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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMay 26, 2016Monte LeeChase PinderEli WhiteMike TrillerDurham, North Carolina Clemson - 5, Virginia - 4 MONTE LEE: What a great win for us in Game 1 against the defending National Champion, Virginia is a very well coached team, very talented team and we are just fortunate to find a way to win the game. Had the lead early and they chipped away, which is what good teams do, and we found to a way to score a run late in the ninth inning to give us a lead. Got to give Charlie Barnes a lot of credit. He's been very, very consistent for us down the stretch. Gave us another great start. We had a big inning in the fifth inning. Eli White offensively had maybe the best day he's had all year. Hit a two-run homer. Mike Triller hasn't got a lot of at-bats for us this year, stepped up in a big situation with two strikes on him, hit a two-run homer. And Eli White follows up with a two-out double RBI to give us the big inning. In the ninth, Chris Williams had a leadoff single, got the leadoff man on base, and Triller had another quality at-bat with a walk; and Chase Pinder with the infield in delivered the fifth run for us with the sac fly. So we did a good job of situational hitting right there. Got a bunt down, and found a way to get that run in. But we were fortunate. We made some errors. Didn't capitalize the inning before. Had first and third with one out. Pitching-wise we did a good job. Eubanks did a good job. Krall wasn't at his best, gave up the leadoff homer to their best hitter to tie the ballgame but he gutted it out and found a way to do what Pat Krall does, which win ballgames. Great win for us, very proud of our guys and looking forward to moving into tomorrow. Q. Mike, the Virginia people said they didn't know a whole lot about you. What's been your history this season as far as playing time? MIKE TRILLER: I mean, I haven't gotten out there very much. It's been a little bit of a struggle. Just been trying to find my swing here and there. But been feeling good lately, so Coach got me in the lineup and I was able to capitalize. Q. A lot of times when you put together a lineup, it's feel; you have to feel for something. What made you think Mike was up to the occasion today? MONTE LEE: Well, I think that Mike is a guy that, you look over the course of this year, I wish I would have probably given him more at-bats over the course of the year. But I told myself going into the latter part of this year, I'm going to give Mike Triller those at-bats. He gives you quality at-bats, gave us two quality at-bats today. He swung the ball really, really good at Notre Dame, hits some balls hard and he hits the ball hard to the left side of the field. We felt like if we're going to put a guy in the lineup that's got some power, he's one of the guys that could hit a ball out over the monster. So we felt like it was a good match up; this ballpark was a good match up for his swing. He's been swinging the bat well. Felt like he WAS the right guy. He's a senior; he deserves an opportunity and he's going to continue to get those opportunities. What a great at-bat. You think about the two at-bats that he had today where he hits a two-run homer with two strikes on him against a potential first-round draft pick and draws a walk there at the end off the game to set up the sacrifice bunt, so that we can win the game on Pinder's sac fly. Just gave us two great at-bats. It's always nice to have a guy that gives you a presence at the bottom of the board that can give you quality at-bats, and couldn't be happier for him. Q. Could you talk about the efficiency you guys had today going up against Jones? He's been pretty good all year for them. You didn't get many opportunities, but when you got your chances, y'all took advantage of them? ELI WHITE: We knew we were going to have a good challenge ahead of us, he's a great pitcher, going into it. We had a game plan to attack his fastball, and when he left it up, he's got some good arm side run, so when he left it up, we were able to capitalize on some good swings. Q. Chase, could you take us through your approach in that at-bat, and also, is there a little element of this being more special for you because it's Virginia and home state and all that? CHASE PINDER: My approach when I went up there was a little off, and then Coach quickly got me thinking up the middle. I got a fastball up and he says do it early, and I got a good pitch to hit and I was able to drive it. And I guess there's a little bit of a -- you've wanted to succeed against those teams, and my brother's played against them many times and I kind of just want to follow in his footsteps, and it happened today. Q. Do you think your brother is extra happy? CHASE PINDER: I would think so. Q. How much did it help in the later innings, even though Pat gave up the home run and he was still on the mound and you have so much confidence in him? ELI WHITE: He's been huge for us all year. He's a guy we want on the mound all the time. So even though he made a mistake there with that pitch, we had all the confidence in the world in him and we want him on the mound. Q. I know you said you think this team deserves to host a regional anyway, but do you think this should cement it; that Clemson should be home next weekend? MONTE LEE: I believe so. You look at Virginia, it's a Top 10 RPI team, it's a team that deserves to host, as well. You look at our resumé now, we are in the Top 10 in RPI. We have got 39 wins, which I believe is third-most in the league, in the No. 1 RPI conference in the country. So you look at the No. 1 RPI conference in the country, a team that's third in wins in the league overall and you look at who we've beat down the stretch here, how we've played in our last ten-plus games, which is a big thing for the NCAA Selection Committee; I think there's no question that we deserve to host. Q. What was the effect of the Matt guys home run in the 8th that tied the game, and what does it say about you guys to get right back in it? Seemed like down 4-1, to get it 4-4, they had momentum there; what did it take for you guys to take it right back? CHASE PINDER: We've been doing it all year. It's kind of our mentality. We're never satisfied, and if one of our best pitchers goes out there and makes a mistake, we're ready to back him up, and we seem to be doing that. Q. What are you thinking about tomorrow for pitching, and how will you use Pat the rest of the week? MONTE LEE: Well, obviously Pat threw, I believe, 20 pitches today, so we'll try to keep him in the pen, use him at the back end of the game to help us win. We approached it as one game at a time, which we've done with Pat. If we use him out of the pen to win a game, then obviously we'll keep him in the pen. If we didn't use him, then we have the opportunity to start him but now we'll keep him in the bullpen. Like to talk to Coach C and Bradley and Buck about it and Kopp, once we get on the bus. But I think obviously it sets up, either for Clate or for Ryley Gilliam tomorrow, but I would think we would be leaning towards Clate Schmidt, but would definitely want to talk about that. As soon as we get on the bus and make that decision, we'll let everybody know as soon as possible. Q. Your home run was a big run and you almost hit the bull, for all three of you guys, how much does the movie Bull Durham, do you guys know about it, because it's from a different generation. MIKE TRILLER: I've only seen it a couple of times, probably one of my favorite baseball movies. I don't know a ton about the history behind the movie Bull Durham and stuff like that, but I'm sure Coach does and some of the other guys. I'm not too big into movies or anything like that. But I was aiming for the bull (Laughter.) But didn't quite get it there. MONTE LEE: He was breathing out of his right eyelid on that swing. ELI WHITE: Yeah, I had seen the movie so I kind of know what it's about and everything. It's cool to be here. We actually got to take groundballs on the old Durham Bulls field the other day, so that was pretty cool. CHASE PINDER: Yeah, I've seen the movie, and I know a little bit it but not enough to be talking about it in front of you guys (Laughter.). Q. Looked like you were taking aim at that wall, pretty good couple balls off the wall today. Do you feel like you're playing your best baseball right now heading into the most important part of the season? ELI WHITE: Yeah, I feel very confident at the plate and I feel like my swing is in a good place. Seeing the ball well today, so got some good pitches to hit and I was able to do some damage with them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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