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NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 14, 2014Tim CorbinCarson FulmerBryan ReynoldsDansby SwansonOMAHA, NEBRASKA Vanderbilt – 5 THE MODERATOR: Joining us from Vanderbilt, head coach Tim Corbin, student‑athletes are Carson Fulmer, Bryan Reynolds and Dansby Swanson. Coach, if you'd open with an opening statement? COACH CORBIN: Well, I'll be short because I know it's a long night. Guess we broke another record with a long night. It's a big win. These games are difficult to play for a host of reasons, but I thought we managed it well. I do think we pitched well at the beginning of the game. As the game got deeper, Louisville found their way on base to lead off. I believe it was fourth, fifth and sixth. It was a good job by our pitchers to pass the baton back and forth. Fulms to Stoney and then to Jared and then I think Ravenelle was very clutch. Two out hits, obviously, Dansby's and Bryan's were big. I thought Karl Ellison caught a heck of a game tonight. For a young man, freshman, I thought he did a very good job. So we'll take that one and move forward. Q. Tim, kind of going back to the decision to start Carson, talk about that, and also kind of assess what you thought of his performance tonight in terms of stuff and what not? COACH CORBIN: Well, we wanted to match‑up the skillset of our pitcher versus the skill set of Louisville. We thought he was one that could contain the running game well. We thought he could contain the bunt game, and Louisville does get right on top of the play. So you're pitching into a very small window and thought he could execute that, and he did. I thought he did a nice job. First three innings, I thought he came out and pitched well. We started to get into deeper counts after that and decided to make that switch, not that he couldn't have gone any further, but we just thought that was a good time to bring in Stone, and Stone got the two flyballs and managed to get out of that inning. So we were fortunate at that point. Funkhouser on the other end, I think kind of did the reverse, started slow, but then really, really pitched well deeper into the game. Q. Bryan and then Carson, Bryan could you just sort of take us through that catch there in the second inning, and Carson, for you, when he makes that catch to end that inning, it looks like it may be at least extra bases. Talk about what that does for you confidence‑wise early in a game like this? BRYAN REYNOLDS: I didn't see it directly off the bat, so it was struck well, so I just started running back and came out of the sun, and I just kind of went for it, and it was a good momentum swing for us I feel like. CARSON FULMER: Obviously, going into the game I knew that the wind was going to be a factor. It was blowing straight in, as you guys probably know. But when the ball goes up in the air and it's hit hard, obviously, he hit it really hard. But you know that the ball's going to have a chance to stay in the yard, and you know, seeing Bryan stay with the ball and catch it at the track, it's just great. I mean, we all as a pitching staff, we trust our defense with everything, and that's just an example of it. Q. Bryan, it looked like when he hit the wall he kind of left a mark there and it looked like you were rubbing your shoulder between the innings. Did that hurt you for a bit? BRYAN REYNOLDS: No, it wasn't too bad, Yep. Q. For any of you guys, really, it seems like Reynolds here is continuing to give you a lift in the postseason as he has all season, especially lately with the defense and the offense. I'm just curious if you could comment on how much of a spark he's provided you here? DANSBY SWANSON: You know, he's been unbelievable for us all year, and he's continuing to get better and stronger, and just learning as he goes. We're all proud of him and we trust him because at this point of the season, he's not really a freshman anymore. We're 60‑something games into it, and he's pretty much a sophomore now, and he comes out and brings it every day, which is impressive. So his consistency has really helped us, and we feed off of it. Q. Dansby, could you talk about how you guys were able to get to Funkhouser early? You guys were looking good in the inning (No Microphone). DANSBY SWANSON: Well, we were just able to see some pitches there and I was able to layoff of him. I thought we had good discipline for the first couple of innings. Made him work, and when he came in the zone, we were able to put some good swings on some good pitches. Just trying to remain in control of the counts and when he gave us a good pitch to hit, just be on it and try to keep the ball in the air because, as we talked about, the wind was a huge factor and just staying low with our flights and just trying to make some things happen. Q. Bryan, was just talking to Funkhouser in the hallway about your triple. You fouled a couple pitches off, and he threw you the breaking ball. He said afterwards he realized they should have come back with the fastball. But just your memories of that at‑bat, obviously a big part of the game, and what the emotion is like with you when you're chugging around the bases with a triple in a big game like this, just what that feels like for you? BRYAN REYNOLDS: Well, that at‑bat I had Dansby start us off and tried to stay on it and drive it. Q. Dansby, you got the biggest hit of the ballgame, and I can't remember, you may have been at the dish too when the wild pitch happened. Just talk about those moments? DANSBY SWANSON: Well, the first pitch, I was just looking for something up to hit, and he threw it down in the dirt and got away from the catcher. Johnny was able to score, and then the runners on first and second moved up to second and third. I believe I ended up getting down in the count 1‑2 after two straight breaking balls. Then just tried to see the ball deep and let it get on me a little bit more and tried to stay on it. I was able to put a good swing on a pretty good pitch. It was down and in and able to barrel it up. Q. Coach Corbin, Coach McDonnell talked about the value of the run here at TD Ameritrade and how it's even at more of a premium. How big is it for early momentum swings like Bryan's catch and turning around on offense right after that? COACH CORBIN: I think any momentum swing in this tournament is a big deal because, as he may have said, the runs, they're tough to come by. We were fortunate tonight in a lot of ways. To drive Funkhouser's pitch count up, he's a very good pitcher and held his velocity deep into the game. But both of those hits, Dansby's and Bryan's were with two outs. But I also look at it's 4‑‑ 3and they're gathering momentum. And in my opinion offensively with Conde stealing that base, it kept us out of a double‑play. Because Andrew drove the ball pretty well, but it was right at the second baseman, he vacated that spot and Vinny was able to go to first to third. I realize we scored on a past ball, but those type of runs, movement, created movement is very big in this tournament. Q. Coach, you talk about the pace of this game, and it certainly seemed like your offense was able to grind out a lot of at‑bats and deep counts. Is that characteristic of this offense and the way Ravenelle was able to come in and settle it down and get a lot of quick outs, how much of a boost was that for you? COACH CORBIN: Well, I think it was a big boost. To answer your first question, it is more characteristic of our offense the last quarter of the season, I would say. We've done a good job of getting deep into the counts, more walks, less strikeouts, and we've hit the ball. We've really hit the ball well the last three weeks. We hit it okay tonight, but we were facing a tough customer. Ravenelle, yeah, those quick outs I thought brought the momentum back and the fact that he was able to grab the first out of the inning, because we weren't able to do that in the middle part of the game, and that's where Louie started to catch up. I thought he was very valuable tonight. He did a good job and had a good heartbeat for the game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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