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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMay 21, 2015Mike ComptonBen DeLuzioMike MartinGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA Florida State – 8 HEAD COACH MIKE MARTIN: Obviously it was a ballgame that Mike Compton was instrumental in giving us every opportunity to win pitching as well as he did, going almost six innings and Silva came in and did a very good job to keep everything where it was. And then I think the three spot that we got in the 8th was the inning that we were hoping to get a couple of other times when we got runners in scoring position. But you've got to credit a very good North Carolina team in getting out of it. Sometimes you look at numbers and you shake your head. We got 12 hits and punched out 17 times. Y'all figure it out. But it was a very good win for us. Very pleased with the approach that we had at the plate. And it was obviously we have put ourselves in the position that we wanted to be in and that's for the opportunity to play for the championship on Sunday. Q. Ben, if you could talk a little bit about what ‑‑ what was different about this game and your rhythm at the plate tonight and maybe what might have been the case early in the year when you come in with a sub .200 batting average. You looked like you were locked in tonight. BEN DeLUZIO: Definitely. I watched film and this morning and we saw that my hands were a little farther back than they should be. So we just kept them close to my body, kept them quiet. And I just trying to see the ball well. Q. Coach mentioned the approach at the plate as a team. Can you describe that a little bit tonight? BEN DeLUZIO: We had 17 strikeouts. We're just trying to get a pitch that we can handle. And I mean baseball is a game of failure, you're going to get that. But you've got to capitalize on the pitches that they do mess up on. And that's what we did. Q. Does a game like this give not only you, but the entire lineup a lot more confidence now that you guys dip into the double figures in hits? BEN DeLUZIO: Yeah, our whole dugout is just like a train. They're just getting us going. And every hit we get we're just building confidence for the postseason. Q. Mike, the Tar Heel coach said they told the hitters to attack the first or second pitch, basically. Is that approach you've seen before, because of your reputation for throwing strikes? MIKE COMPTON: Absolutely. Coach Bell does a good job of informing me of whether the team is going to be aggressive or the no. You've got to be smart with the first pitch at‑bat. You don't want to throw a soft pitch in the middle of the plate. You have to make sure you're hitting your spots. And I think I did a pretty good job of that for the first five innings. Just hitting both inside, outside fastball and mixing it up pretty well with the slider. And the sixth inning there, you've got to give credit to UNC, they made some good adjustments at the plate. And I made a few mistake pitches, as well, with the ball over the plate and that's what kind of hurt me. But the bullpen lifted it up. The pitcher's best run is the run support. Q. Mike, you obviously have a reputation for throwing a lot of strikes. What pitches specifically were working well for you tonight? MIKE COMPTON: It was a mix of fastball and slider. Mainly my goal is to get ahead in the counts. That's every pitcher's goal is get ahead, stay ahead. But when you're facing an aggressive team like UNC that's looking to attack and get momentum, you have to keep things going. You have to be smart and not give them too, too much ‑‑ soft pitches over the plate. Q. Coach, is that pretty much the Ben you thought you were going to see tonight, two steals, the line drives, the defense at centerfield, is that what you were expecting when you signed him? HEAD COACH MIKE MARTIN: The catch that he made in right center is what a Florida State centerfielder is supposed to do. It's not something that you say, oh, anybody could have caught it. That is not what I'm saying. This guy can run. With any centerfielder that we've had in the very few years that I've been at Florida State (laughter) this guy has great talent, he just needs to play. And certainly tonight the base hit that he got in the 8th was huge for us. But that play is what I'll remember more than anything that he did tonight. Q. You kind of mentioned it in your opening statement, but what Mike Compton and to set you up as far as your bullpen goes, how big a situation is that for you, knowing going against Louisville that's a big game and potentially Sunday if you guys make it? HEAD COACH MIKE MARTIN: I think anytime you can get six innings, and we were right at six with Michael tonight, that gives you three innings to win a ballgame. And that's what we strive to do every time that we play is to get to the seventh inning. And it was nice that Dylan and Jim Voyles pitched well tonight because it gave Billy a night off, and with a day off tomorrow we should be in good shape playing one of the best teams in college baseball, a team that went 25‑5 in a great league. Q. You mentioned in your opening statement how you like the approach at the plate. But at the same time you did have one shy of the school record for strikeouts. What was exactly the approach that you saw? And what was it that you liked? And why do you think there were the number of strikeouts that we did see today in terms of there's discipline at the plate, but what in terms of the approach may have caused that? HEAD COACH MIKE MARTIN: I think you've got to credit Carolina for the way they pitched us. They threw the ball in spots. They would throw a breaking ball down, and then they would throw the fastball up. And many times it's hard to throw a fastball where they threw it over and over and over. The fastball has sent a lot of young men home early at the next level. You don't catch ‑‑ John Sansone ran into one, and that was the only one ‑‑ I still cannot believe that ball didn't get out. I could not have hit a 3‑wood out of that ballpark to left. Golly he crushed that ball. But it's just one of those things, too, that as a team and as a coach you just write it off to this great sport. You can't explain it. Kershaw punches about 12 or 13 every time he pitches. And North Carolina's guys did a great job of pitching to us tonight. Eight walks, though. So we had eight baserunners, that's the good approach I was alluding to. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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