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NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 23, 2014Tyler CampbellTim CorbinJohn KilichowskiDansby SwansonOMAHA, NEBRASKA Vanderbilt – 9 THE MODERATOR: Representing Vanderbilt, head coach Tim Corbin, third baseman Tyler Campbell, relief pitcher John Kilichowski, and second baseman, Dansby Swanson. Coach, if you'd begin with an opening statement? COACH CORBIN: Well, we're fortunate to win that game, for sure. No one could have scripted that particular game, and if anyone said they could, they're lying. I don't think you could have called a nine‑run inning. But in order for us to win that game, we had to pass the baton from a pitching standpoint, and we did. We got a great outing from a freshman tonight, and we talked as a group today about trying to get at Tyler Campbell from the pitching staff that hasn't been in there yet that could pick us up and Johnny certainly did that. He prepared himself well for this moment yesterday. Tyler, again, had a great game, obviously. In that one inning, led off with a double, and then a clutch hit down the line that scored all three runs, which was the game‑winner. I told the team I thought offensively the biggest play of that entire game was Dansby beating the force at second, because it just kept the inning going. Had it been two outs, Nathan's approach may have been a little bit different, who knows? But we were fortunate. But we played very good defense to win that game. Q. When you get to this point there are always sort of unlikely heroes that step up, somebody steps up. You guys have had that all season. Tonight, obviously, Tyler was one of the guys, John was another. Could you sort of talk about how those guys have stepped up and how it's seemingly happened for you or seems like it's happened all season. Could you address that for me? COACH CORBIN: I guess Tyler is a veteran now; he's played three games. But, no, he takes advantage of key situations. Got a 2‑0 pitch, was ready to hit and put a very good swing on a fastball that was the start of that particular inning. I just thought his play all the way around was aggressive and on point. Johnny, we've got a lot of confidence in him. He's got a very good fastball and breaking ball. We weren't able to use him at the end of the year because he was a little dinged up. Now he's healthy, and we feel like he's a good stopper for us, and certainly did that against a very good hitting team. But we thought that that would happen with some of our kids. I mean, they're ready to play, and I think from a mental standpoint they know their number's going to be called at some point, and they have a chance to get in and make something happen. Q. John, just kind of talk about your outing. What did you think was working for you? And talk about how much more comfortable it is having Dansby and Vince back there making great plays left and right? JOHN KILICHOWSKI: When I came in I was pretty comfortable. Dansby gave me a look and just said, you know, you've got this settle in. And right there I knew I could trust them. I've seen them play throughout the year, and they make incredible plays. Their range is unending. So when I go out there, it's basically blow up the zone, put the ball on the ground, let them put it in the air and I know I have guys behind me that can do a lot of things. They're very good at what they do. So it's not very stressful when you know that they can do that. Now if you were worried about those guys, that would be difficult. But it's very nice having him and Vinny making those plays up the middle. It was incredible just to be there to watch him do that. Q. You're up 9‑2 there all of a sudden, and at that point you had to feel good about yourself, but when they start to chip away, chip away, they had about 15 hits in this game. At one point did it start to feel like we're just trying to hold on here? DANSBY SWANSON: No, not really. People would think that, but even with our pitching staff we have all the confidence in the world in those guys, same with the defense. If they're missing their spots, we're going to pick them up and make plays behind them, and that's just what we did tonight. They kept coming back, but we still had the lead. We still played with the lead, still confident, still comfortable, and just keep trying to move forward. Q. Coach, I think it was yesterday some of your guys mentioned the older players on the team had some input in putting Tyler at third base when you had that hole to fill. How much of that is accurate? I'm sure it was a coach's decision, but how much did you go to your older players and seek input on what to do there? COACH CORBIN: Well, I think at this point in the season, you have to trust your kids. They have a good pulse for the team. You get to a point as a coach where you play the people you trust, and they trust Tyler. They trust his personality. They trust his compete level. They trust his care level. That was my notion all along. I just wanted to hear them. I didn't go to them and say this is what I'm thinking, I want to play Tyler here. I wanted to hear them first, but it kind of confirmed my beliefs which was good. He certainly has done that too. He's played with a great heartbeat. Q. John, can you talk about how you prepared yourself mentally to pitch in a game like this when you haven't pitched in a month? And Coach alluded to maybe you were going through some physical things at the end of the season. And specifically on the last two outs you got, one you kicked and deflected to Vince, and the second one Vince got all by himself. Did you think those balls were going through as they rocketed by you? JOHN KILICHOWSKI: No, I mean, it happened so fast. You throw it, you hear the sound of the bat, and all of a sudden it's under your foot. I'm just trying to be a shield out there. Whatever I can do. If I have to put my chest in front of it, I have to put my chest in front of it. But whenever the ball hits the ground, it's almost like I take a sigh of relief no matter where it is in the infield because of how good these guys are at getting to balls that are not right at them. That ball was over second base. I think both of them were. The one that I kicked, the ball took a giant hop, and Vinny had to readjust himself to make that play. The ball had a weird top spin to it because that's not natural off the cleat. The fact that he can make those plays is huge. All of our guys see that. That picks us up and brings momentum into the dugout for the next inning and helps us get guys on base because we know we're still in this and holding them down right now. Q. Just about the mental aspect of having not pitched in a month? JOHN KILICHOWSKI: I do pitch. I pitch in scrimmages all the time. So I haven't pitched in a game, but that's as much of a game as that is. It's just you guys aren't there for it. We treat it like a game. We have hitters. They're calling balls and strikes. We have a guy back there calling them, and it's as serious as any game, and I take them like that. The hitters do too, and if you don't, they're going to hit you the whole practice, so you better bring your A‑game out there for them. Q. Tim, last time we saw Walker, 5 and a third, no‑hit innings, how would you assess what was different for him tonight? COACH CORBIN: I thought his attack was slightly up. They did a great job with two outs now. You have to give them some credit. They hit some balls on the head. I think the one inning where he hit a batter with two outs, it was Fisher, I believe, and hung a breaking ball to Downes. I thought that was a key moment right there. He had him 0‑2, and could have buried the ball. He just didn't. It was one of those nights where starting pitching started out okay, but both were replaced. Actually, after that I thought after the third inning it probably ended up more like a Vanderbilt‑Virginia game because it was well‑pitched and well‑defended. But he left too many balls up in the zone. Q. Tyler, what do you make of the last four days? TYLER CAMPBELL: I don't know. I'm just still happy I got the opportunity and I've been able to come in and be a solid player for the team and just help out the team. I'm happy we're here in the championship, so it's all good. Q. Dansby, you guys play to win every game, but how does it feel to be one game up going into tomorrow? DANSBY SWANSON: I mean, it's nice to be up 1‑0, but that's not where our mindset is right now. We're just focused on still playing the game. It's the same game regardless. You have to go out there, play, compete, and just play the tournament like we always talk about. We're not going up there thinking we've only got one more. Just go out there and try to play our best ball. Q. Tyler, I think you're hitting just about every ball hard it seems like when you come up there right now. How confident are you offensively? Can you describe your two at‑bats there in the third inning? TYLER CAMPBELL: I'm confident. Yeah, against Texas the other night with the walk‑off I didn't feel I had a great game, but I think that actually helped me just to stay with my approach and try to hit balls hard on the ground. Yeah, and I feel good. I feel like I'm seeing pitches well, so that is the best deal. As far as the two at‑bats in the third, first at‑bat, I knew we had some good velocity so I choked up on the bat a little bit, and I was looking to go middle away, but he came in, and I saw it. Second at‑bat, that was a little more of a reaction swing, I guess. Just got it down the line. Q. Compared to the Texas game and this game, which is most difficult for you in terms of just the leadership decisions? COACH CORBIN: Me personally? Q. Yes. COACH CORBIN: Oh, I mean, they all bring a different set of circumstances. This one was more about the insertion of pitchers at the right time and setting up your left‑handed bullpen for the left‑handed hitters. But this Virginia team is so well‑rounded in terms of athletics, put the ball in play, don't strikeout. It presents a lot of different challenges. I just thought for us to be successful, we really needed to execute our pitches a little bit better, and I thought we did. Jared did for a time, John picked them up. And then after that Rav did a nice job finishing the game. From an offensive standpoint, if I could take an inning back, it would have been the first and third with one out. May have done something a little different. But I had a trust with the kid that was at the plate and thought he could touch the ball, just put the ball in play because we had two good runners on base at the time. But we won, and that's all that matters. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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