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COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: LUBBOCK REGIONALJune 4, 2017Matt DeggsClayton HarpRiley CooperKyle BackhusLubbock, Texas Sam Houston State - 9, Texas Tech - 8 MATT DEGGS: It was an incredible day for us. You know, I said it earlier, we're a David in a land full of Goliaths, and we embrace these type opportunities and these type situations. For us to have enough -- to get beat up like we did last night and then have enough inside of us and enough fire and enough passion to come out and sweep a double header against Arizona and Texas Tech, if you told anybody that, they'd say it's probably highly improbable. We just took it one game at a time, came out, swung the bats extremely well in the first game, got some really good pitching performances, and then in the second game were able to score and just run guy after guy out of the bullpen that I thought did a great job on the mound. We made some big plays and came up with some timely hits. You know, I've said all year, that's our formula. We've got to be able to pitch it efficiently, dominate routine plays, reach base, execute, and then get big two-out knocks, and we did that all day today. Q. Kyle, talk about the seventh inning jam you got out of with bases loaded, no outs, and talk about watching Miko do the same thing at the end. KYLE BACKHUS: Yeah, so you know, it's like they're a great team, crowd was great tonight. I come in there, trusting my defense. Robby had my back. Lance had my back. They were just telling me, take it slow, take deep breaths, make a pitch, and fortunately enough I was able to make a pitch. Watching Miko do it, I know Miko, he's gutsy. He'll go out there and give it all. That's what he does, and that's what he did. That's about it. Q. How much did that win that first game kind of propel y'all to get momentum to come out there and get a win against Tech, as well? RILEY COOPER: I felt like it was great momentum for us. I mean, we talk about it all the time. We're just going to play one game at a time, and you know, we came out and -- Arizona is a great team to start off, and we came out and we did our job, got out in front. We threw the first lick, and I felt that kind of propelled us and set the tone for the rest of the day against Arizona for the rest of the day and then Tech. Q. Riley, Tanner Gardner said the reason the lefties were so effective on their lefties, they didn't see a lot of fastballs. Was it the game plan to spin them away from stuff and just keep them looking away and not a lot of breaking pitches? RILEY COOPER: Well, if I'm being honest, I really don't know the game plan. I just do whatever Coach Sirianni tells me to do. You know, I try not to think too much while I'm up there. That could hurt me and the team if I tried thinking too much. But you know, what it boils down to is I trust the guys behind me. I trust Robby behind the plate, and I trust Coach Sirianni to get me through whatever I'm going through and to call that right pitch in the right moment. Q. Kyle, at the start of today, I'm sure it seems like maybe a bigger hill to climb when you think about two different games, but now that you just have one left, does it kind of bring a singular focus more to this next game and we just need one to be able to move on and advance? KYLE BACKHUS: Oh, yeah, every game that's our focus, the game right in front of us. We don't think about games two games in front of us. We think about that one game, pitch by pitch, and it helps us focus better. Q. Clayton, can you talk about you and the offense's performance tonight, you specifically had four RBIs and I think as a team you guys had four RBIs with two outs. CLAYTON HARP: Yeah, I mean, that's what we do, just two-out knocks. I would say our offense today was clicking. We were just getting our swings off, got in good counts, and that's kind of what happens when you get in good counts, you get hard-hit balls, and that's kind of what we did tonight. We saw some good pitching tonight. There's some good guys, especially their starter, he's a pretty good pitcher. We just got our swings off, and that's how we've been doing it lately. We're just seeing the ball really well and hitting it really good. Q. Early on you had that three-run inning and you guys were using the hit-and-run a few times. Was that kind of the game plan early, just get the bats going? MATT DEGGS: Well, you know, we're an offense that likes to create. We can really run, and you know, the same way that Tech can drive the ball out of the ballpark, we've got be able to use our legs and create a little bit and protect runners by hitting behind them on the backside, et cetera, et cetera. When you're facing a really good ballclub like Tech, sometimes you've got to force the issue a little bit, and I thought we did a great job of that today, starting with Arizona. Forcing the issue a little bit, and our execution was spot on pretty much all day. Q. Just talk about the bottom of the ninth and Miko's performance. MATT DEGGS: Well, you know, I said the other night in here, that kid has got ice water in his veins, and he does. For a freshman, he's got a lot of poise and a lot of attack and really and truly a lot of arrogance on the mound. There's a lot of intent behind every pitch that he throws. You know, that's his 12th save as a freshman. That's pretty good. The one thing he does is he just pounds the strike zone. You're going to have to beat him by getting -- stringing together three or four hits, and they dang near did it. You know, you can't understate what kind of ballclub Tech is. They're very balanced. They can really hit. They really defend, and they can really pitch it. And so, you know, we had a bunch of mistakes in that game, too. We left some guys on base. We had a lot of guys thrown out that -- there was some runs there that we left out there, and against a team like Tech, you have to capitalize. You know, nine was almost not enough, and they're a very, very dangerous team. But Miko, all those guys, a lot of those guys kids we threw out there tonight are freshmen. Couldn't be more proud of them. Q. When Kyle gets into that jam in the seventh inning and you guys are up 6-3, what was your mindset if we just get out of this inning, was it if we just give up one, we'd be okay? Was that almost perfect world type situation? MATT DEGGS: Honestly, if we just get out of here tied, that's kind of the situation that I was looking at it. You know, from my perspective, that's the way I have to look at things. I've got to assume certain things are going to happen. If we get out of there tied, et cetera. But I really wanted to try to ride Kyle Backhus, but when we came back out after we went, what, five up and we go 2-0 on an 8-hole hitter, I said, that's enough right there. He looked a little bit gassed, and Dom, the other freshman, Lefty Robinson, has been really good at just pounding the strike zone all year, and I thought he came in and did a great job. Q. Do you know who you're going to start tomorrow? Any idea? MATT DEGGS: No clue. No clue. Do you have any ideas? No clue. We've had to -- you know, everybody will be running on adrenaline tomorrow. This was such a crazy day. 22 plus years doing this, I don't know that I've had a team fight the way they fought today. Just like warriors all day long. You know, we sat on the bus before we got off to play Arizona this morning, you know what, we're not going to be afraid to die today. We're not going to be afraid to go home because we have no regrets. We know that we have worked as absolutely hard as we can work, and everybody here loves each other, and so I think the kids went out today and just played with a freedom, that you know what, whatever happens, happens, and that made us dangerous today. Q. The other day when you talked about not being afraid to crash and burn, you just got one game left to be able to advance -- MATT DEGGS: Well, that's what I went out and told Miko in the ninth. When the bases got loaded, I gave him the we're-all-going-to-have-fun-this-summer speech. I've broken that one out a couple times over the years. Look, whatever happens here, man, we're all going to enjoy the summer. We're going to have fun. We've given it a heck of a run. Just let it all hang out right here, and he started attacking the zone. We started throwing strikes, and good things happen when you throw strikes. I love these boys. This team means the world to me. No matter what happens. We all love each other, and we all play for each other. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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