Postgame Quotes – Loyola Marymount vs Baylor
POSTGAME QUOTES
NCAA Los Angeles Regional – Game One
Loyola Marymount 3, Baylor 1 (May 31, 2019)
LMU Head Coach Jason Gill
Opening remarks
“Obviously, everybody here was there. Codie set the tone on the mound, right? He does what he does. He goes out and gives up one run in seven and two thirds against one of the better offenses in the country. And then our offense was opportunistic and that’s seemingly how we’ve been all year. It’s kind of like a different hero every day. We had a freshman go three for four today with an RBI. The middle of our lineup did well. I think when Brandon (Shearer) stepped up and got that first hit in the first inning, it kind of loosened everybody up a little bit. So that was a big at bat. And then I’ll just go back to Codie and our defense. Trevin Esquerra made a good play at first base when he lost a ball in the sun—that probably goes unnoticed because it was in foul territory. And then Nick Sogard with a big on a leader on a double play, on a hard-hit ball with top spin to secure that baseball and turn two. For us, I don’t think it was much different, right guys? Pitching, defense and timely hitting.”
On if Paiva could’ve gone longer
“Codie never wants to be taken out of a baseball game.”
On what win means to program
“It’s a big deal for us. After not being there for so long—you know, I was there—I was an assistant coach when we beat Fullerton and Adam Johnson, who was a first rounder and first pick in the first round on that Friday night. So it’s been a long time, right? So, what it means to our program is, it kind of validates all the hard work that a lot of the teams have done in the past. We’ve had other teams that were Regional-caliber teams, but our conference doesn’t get a lot of respect. We ended up getting here this time and it really paid off. I think it’s going to pay off for our program, hopefully in the future, as well.”
LMU senior infielder Brandon Shearer
On confidence Codie Paiva provides to team
“It’s awesome having Codie on the mound, especially on a Friday night. And we were going up against a good arm, as well. We know that if we punch one, two—we got three today, so we’re pretty lucky. Especially with our offense, the way we’ve been going. A lot of people like to talk bad about it. You know what, we say ‘OK.’ We just embrace what people are saying about us or not saying about us with that matter. We just know Codie’s on the mound and we have a chance no matter what.”
On what’s it like to be a senior on this team
“It’s pretty special, honestly, because coming in as a freshman, we had a lot of hype with that team and we didn’t succeed with what we wanted to do. And we’ve been through a lot, the four years we’ve been here. Good teams, bad teams, but it’s just pretty awesome to show how hard this team has been working and how hard the teams before us have been working to really develop what we are as a school and as a program.”
LMU senior pitcher Codie Paiva
On if turning point came with double play in sixth inning
“I would say it was one of the turning points of the game. He squared up that ball really good. There’s a reason Nick (Sogard) is the Defensive Player of the Year in our conference and he made a fabulous play. (Alex) Lambeau with a great turn at second. I feel like that was a big momentum booster for us, getting out of that inning unscathed.”
On deception in windup and if that is effective
“I think it affects a little bit, hiding the ball as long as possible. I’ve been working on it. It’s a little funky, but it helps me stay on top of the ball and to drive. And I try to keep the ball hidden as long as possible so they don’t know what pitch I’m throwing. And I think that really helps me stay compact and throwing strikes.”
On how he came up with windup
“It was kind of just playing around with a bunch of different things until something felt right and started to be connecting when I threw. And just one day, that’s what I started doing and I kind of just went with it”
On when he came up with windup
“It was about my sophomore year (at LMU) when I figured out that windup.”
On his plan coming into start
“My plan was just to just get ahead with my fastball early. Try and keep the ball down. They’re a really good hitting team and they make you pay for mistakes. So I just really wanted to get in with the fastball and work in my changeup and slider. The changeup is what helped me today. I know the big hitters are (Shea) Langeliers and (Davis) Wendzel, so I definitely looked out for them, but all of them are good hitters and I had to attack all of them with the same intensity.”
On if he felt like he could go longer
“In my head, I feel like I could’ve gone longer, but physically I think it was the right move to take me out and bring in Nick (Frasso). Nick’s been great all year long and as a pitching staff, we all trust each other. So definitely, mentally, I wanted to stay in there, but physically, I think it was the right choice to take me out at that point in the game.”
On how he’s improved over the years
“I think, just over the years, especially Coach (Nathan) Choate this year, just kind of telling me how to go pitch by pitch. And in the past, I really rode the highs and rode the lows. I didn’t really move past everything that happened in a start, but he really taught me to just go pitch by pitch and the last pitch doesn’t matter. And every pitch is important and just there are no little things—covering bases, all that type of stuff is what matters. So I think going pitch by pitch every start, I think that really helped me to have a short-term memory and I feel like that makes me my most effective.”
On how he’s developed short-term memory
“It was just starting from the fall. Not just only in games or in scrimmages, but it’s in my catch play. If I make a bad pitch in a flat ground, that doesn’t matter. It’s all about the next pitch. So every little thing I did all fall—PFPs, bullpens, the scrimmages, just all those working every day—was difficult, but once I pushed through and figured it out, I think that’s what helped me a lot this year.”
Baylor head coach Steve Rodriguez
Opening remarks
“I thought it was pretty disappointing in a lot of different capacities. I don’t think we pitched real well. I don’t think we hit real well. I don’t think we played good defense. But I’ll tell you what, I’m going to tip my hat to Codie Paiva. He did a heck of a job out there just pounding the zone with a lot of different pitches and continually just putting pressure on our offense to get something going. I thought we swung the bat well in a lot of different capacities but we just couldn’t get runs across the board."
On the effectiveness of LMU starting pitcher Codie Paiva
“The big thing is he was throwing three pitches for strikes. He’s a fastball, changeup, slider guy and when you’re able to manipulate the fastball – go in and out – and then throw a changeup pretty much in any count, which he was doing today, it makes it tough. Even when you know a changeup is coming, it’s tough to hit sometimes. He just did a great job maneuvering the fastball around the zone and then throwing his changeup for strikes.”
On the decision to go with pitcher Jimmy Winston
“To be honest, Jimmy went today just because we thought it was a better matchup. It was nothing in regards to anyone being hurt or anything like that, we just thought it was the better matchup today. I just think he just does a good job holding runners. We know what kind of offense Loyola has. Jimmy was a shortstop in high school so we know he moves around the mound really well and that for us we felt pretty comfortable with that.”
His message to the team after the game.
“We need to win tomorrow. It’s pretty simple.”
Baylor junior designated hitter Andy Thomas
On what the team expected from LMU starting pitcher Codie Paiva
“He’s pretty much exactly what we thought we were going to get. He just did a good job, first time through the order, kind of backwards pitching us by throwing changeups first. And then we made an adjustment thinking to hit the changeup and then the second time through the order he threw the fastball. It was frustrating at the plate today trying to get something going top to bottom. A few guys had a couple hits here and there but it was really hard to get something going."
On the team’s hitting
“It seemed like we were banging balls all over the yard all day, but unfortunately we just couldn’t get something started. I thought top to bottom, we all hit the ball really hard. It’s even more frustrating when you hit the ball hard and nothing gets going instead of just kind of getting dominated, which I don’t think we did today.”
On the team’s approach for tomorrow
“We are going to come out tomorrow and score a bunch of runs, that’s our plan. That was our plan today it just didn’t work out for us.”
Baylor sophomore pitcher Jimmy Winston
On if he expected to get the start today
“Yeah I had to be ready to start today or tomorrow. I had to get my mind right to come out and play today.”