Postgame Quotes – UCLA vs. Michigan
POSTGAME QUOTES
NCAA Los Angeles Super Regional – Game Two
UCLA 5, Michigan 4 (June 8, 2019)
UCLA Head Coach John Savage
Opening remarks
“It was a classic, really, in every way. Whatever you wanted in that game was there. Can’t say enough about our guys and, there again, what they’ve been through this season and their backs against the wall. Being a visitor in that game, you’re talking about one pitch from your season being over with. Got to give Michigan a lot of credit. First two games of the series have been about as good as you’ll want to see in a Super Regional and it’ll be determined tomorrow. It was a hell of a game and just real proud of our guys.”
On keeping team focused and calm through momentum shifts
“The bases loaded, ground ball to third was crazy. The fly ball to center, the double play. I can just go back and look at so many things. It’s just a credit to our staff and really, our players, their mental game of just keep on competing. As did Michigan. They did nothing different than we did. We were fortunate to come out on top. It wasn’t a total clean game, by no means, but at the end of the day we walked one guy in 12 innings. That’s a big deal. Jack [Ralston] settled down after giving up those three runs early. And then Nate [Hadley]. And then what can you say about Holden [Powell]? I mean, your closer going five innings. We knew he was going to get pushed. We just didn’t know it was going to be that much. You just got to really tip your hat to both teams for being on the field for five hours, playing for a trip to Omaha and for us to survive another game. What our guys have been through, that’s what I credit—the 62 games that we played in the Pac-12 and all the people that we played non-conference—I think we’re prepared for this.”
On double play at third base and how pitching staff looks for Sunday
“It wasn’t caught. It could’ve been a triple play if the ball was cleanly caught, but the ball hit the ground. Great play. [Blake] Nelson made a hell of a play, but it was just a tag and a force and it’s a double play. And then, all of a sudden, you have bases loaded, nobody out to first and second with two outs in a blink of an eye. I’d never seen anything like that. We’re in pretty good shape for tomorrow. We’ll start [Nick] Nastrini, who gave us a good start last week, and Holden said he could go another five innings, so we’re good there. No, our bullpen’s in pretty good shape and we’ll go Nastrini tomorrow.”
On Jack Stronach’s throw home in fifth inning
“That was a really good play by both guys. Jack’s long-hop throw and Noah—what can you say about Noah? Noah’s played way beyond his years as a freshman. That tag is not an easy tag, skipping off the grass there later in the evening. You’re right, that would’ve gotten another run off of Ralston and changed the game. There’s so many plays you go back and look, but certainly Jack made a huge play.”
On Ryan Kreidler’s ninth-inning stolen base
“Yeah, he stole 0-0, two outs and we got to second base. Kreidler’s play at third base to rob [Jordan] Brewer—that ball was smoked. Some of their plays, I’d have to look back. It’s going to take a little time to look back, but, like I said, there was all kinds of plays made that made that game last as long as it did.”
UCLA sophomore infielder Kevin Kendall
On what he was looking for in 12th-inning at bat
“I don’t face many lefties, so getting in that 3-2 count wasn’t unexpected. Our team preaches winning 3-2s and, ironically, I found myself in that situation. I wasn’t thinking much. I probably blacked out. I was just looking for a ball over the plate to hit.”
UCLA sophomore pitcher Holden Powell
On maintaining effectiveness over multiple innings and about tomorrow
“Well, there’s still just a lot of baseball left to be played. We were just really confident in ourselves out there. I was really confident in my pitch ability. It was kind of unusual because I hadn’t thrown that many innings this year, but I’ve definitely thrown that many innings in my life because I’ve been a starter pretty much my whole life. Just got to stay loose in the dugout and just really use the energy your team’s giving you on offense to take it out there on defense and just get outs.”
On if it was difficult locking back in after blown save in ninth
“It wasn’t that difficult. I had confidence in our team to get us more runs. I just used the energy that we were getting on offense and get the base runners and went back out there and just did the same thing. Didn’t let that affect me too much.”
On if team thought about being one out away from end of season
“It definitely didn’t cross our mind. It definitely didn’t cross my mind, either. We just have confidence in ourselves and just the ability; we know that we’re going to score runs and pitch a good game. We just have confidence in ourselves and still a lot of baseball to be played tomorrow and we’re confident going into tomorrow, for sure.”
Michigan Head Coach Erik Bakich
Opening remarks
“If I had told you we were going to walk 10 and make five errors and think we’d be in a 12-inning game with the number one team in the country, I don’t think anyone would believe me. It’s just one of those things. Very similar to last week where we just had some sloppy plays that cost us. It seemed like both sides, both teams had opportunities, but just for whatever the case may be, it was just a frustrating game in a lot of ways, but I’m also very proud of the way our guys battled back there in the ninth inning. That was a huge inning for us and then we got out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam. I thought, for sure, we were going to end it in the bottom of that frame. It was just one of those games that just never quite materialized. Much like last week, head hits the pillow tonight and this one’s over and it doesn’t matter. We get an opportunity to come out tomorrow and, if I know our team, they’ll be chomping at the bit and ready to go.”
On bullpen’s performance
“There were so many strategy plays, maneuvers, pitching around certain guys, attacking certain guys, needing double plays to get out of innings, needing strikeouts. The guys in the bullpen – at times, we got ourselves into a jam, but we also got out of a lot of jams, as well. All those guys that came in impacted the game in some way or another. It ended up being a big double in the gap to score that go-ahead run, but all those guys did a good job of holding down a very good offense. UCLA has a great offense. We did what we could tonight, but the defensive miscues and the free passes ended up being a little bit too much. We’ll be all right.”
On Joe Donovan’s performance
“Joe’s a warrior. He’s overcome so much in his life; a little adversity in a baseball game is nothing. He gave us a huge hit, the two-run blast in the second. The same ball he hit [in] the ninth inning – if he hit that earlier in the day, that’s a walk-off home run, as well. He drilled it. [Jack Stronach] caught it right at the fence. There were so many plays that happened in that game. You could probably go back and don’t even have enough time to go back and look at all those plays. That hit that Joe had was a huge one in the second inning and I thought it was gone in the ninth. That would have been storybook."
On pitching plans for tomorrow’s game
“Yeah, everyone’s available, so why not? We’ll see how Tommy Henry feels. He’s had a little bit of a virus this weekend, but I would expect that he’ll give us a go.”
Michigan sophomore catcher Joe Donovan
On if he thought fly ball he hit in the ninth inning would clear the fence
"It was a little, tiny bit – you could feel just a fraction of an inch off the sweet spot. I was rounding first base just hoping that there was enough dryness left in the air from earlier that could carry it out.”
On home run in the second inning
“I was just looking for a fastball. [Jack Ralston] had thrown me a first-pitch splitter. That was pretty good. I was looking fastball away and he threw a splitter that kind of just hung into the zone just enough. I just tried to react to hit, put good wood on it. I was lucky to catch it right and it, obviously, went out so I was pretty happy about that.”
On team’s mindset heading into the ninth inning down a run
“Since we played Illinois, the dugout mindset has just been, ‘Go. Go. Go.’. Everybody’s always on the fence. You can never see anybody taking a pitch off and that’s been pretty consistent since we played Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament. Nothing changed tonight per inning. It was that ‘Go. Go. Go.’ mentality. Everybody behind you up until the last inning. We thought we had it. We came up a little short, but we’ll have that same attitude tomorrow.”
On if pitchers and catchers alter strategies when facing strong offensive teams like UCLA
“Not necessarily. We try to be as consistent as possible and have good routines. That’s one of the staples of our program is having good routines. Just because some team might be ranked a little bit higher or have as many good hitters as they do, that’s not going to change how we’re going to go about it. We’re still going to try to attack them with a game plan. [Assistant] Coach [Chris] Fetter is an amazing pitch-caller. [We] just try to throw strikes and get as many quick outs as possible.”