UCLA 10, TCU 3 - Postgame Quotes
June 26, 2010
Recap |
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
UCLA head coach John Savage
opening statement
"First, we'd like to congratulate TCU for having a historic season. I thought TCU was as good as we've played. You're talking about a team that is very similar to us in terms of just never giving up. And Jim and his staff have done a remarkable job. In terms of the game, it was good to get back on our feet a little bit. [Matt] Purke did a great job yesterday, and we kind of got back into Bruin baseball today. We got off to a great start with the five run first inning. And then Trevor [Bauer] settled in, and it just seemed like it picked up steam a little bit. Bauer got better as the game went along. We swung the bats. We had 15 hits. But they were still hanging around. It was a 6 3 ball game in the 6th or 7th inning and we finally knocked the door down and kind of separated ourselves. So I'm very proud of our team. It's another level of where this team has gone and certainly to the national championship round and looking forward to this coming week."
right-handed pitcher Trevor Bauer
on his eight-inning performance
"It was a struggle in the first couple innings. They came out and obviously they had the home run in the first inning and some guys all over the bases on me. I turned a lot of pitches in the first couple innings. So [it was] kind of a struggle. I just wanted to go out there and go pitch to pitch, get my team as deep as I could. I think just staying with that mentality is what really helped as the game went along. Kind of found my mechanics and got in the groove and went from there."
on UCLA scoring runs early in the game
"It's huge. Obviously I thought [that] five spot in the first inning was huge. It gives me a lot of confidence that they have my back. And [it] kind of simplifies the pitching approach, and you go out there and throw strikes and you don't put anybody on base. And go from there. In a tighter game, you have to be a little more careful, and every pitch is high stress. It's huge when the offense can support you like that."
head coach John Savage
on managing the bullpen later in the ballgame
"Well, we were going to do anything we could to win. We were in good position. We had plenty of rested arms. Gerrit [Cole] was certainly one of them. I contemplated starting Gerrit in the eighth and then [turning] the ball over to Dan [Klein] in the ninth, but I got talked out of my starting pitcher again. He said to leave [him] in. I felt strong, and it turned out to be his best inning. The eighth inning was really an unreal inning. The guy was on top of his game. And we turned the ball over to our closer. So, it turned out in the best scenario we could draw it up. Cole will start on Monday, and he got his bullpen work in, and we were very fortunate, because we were going to go to him if Trevor [Bauer] ran into any problems. So Trevor did his job and got through the eighth and we turned it over to Dan Klein."
right-hander Trevor Bauer
on whether the high heat and humidity had an effect on his performance
"Yeah, it did, the first couple of innings. It was real hot warming up and being out there a lot, high stress innings, like I said. It was hot and I had to make sure I kept drinking a lot of liquids to kind of stay in it. I kind of caught my breath after the fourth. I cooled down a little bit and kind of went along from there. My sleeves were so wet they kind of kept me cool. There was a breeze."
designated hitter Blair Dunlap
on Kyle Winkler's nine-pitch start for TCU
"Obviously, [Kyle] Winkler is a great pitcher. We knew that coming in. We saw him a couple games ago. He's pitched well all year. Basically, we just wanted to be aggressive today and have competitive at bats all the way through. We knew if he would get pitches out over the plate and stay aggressive that we'd be in good shape."
head coach John Savage
on UCLA's batting lineup
"We just have a bunch of interchangeable parts. I mean, we have a couple of lead off guys. We have a couple of two hole hitters. We have some fives, some sixes. We don't have a lot of threes and fours. Certainly Dean [Espy] and [Justin] Uribe and [Tyler] Rahmatulla hit third all season. [Tyler] obviously is not playing. And we just like to give them different looks. And people kind of sometimes question: Why is that guy leading off? Why is that guy hitting third? But it's worked. And our guys believe in each other. I've said from day one that our strength is our depth of our roster. We have a bunch of good young players mixed with some older players, and there are no egos. And Blair hit third today for maybe the second or third time all season. Hit a three run homer in the first inning. If you look at our numbers they're not going to jump off the sheet, but we're tough to play. And that's the bottom line."
designated hitter Blair Dunlap
on UCLA bouncing back from Friday's 6-2 loss to TCU
"This team obviously very strong mentally. We worked on that in the off season. That was something that we wanted to work on. We've worked hard with our sports psychologist this year to be able to take things pitch to pitch, flush at bats, flush pitches. We know if we can do that, we're going to stay competitive."
third baseman Dean Espy
on his comfort level at third base and at the plate
"At first, you know, it was a change. I played first [base] most of the year. But, I'm getting comfortable now and just taking it pitch to pitch. I'm really trying to slow the game down for myself, manage the moment, and go with it."
right-hander Trevor Bauer
on lasting deep into the game, allowing Gerrit Cole to not have to pitch in relief
"I wasn't really thinking about that. I knew he [Cole] was warming up and I have confidence in everyone in our bullpen, whether it be Cole or [Garett] Claypool, [Rob] Rasmussen or any of the guys that have come out of the `pen all year. Like I said, I was just trying to go out there and give as much as I had and get as deep as we could and let them finish it off, because they're great at it. I wasn't really thinking about that."
head coach John Savage
on UCLA potentially using Trevor Bauer to start either Games 2 or 3
"For sure. We're going to go one step at a time. But we have a day off tomorrow. We'll have a practice. We don't have a game tomorrow, obviously, and then Gerrit [Cole] will start on Monday. But we'll look at it. And if Trevor can go possibly on Wednesday, you know, he probably wants to go Tuesday, but it won't be his decision, it will be the coaches' decision. So we just have to see where we're at. We have plenty of arms. As you know, we really like our depth on the mound, as well as our [entire] roster. So we have a lot of picks to choose from. But Gerrit will start on Monday."
right-hander Trevor Bauer
on the significance of UCLA reaching the best-of-three championship series
"Yeah, it means a lot to us for the program and for the school and everything. And I know we talked a lot in the fall with our sports psychologist, like Blair [Dunlap] said, and one of the things we talked about is kind of establishing a new tradition and kind of setting the tone for the program going forward. And it's been one of our main driving goals all year. So we've kind of been doing that, and be here in this position, it means a lot to us."
designated hitter Blair Dunlap
on the significance of UCLA reaching the best-of-three championship series
"Just kind of to reiterate what Trevor [Bauer] said. It means a lot to get the opportunity to come to Omaha, and even more than that, to get an opportunity to compete for a national championship, making the last three games of the year. It says a lot about our program. And being here for five years, I've seen a lot. And I've been through different coaches and coaching staff and where our program has come today, we've made leaps and bounds from where I came in, originally, five years ago at UCLA."
third baseman Dean Espy
on the significance of UCLA reaching the best-of-three championship series
"I think for the new guys and the young guys especially, it's for guys like Blair [Dunlap], for Coach [Savage] who has been here a long time. The older guys - they really set a standard for us in the fall and really set the stage for us to really come out and be who we are and play like we can play."