University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes – Omaha vs. UCLA
POSTGAME QUOTES
NCAA Los Angeles Regional – Game Two
UCLA 5, Omaha 2 (May 31, 2019)
UCLA Head Coach John Savage
Opening remarks
“First off, I thought Omaha played well. They prepared to play, they competed. It was not, as you guys saw, it didn’t really look like a 1 vs. 4. Took us a while to get going. (Payton) Kinney’s really good, by the way. That’s why he has over 100 strikeouts, 11 wins and his ERA’s one-something. He’s a senior that knows what he’s doing. So, having said that, I’ve got to give them a lot of credit for coming in and really battling. They jumped on us with the home run. They had good at bats. I think Ryan (Garcia), the game played itself out, Ryan kept on making pitches. That’s why he was the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year. We needed that effort, obviously. We didn’t do a lot offensively, but eventually we got to him a little bit. Put up a three and then a two. We feel a little fortunate to come out of this with a win, but at the same time—if you followed us all season—we do know how to win the game in the middle innings and toward the end. And I thought the game played itself out a little bit.”
On Garcia pitching in ninth and what it took to pull him
“Well, his pitch count was pretty good. He was in good position. This is May and June. He had 64 pitches through, I think, five. He ended up having 101 through eight. And he is our guy. We thought we could get through the ninth without going to that bullpen and I felt otherwise. And Kyle (Mora) came in and did what he needed to do. So, our bullpen’s in good shape. Ryan did his job and certainly got us the win and did what he’s supposed to do.”
On the matchup with LMU
“They’re a very hot team right now. Gilly (LMU head coach Jason Gill) has them playing really well with a ton of confidence. They have some middle lineup impact, they’ve got some arms. They’ve played really well. To go and win that tournament and beat BYU and St. Mary’s, two really good teams, says a lot about them. And then beating Baylor today – I mean, everybody saw them. Those are two really good teams, and Loyola played very well. It’s two teams from Los Angeles, should be a really good crowd. I hope a lot of people come out for that. Loyola had a lot of support today. Gilly coached for me at Irvine, and he’s done a really good job at Loyola. He’s knocked on the door a lot; they finally knocked the door down this season, and I’m just happy for him and that program. They’ve put themselves in a really good position. I’m a West Coast guy, so I’m a big fan of West Coast baseball. We know they’re going to be tough. Those Tuesday games where we beat them don’t mean anything at this stage. You saw it tonight; it’s postseason. You better be prepared to play.”
UCLA junior pitcher Ryan Garcia
On what he’s done to put himself into position for success this season
“First off, just being consistent. I think it goes down to the basics of just being competitive every time. Then going off of today, that home run, I made a mistake. He took advantage of it. But then it’s just, no one’s going to feel sorry for you. You still have to compete for your team. There’s 26 other guys counting on you to get the next guy. I think it’s just being consistent and competitive.”
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.”
UCLA sophomore outfielder Garrett Mitchell
On what’s come together for him offensively
“I think the biggest thing is just staying consistent with an approach. For me, I know the success is in the middle of the field. And when I tend to get out of my rhythm, I start to pull off the ball, which I think I did a couple times today in some of the other at bats tonight. But I saw a ball up with that changeup. I stayed middle of the field, it was left up elevated and I was able to do some damage on that. Just, the biggest thing I think for us as a team, as well, is just consistency. Offensively, defensively, we know what we have to do and when we have that unified approach as a team, no one can really beat us.”
On how Payton Kinney was able to be effective for Omaha
“I think the biggest thing he did was he was executing his pitches. Hats off to him; he had a great game. Obviously he had a couple of mistakes, and we capitalized on those. I think that was the biggest thing; he pitched us well, he was consistent, and we were just able to capitalize on the pitches where he didn’t.”
UCLA junior outfielder Jack Stronach
On playing behind Ryan Garcia this year
“We know Ryan’s going to go out and compete every time, and if we have some quality at-bats, we know we’re going to have a good shot to win. When Breyden Eckhout hit that home run, I’m out there in left field like ‘Hey, I know he’s going to keep competing’, and I think he went 1-2-3 right after that. Everybody makes mistakes, but the way Ryan goes back and competes after bad stuff happens is really impressive.”
Omaha Head Coach Evan Porter
Opening statement
“I thought it was a good ballgame. We ran into some tough luck in the fifth there, I think, when [UCLA] scored three. I think we had a four-pitch inning, offensively, right before that, so it’s tough to go back out. Payton [Kinney] did a great job battling, obviously. He’s done that all year. He fought for us and I thought the guys did a good job with their energy and effort. Our fight was there; we just didn’t come out on top.”
On game plan coming in
“Well, we knew we’d be facing a tough guy [Ryan Garcia] on the mound and he did great. They had guys right behind him in the bullpen. He ended up going almost all nine innings. We had an offensive approach of swinging early. We knew he was going to be in the zone. He doesn’t walk a lot of guys. We ran into a few balls and hit some right at their guys and we had a few drop, too. [Garcia] did a great job. Then, obviously, we had our guy [Kinney] on the mound that’s been our guy all year, so we were just going to go into it and go fight with those guys.”
On Kinney’s performance
“I thought he did great. Like I said, he’s been our guy all year and what you say, usually those are zeroes instead of a three-run inning or a two-run inning there. I think they had a couple infield hits and a big two-out hit, so he could have gotten out of that with one run and still with that tough luck. He’s just been wonderful for us all year and I thought he was wonderful for us tonight.”
On facing Baylor tomorrow
“I know they’re a physical group and a really offensive team. We’ll have to come out and play defense and our guys have been doing that, for the most part all season. If we can attack their hitters and pick up the ball behind our pitchers, I think we’ll have a chance to be successful.”