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NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 24, 2016Conor CostelloJosh HollidayRemey ReedOmaha, Nebraska Arizona - 9, Oklahoma State - 3 COACH HOLLIDAY: Credit to them. They swung the bats well, and they were pretty relentless the whole game. We'll come out tomorrow and play better. That's all there is to it. It's a series, and it's tied 1-1. And tomorrow is the rubber match of a three-game series, which in college baseball we're pretty accustomed to playing through that challenge all year long. And tomorrow is Game 3. Credit to Arizona. They played well today. Our guys will bounce back, as we have all year long, and we'll be a better ballclub tomorrow. Q. Conor, you got maybe a little something going there in the ninth inning. Three games here, not a lot of offense for you guys. Why do you think that it is? Is it a little bit flat, do you think? CONOR COSTELLO: That's going to happen. Sometimes the bats are going to get going; sometimes they're not. Up to this point, our pitching staff has been really, really great. We obviously have full trust in them. Yeah, we'll bounce back tomorrow. We're not worried tomorrow. It's going to be exciting to go tomorrow for sure. Q. Conor, obviously a long break between games here in the College World Series. Is that a challenge at all, just staying sharp and staying loose, and what kind of things did you guys work on these last few days? CONOR COSTELLO: It's not really a challenge. We've been through it before having three-game series and then being off a week going another three-game series after that. But throughout the season, we've had ups and downs and everything, but we just continue to focus on getting better every day. And that's what we're going to do. We're going to get better and we're going to get better tomorrow and come out ready to go. Q. Remey, you had some success there holding those guys at bay, but I think Coach used the word "relentless," is that how you describe the offense? Are they difficult to attack? REMEY REED: I think everyone in their lineup, one through nine, goes out and fights. And they're all hard outs. But at the end of the day, we get to face them again tomorrow, and we'll come out better tomorrow. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Questions for Coach. Q. Just getting back to the format, did you sense the team was maybe not quite emotionally where Arizona was at the start of the game, just because of that long layoff, or did you sense anything like that? COACH HOLLIDAY: No, I don't think so. No, the break in between games is what it is. I thought the kids showed up ready to play. We practiced great. No excuses. We just got outplayed today a little bit. And, like I said, you've got to compliment your opponent. I'm not going to sit here and make excuses for that. It is what it is. We dealt with it the best we could, which was to train and stay focused and prepared. We just came out today. We weren't -- we just weren't collectively good enough, but tomorrow's a new day and we will be. Q. From your vantage point, what makes Ming so effective? You guys saw him the first time you played, too? COACH HOLLIDAY: He throws a lot of strikes. He can make the ball go down in a way with the two-seamer or spin it underneath you with a slider, and he'll flash a changeup and he looks like a pretty poised kid. Knows his way out there. He's a good competitor. They trust him, obviously, at a high level. That's why they put the ball in his hand with a lead. Probably a combination of confidence and skill and know-how. And he mixes it together and he's a nice pitcher. He does a really good job for them. Q. Is there anything in particular you can do to kind of jump-start the offense at this point in the season? COACH HOLLIDAY: No, you know, we hit a lot of balls hard today. We hammered -- I think we had seven or eight balls we barrelled. Didn't have much to show for them, but we did hit them hard. When the ball leaves your bat, it's out of your control. We hit the ball hard. You look at the number of times you had competitive at-bats, and the competitive at-bats far outweighed the box score. So as a coach you stay true to the process of the kids, encourage them to stay invested in that belief system and come out tomorrow ready to fight. Bottom line is each game has its own new identity, and today's game's over. They won. And you gotta have a good, short memory and be able to turn the page quickly emotionally and bounce back and show up tomorrow with your very best. That's what we'll focus on doing. I think inside of each kid, he just needs to get himself in the right place, which we'll help them do, and show up tomorrow with a lot of pride and enthusiasm to play the game. We barrelled some baseballs. I think the centerfielder knocked down probably five line drives. One of those goes left or right, who knows where the game goes. It's one of those things, you hit the ball right at them, you can't feel sorry for yourself. It's just baseball. Maybe we'll level one of those out tomorrow on a chalk line or something for a big hit. So keep grinding away at the game and stay positive with the kids. When you win, you win; when you lose, you lose. It's not about which element of the game takes the credit or gives the blame. We're a team and have been for day one and we will continue to function like one because that's who we are and that's our strength. Collective energy tomorrow will be very good, and we'll come out ready to play. Q. Can you just talk about tomorrow's game a little bit, who is going to pitch and advantage to either team going in? COACH HOLLIDAY: Thomas Hatch will pitch for the Cowboys. We feel good about that. On full rest. Fresh. I think all I can do is speak on our behalf. We're a confident club. And what they say in baseball: Momentum is the next day's starting pitcher. We've got a pretty good one. I feel good about putting our ballclub on the field tomorrow and competing together once again and enjoying this amazing opportunity. Q. I wanted to ask you a little bit about Jensen's start and obviously it's a really tough situation to throw a freshman out there, and also what did you make of his two innings there? COACH HOLLIDAY: Well, I'll tell you what, I really hope he gets a chance to start another game here. Because that young man has been nails all year long. And you know what, he'll bounce back from the opportunity to get out there. I think he was coming off of a 20-some-odd-day, 14-day rest, I'm not sure what the exact dates were, didn't quite get settled in there. He almost escaped that first inning. They did a nice job of shooting a base hit the other way to cash in on him in the first. He's an outstanding young man, pitched wonderfully for us all year long. We wouldn't be here without his efforts, and hope he gets another chance to jump on that mound because I think he'll throw the ball well. But they were tough early. They didn't let him off the hook. He almost wiggled his way out of it. But that's baseball. And collectively as a club we could have done more together as a group to pick each other up, because that's what teams do. But, yeah, I think Jensen's going to be a really, really good one. And I hope he gets another chance on that mound. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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