Postgame Quotes – Michigan vs. UCLA
POSTGAME QUOTES
NCAA Los Angeles Super Regional – Game Three
Michigan 4, UCLA 2 (June 9, 2019)
Michigan Head Coach Erik Bakich
Opening remarks
“First thing I want to say is congratulations to UCLA on a record-setting year. Set the school record for wins, Pac-12 champions, the most consistent team in college baseball all season. On a personal note, Coach Savage and Bryant Ward are two of my best friends in the coaching world. I couldn’t have more respect for their program, those guys as individuals, all their staff, how they do it, the work they put in and what their program is. They are one of the titans in college baseball and they’re at this point every year. And so to come in here as a Big Ten team and an upstart team, certainly, maybe was not expected, but the group of kids that we’ve got on our team, they’re fighters, they’re believers, they’re gritty, they’re tough. We’re here because of those guys and so proud of what they’ve done for not only this team and our program, but our school, our fan base and the Big Ten. To say we’re excited is an understatement.”
On Jack Blomgren bouncing back from injury during game
“Jack Blomgren is one of the toughest guys in all of college baseball. He does it on a daily basis. He plays through anything. One of the most loyal guys on the team. Doesn’t always say a lot, but you know he’s got your back. He’s a guy that you always want in your foxhole. So, yeah, his finger was dislocated, our trainer was trying to pop it back in place and he’s telling her ‘Just tape it up.’ That’s him. That’s who he is. He’s as tough as they come. There’s nobody tougher and there was no way he was coming out of the game and that’s him. Fitting that ball gets hit to him to finish it.”
On what a CWS appearance means for the conference
“It’s definitely special for the conference because it’s the second time in 35 years. Indiana did it in 2013 with a really good, talented team, a couple of big leaguers. But it’s hard to do. It’s hard to do for anybody. So, yeah, it’s great for our conference, but it’s more about the belief of this group and just seeing the process of how these guys have come together. This has been a long time coming, and it’s a culture, it’s a set of standards that they uphold every single day. From day one, it was just different with this team. We felt like this could be a championship-caliber club, and these guys, the commitment to holding each other accountable, to having great leaders within the group, just can’t be understated. A lot of them have been extensions of the coaches, and they’ve just been so much fun to be around. You could see, especially these last couple of weeks, once we kind of let a little bit of air out of the valve and started playing loose and free and easy, you start to see what our potential could be. Every team wants to catch lightning in a bottle and play their best baseball at the end of the year, and this team did it. It started in the Big Ten Tournament with a walk-off win against Illinois, and the confidence we got from that, we’ve just been able to ride that momentum all the way through to this point.”
On his initial thoughts on the team’s path in the tournament
“I think we had all the confidence in the world once we got in. What we said was when we got into the field of 64 we were going to the Creighton Regional because that was our first game. That’s one thing that this team has done especially well the last few weeks – that’s play one game at a time, one inning at a time, one pitch at a time. These guys have just absolutely had a laser focus on just winning pitching, giving everything they’ve got pitch to pitch. It’s so hard to do, but when you do it and see it, it’s not always perfect; we made five errors last night and lost a huge momentum-crushing game, but they were able to reset that. We blew a three-run lead in the championship game of the regional, and most teams they may not be able to recover from last night, they may not be able to recover from that Creighton game, but these guys did because they’re just locked in on one game at a time, and they’re able to just flush any negativity or adversity and just build off of it and make them stronger. The field of 64 was just broken down into chunks, and it’s really just one thing at a time, and there really is no finish line. We’re going to celebrate this as best we can, and then we’re going to move on to the next thing, which I hear is Texas Tech. That’s how they’ve done it.”
Michigan junior pitcher Tommy Henry
On virus he’s been fighting and if there was any carryover from February start against UCLA
“Yeah, had a little virus [and] was just trying to hydrate. Coach was lucky enough to let me sleep a little bit. Yeah, it’s just, looking at this team, looking at this field, the Super Regional stage, it’s something that I know all of us have envisioned playing in the backyard growing up, every time we swing in the batting cage. You envision these moments and we’ve dreamed about being on this stage, so I know the 35 of them would not skip a beat and would never miss this moment, so I wasn’t going to, either. We always come out here to California for spring break, so we’ve been here before and we knew how good this team was. This is a deep team, with tons of talent like Coach just said: the most consistent team in the country. We knew that this was a talented group, but we just had to grit our way. Nobody expected us to be here, nobody expected us to win and I think that just speaks to the belief in ourselves from this group and how we just have to grit our way to wins.”
On what has happened since this past summer in the Cape Cod League that led to his performance tonight
“There’s definitely a lot of learning experiences when you’re out at a place like the Cape. You’re surrounded by a bunch of guys that play at schools like UCLA and are as talented as them. Facing the best of the best it really gives you a chance to learn, and I think that’s credit to Coach Bakich for giving us the tools to have an open mind and use those learning experiences to make yourself better. Credit goes to him for working hard on that, drawing us all in together, speaking to us about it, giving us those tools so that when you do face adversity you learn from it and can improve.”
Michigan senior infielder Ako Thomas
On relationship with Jack Blomgren
“Jack has been my roommate on the road, so we’ve definitely built a really strong relationship. Jack’s like the ‘hardo’ between us two and I have to keep him sane. I feel like our relationship is, honestly, a really good relationship, which helps on and off the field, as well.”
Michigan sophomore infielder Jack Blomgren
On relationship with Ako Thomas
“First off, I wanted to thank Ako, of course, for being the role model he’s been through these past two years. I’ve honestly done it all for Ako and thank him so much for everything he’s done for me. He’s been a great role model.”
On how he wore his glove with his fingers taped up
“I put two (fingers) in the pinky holes. It wasn’t horrible.”
On the rundown that he escaped
“It was a pretty bad read by me, to be honest. I got picked off, and I did my best to make it to second base.”
UCLA Head Coach John Savage
Opening remarks
“First off, I’d like to congratulate Michigan. They did a heck of a job this weekend, have to give them credit. It was a great series, as good a Super Regional I’m sure there was out there. Tough one. This is an historic team, really. The team that won the most games in the history of UCLA. They hadn’t lost a series all season long; I’ve never really heard of that. This one’s a very tough one to take. We win as a team, we lose as a team. At the end of the day, we have a bunch of really, really good players. Guys that cared a lot about the program. We have a lot of guys moving on to professional baseball. I’m just so proud of my guys and their season. Just a tough way to finish, but it’s baseball. You deal with it and you move on. We’ll build from this – not right now, as obviously, it’s a tough one. This program is in very good shape, obviously. Time to look toward the future.”
On impact this team has had on the program
“Just being number one for 11 weeks, I’ve never really heard that, at least in college baseball. That’s a long time of playing really good baseball. Three Regionals for this junior class. The seniors did a remarkable job. We’ve had some really good teams – some have gone to Omaha, some haven’t gone to Omaha. This is our best team that hasn’t gone to Omaha. We’ll be back. It’s a lot of really good kids, a lot of good Bruins that really put their heart and soul into this thing. So, legacy – I don’t know exactly how you describe that. Pac-12 champs and most wins in the history of the school and so on and so forth. You can write it up any way you want.”
On hitting struggles with runners in scoring position
“It was a tough weekend offensively. They have outstanding pitching. They probably have as good of three starters as you’ll see, possibly in the country. The draft told you that, so I’m not making it up. [Tommy] Henry is a legitimate number one guy. They have three number ones, really. Really tight games and like you said, it came down to one pitch. We didn’t get an out on a first and third situation, led to two runs. We have to get an out there. We made a few mistakes, and they just didn’t leave any room for our mistakes. Disappointing for sure. We lost one series all season and it’s this weekend, so it’s a tough one to swallow.”
On friend Erik Bakich making it to Omaha
“Well, he’s done an outstanding job of building that program and they’ve put themselves in position a couple years. I think this is the first time since the ‘80s [that Michigan advanced to the College World Series]. Erik’s a very good young coach, very detailed. He’s a guy that has all the bases covered, really – off the field, on the field. He’s done a fantastic job. Like I said, I just want to congratulate Michigan and for all they did this weekend. At the end of the day, they deserve to win this thing.”
UCLA junior outfielder Jeremy Ydens
On Tommy Henry’s performance after seeing him in the regular season
“I was actually injured back then, but I faced him in the [Cape Cod League] this past summer and he’s a really good pitcher. I think we had a good game plan. Obviously, they ended up coming out on top. We had a solid game plan to go against him and I was able to square up a couple balls.”
On legacy of the junior class
“Obviously, the junior class is really special. Just to have the group of guys, not only just talent-wise, but personality. I think we’re all just best of friends, all of us. There’s not one that was an outlier. I think we were all really close. I think that’s the most special part of it. I’m going to miss the guys. This team’s not going to be the same next year. Obviously, people are leaving and seniors are graduating. The program’s in great hands and I think the junior class did a great job this year and it was really special.”
UCLA junior pitcher Kyle Mora
On what the team learned throughout the postseason
“I think a lot of it was just trusting each other. We had a lot of trust with the guy to your left and to your right and I think it showed throughout. Pitching staff, offensively, defensively. We have really good depth. That was one of our strengths and we showed it all weekend and even last weekend, too. Just passing the baton on the mound, passing it on offense. I think we just showed the ability to play together and not do it for ourselves. We just came out on the wrong end of it tonight.”