys and obviously we wouldn't be here if we had done that all season. We have really pitched and played defense and tonight we didn't. I don't think it was because they weren't ready to do this, they seemed like they always do. They weren't nervous or scared or in awe of anything because we have been in some different venues with some big crowds and in some big games and we've handled it well.”
On UCLA RHP James Kaprielian
“He's the best guy we've seen. He's got good stuff. Really good breaking ball, good slider, good composure and threw strikes. I'd say he's definitely the best guy we've faced this year. I should say one of the best. The other guy is (Brennan) Leitao at Sacramento State.”
On the resiliency of his ball club
“I know one thing, they'll never give up. We lost early in the WAC Tournament in a game that was kind of ugly and came back and won it, so they'll battle.”
James Barragan, CSU Bakersfield RHP
On his mindset coming into the game today
“I felt great and I was excited to play against one of the best teams in the country. One of my best friends, Grant Watson, plays for UCLA, so it was fun to play against his team. My goal tonight was to have fun and compete and do what I do every day. I thought I did that well, but there were some plays that I should have made that I didn't make. I had a little bit of an off day in that way. My goal was to compete and not make this game any bigger than it needed to be.”
Chance Gusbeth, CSU Bakersfield Outfielder
On whether or not playing UCLA on such a big stage was a factor in today's outcome
“I don't think it was too big of a factor. In talking to the guys before the game and talking to the coaches, we were just excited and it really didn't matter who we were playing. It was our school's first time being in the NCAAs so we were excited. Of course there is a lot of pressure, but this team has dealt great with pressure all year and facing these big-time schools and winning three games against ranked teams.”
On hitting his solo home run in the seventh inning
“I was seeing the ball well tonight. I have struggled this year seeing the ball well, with my timing and working with different stuff. But mostly, my mentality was a lot better tonight. I came out today knowing that I had to give it all and I had to focus as much as I could to help this team win on this field. But I'd trade it all in for a win today.”
