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COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 16, 2017

Omaha, Nebraska

THE MODERATOR: We're going to start off with statements from the coaches, and then we'll open it up for questions. When we do open it up, please identify yourself and your affiliation, and to whom you're directing the question.

Without further talking from me, Rob, why don't you start us off with an overview.

ROB CHILDRESS: We're certainly excited to be here. When the season started, to say this was something that's going to happen would have been a bit of a dream. You lose 16 guys to the draft and graduation and count on an awful lot of freshmen and quite a few guys that hadn't been role players, now as seniors to step in and play every day would have been a stretch.

The guys believed an awful lot. We found a way to get into the NCAAs and certainly made a lot of breaks along the way to get here. Very proud of our seniors, who had the opportunity to get to the door the last couple years, and helped lead us through it this year.

We're excited to be here. Look forward to the challenge that this bracket presents, and nothing bigger than against Louisville and Dan's team here on Sunday.

THE MODERATOR: Dan?

DAN McDONNELL: First, got to start off about 4:00 a.m., I got a text. My younger brother, Allen, and his wife, Julie, had their first daughter. So I have another niece, Madison. Welcome to the family.

Second one, I congratulate these guys here, Sully with Florida and Schloss with TCU, they make it look much easier than it is. It's amazing the accomplishments these guys have had.

And obviously to my right, Rob, we've been in similar boats the last few years. When you get so close, one game away, one inning away, one run away, it's tough. But as he mentioned about his team, our guys also responded to the challenges of losing eight players to the draft, signing bonuses over $11 million, great senior class. Just didn't make any excuses. Realized nobody was going to feel sorry for us.

So I have to give a lot of credit from the top down. Our administration and the support we get from Tom Jurich to the coaches and the support staff and obviously the players. I mean, the players really stepped up, responded. Guys had monster years and put it together. Pretty consistent most of the way.

Yes, University of Louisville is excited and very proud and honored to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Reminder that these are the coaches for Sunday's games. First game Sunday at 1:00 is A&M and Louisville. And then at 6:00, Florida and TCU. Sully?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Once again, excited to be here. Never gets old. Congratulations to all the coaches here and the other coaches in the other bracket because it's not easy to get to this point. Don't want to sound repetitive. It's been a hard year for us. I think we had 18 one-run wins. We lost, like Dan just said, $11 million in signing bonuses last year off our club. We don't have a lot of seniors. We only have two seniors on our team. We've had to rely on a lot of different people, a lot of different younger players.

We've had to endure, like everybody else, injuries. We lost some prominent players in our lineup throughout the year for two or three weeks at a time, we've had three hammy injuries. We've had to overcome a ton.

We've got a lot of neat stories, a lot of really good players on our team, but what's helped us together, other than our starting pitching, we figured out a guy at the end of the game in Michael Byrne, and we've had some emergence from other players. Tyler Dyson this past week against Wake Forest, was one of the better hitting teams I've come against in a long time, came out and gave us a good performance after that rain delay.

We're a different type of offense this year than we've maybe had in years past. We're more aggressive on the base pads and hit and run a bit more, that type of thing. We just found a way to get it done. It hasn't been easy. Awfully proud of our team. It's just a very difficult time -- it's just hard to get here. It's just that simple. No matter who you play. And we just played a really, really good Wake Forest team, and like I said, that's one of the best offenses I've seen in years. They have over 100 home runs. Like I said, we've had to endure some rain delays.

Hasn't been pretty, but somehow we found a way to get here, and we're excited to be a part of it.

THE MODERATOR: Jim?

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: Just an honor to be up here with, first of all, this group of guys. I think all four of us grew up in this profession. I remember we sat in a lot of ballparks together as assistant coaches, and Coach Childress, Coach McDonnell, and Coach O'Sullivan, just great to be up here with guys I consider friends, and I really, really respect the job they do. Our team is just honored to be in the pearly -- walk through the pearly gates of college baseball.

I know a lot of conversation around us will surround having been here four years in a row, but it is incredibly difficult just to make the NCAA Tournament these days. To think that you can even win a Regional or a Super Regional, it's just so hard. I think, if you look at Oregon State and North Carolina, two teams that were left out of the NCAA Tournament last year and had legitimate beefs to be in, and now one is obviously the No. 1 seed in this tournament, and Carolina had a great season, so it can go any direction at any point, I think most of these coaches would agree.

Our team is different than what these guys were saying. We have our entire team back from last year. So that presented some unique challenges and expectations that our program necessarily had never been through before. So I think our guys have handled it well. We're back here, which is good, and I think every team that has advanced to this point has to overcome something. Anything great is not going to be easy.

So it's tournament baseball, and we're hoping that we play our best at the most opportune time.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions now. Questions now, please.

Q. Coach, everyone knows you lost a big part of your team when Luken was out. Is he here, and can he help you with his presence this week?
JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: Yes, Luken is here, and there's no question that was a big loss. We still feel it for sure. But it happened long enough ago that we've been able to process that. He processed it great. If anyone continues to pout about it, it's probably me. Every time I write a lineup, I sure wish he was hitting cleanup. That's part of it.

When we lost Luken, we got Jared Janczak back. We love Luken, and he's tough to miss. If you want a statement on what's truly important in baseball, it's starting pitching. We lost our cleanup hitter, but we added a really good starting pitcher, and we've actually played our best baseball, pure baseball since that time. It would be awesome to have him, but it is what it is. We'll see what we can do without him.

Q. Some of your guys mentioned -- they talked about his baseball mind in the dugout and how he helps. How does he help in that way?
JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: Luken's a smart guy. He's at TCU on not just a baseball scholarship, but academic scholarship. Really high ACT score. He pays attention to what's going on. He pays attention to how people are pitching people. I think he adds a lot, and guys respect him. He's not just a big slug up there trying to hit it as far as he can. He can really hit. And he pays attention to what happens during the course of a ball game. So he's a good resource for everybody.

Q. Could each of the coaches just name their starting pitcher for their opener.
THE MODERATOR: We'll start with you, Rob.

ROB CHILDRESS: Corbin Martin will start against Louisville.

DAN McDONNELL: We'll start Brendan McKay.

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Alex Faedo for us.

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: Jared Janczak.

Q. Seeing you guys are not surprised by the other's starting pitchers, and you seem to know each other pretty well, interesting there's not really a Cinderella team on your side of the bracket or on the other side of the bracket this year. Coach O'Sullivan and Coach McDonnell, if you could speak to the eight-team field and what you saw as you potentially started to scout the teams that you could see in Omaha.
DAN McDONNELL: We try not to look too far ahead when we're in the regionals. It's fun to watch and see the other games going on, but our program does a really good job -- we just focus on our regional, and if we're fortunate to come out -- one of the four teams able to come out, and the other Super Regional, Rob and I were talking earlier, I knew Davidson was going to be a tough challenge for them. They knew Davidson was going to be a tough challenge for them because of the respect we have. We see what teams do year in and year out. So it's not surprising for us in the industry that, as Schloss said, how tough it is to make it to the regionals, and any one of those 64 teams can make it. They get hot at the right time and they put it together, and they've got confidence.

So if that answers the question.

THE MODERATOR: Sully?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: I'm trying to think here. I think we've been out here six of the last eight years, and I think this is the most complete field I've seen. I just -- you know, there are no Cinderellas. And as far as looking ahead, one of the things I've learned over the years is I remember the first couple of years, I came out here, I'd have seven different folders of the teams in the other bracket and this bracket. You kind of get lost in the shuffle there.

To be honest with you, there's only one folder on my desk, and it's TCU. I haven't even really looked a whole lot at Louisville or A&M yet.

Obviously, we played A&M last year. But if you don't focus on the task at hand and one game at a time, it can get a little bit overwhelming. So if whoever we play the second game, we'll worry about at that point. To be honest with you, I'll watch the games from the other bracket, but my concern right now is just the game on Sunday night. That's the most honest answer I can give you.

Q. First of all, congratulations, gentlemen, for getting to Omaha. For all of you, could you talk about your defense, strength of the defense? The ballpark can play big.
ROB CHILDRESS: For us, if you said, what did it take for Texas A&M to get here, pitching and defense is what we hang our hat on. If we throw it over the plate and take care of the ball defensively, we've got a shot late. If we don't do those two things, the other team is going to run away from us.

I feel like on the dirt we have three shortstops (indiscernible) at third, Austin Homan at short and Braden Shewmake at first base. Those guys do a great job. We have done a great job in the outfield, Blake Kopetsky in right and Walker Pennington in left. Certainly, they'll be out here on Sunday with the big field at TD Ameritrade.

DAN McDONNELL: For those of us that followed us all year, I really bragged about the outfield. Feeling we have four centerfielders in Summers, Lyman, Taylor, and Stowers. Obviously, we know that only three can play at a time, but we're so confident that any one of those combinations can run out there and really defend. I think everyone is familiar with our star shortstop, Devin Hairston. It's been a real joy for me being in the dugout and watching this guy flash the leather. I think he's at three errors now for the year, and how much I appreciate a guy that can really defend. That kind of takes the pressure off everybody else.

Devin Mann at second base, Drew Ellis is our versatile third base guy. When McKay is pitching, we put Ellis at first, and a talented freshman shortstop, Tyler Fitzgerald, at third. When McKay is not pitching, we put him at first and Ellis at third. Colby Fitch did a great job at the plate when we lost Will Smith first round to the Dodgers last year.

We feel it's one of our better defensive clubs. Maybe not a great defensive team year in and year out. But when you have a outstanding shortstop and centerfielder like Logan Taylor, we've been pretty special this year.

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: Same thing here. It starts on the mound with Faedo. We had Michael Byrne break a school record. He's got 16 or 17 saves at this point. We've got guys that bridge the gap in between. That's been the biggest challenge, to figure out the bullpen.

As far as defensively, we've got three very talented catchers in JJ, Mike, and Mark Kolozsvary. Very interchangeable back there and had guys play different positions. Deacon Liput and Dalton Guthrie are really good defenders in the middle of the field. Jonathan India is a really good third baseman. Three high school shortstops we've moved around and played in different positions.

We've got a unique situation where we have one of the two seniors in centerfield, Ryan Larson, who's done a really nice job, very consistent. I would say our outfield play is very consistent. We usually don't beat ourselves. We don't have an outfield quite like Dan does with the athleticism, but we usually take good routes and don't hit cutoff men and stuff like that. Defensively, I think we're sound again. I think we're (indiscernible). Everything starts on the mound and defensively up the middle.

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: When you play good defense and strike everybody out like Florida, it really helps fielding percentage.

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: That's right.

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: No doubt about it. Nolan Brown is as good as anybody in the country. Our senior, a shortstop, who's played much better this year, he's from Omaha, Ryan Merrill, who played better this year than last. Evan Skoug is a better player in the game than you would think he would be when you're a pro scout evaluating his tools. He's a gamer.

If you look at our team across the board, we don't have a great batting average or awesome E.R.A. or fielding percentage, but we have experience and savvy and presence. We have a couple guys in that have been in four straight College World Series, four Super Regionals. When you play that level of baseball, you don't panic in any situation. So that's our best trait.

I'm not trying to downplay the ability of our players because we do have good players. In terms of just pure athleticism across the board, high-end draft pick-type players, that's not the makeup of our team right now.

Q. This question is for both Dan and Rob. You both have defenses that are anchored in your outfields, and your offenses have the capability to use momentum to stack a lot of runs up in one inning. Looking at each other's teams, do you feel like those similarities are going to help you in preparing to face each other, or is it more difficult to play against a team that's like your own?
ROB CHILDRESS: We haven't faced a team like Louisville this month. That's something we'll address this week. Dan has a complete offense and a complete team, and they can beat you a lot of ways. If you give them free base runners, they're going to eat you alive. They can run. They can hit out of the yard. They're very, very good with two strikes. Very well coached, very well prepared. There's not a hole in Louisville's offense or in their team.

DAN McDONNELL: Evaluating Rob's team, I've been impressed by the experience of the guys that came back and the improvements those guys made. Especially the young guys. They've got some super talented young kids that they grew up quickly in college baseball. They had some really hot streaks this year. You can see a group that's playing free and loose, but we keep it simple. Like Rob just mentioned, just make them earn it, try to keep them off the bases. They've got balance. They can do a little bit of everything. They're going to sacrifice. They're going to steal a base, hit and run. They can obviously hit a ball in the gap or over the fence.

So it's just, when I look at them, I look at a really complete offense that has the ability to do a little bit of everything.

Q. Coach Schlossnagle, following up on your comment about the experience and the core guys who have been here, in some cases, three years, correct me if I'm missing somebody, but Traver in particular and Brian Howard and Skoug is just a junior, but he's been a key piece -- what does that experience do, and what did it do for you in this -- for your team in this drive to get back to Omaha this season? Those guys having been here as much as they have.
JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: I think during the regular season, what it does is it helps -- one of our things is that I'm constantly talking to our team about is the value of every single game you play during the regular season, whether it be a conference game, a nonconference game. You know, a game against a great RPI club on the road or a bad one at home. And how every single game has value.

If you want to give yourself the best chance, A, to be in the NCAA Tournament, and then, B, to advance, then every single game has tremendous value. I think college baseball games are like college football games. Every single one -- we don't play every day. It's four days a week, but every single one has ridiculous value.

We understand that you're not going to win them all -- unless you're Oregon State. And then once you get in the postseason and then especially here, to me, the challenges on the field are immense because you're playing great teams. But in the College World Series, to me, most of the challenges are outside the stadium, especially when it's your first couple times or with a new team, being able to handle the media attention, the fans, the have I bought enough T-shirts for my girlfriend, all of that stuff. It can overwhelm you.

So I think our guys, I think they know how to handle the external stuff, which leaves it now to just baseball, and if we play clean baseball, we'll stay around awhile. If we don't, we won't.

Q. I'll ask Dan this question because I think you might be the last guy to play them all the way back in 2013. Oregon State, being 54-4, I guess what do you make of that from afar? Also, do they merit consideration as one of the greatest teams of all time?
DAN McDONNELL: I think we all would all agree, as Schloss talked about, the importance of every game. We're dealing with college kids, amateurs, college students, tests, projects, girlfriend issues, family issues -- I mean, the ability to show up every day and be that consistent, I know we're all impressed with that. I think we hope maybe they're not the best team ever in college baseball, but obviously, if they run the table here and do what they're capable of doing, I wouldn't see how they wouldn't.

Some would argue they are, with the parity in college baseball, the difficulty, whether on the road or at home, it's amazing. So I know we've all watched from afar, and, yes, I got a chance to play against one of Coach Casey's teams a few years ago. It didn't go too well. I'm watching some of those guys on TV now, like playing for the Mets and other teams. So every time I see a highlight, I've got bad memories of playing against them.

But I know we're all excited, and hopefully somebody might get a chance to play them. But as Sully says, to try to pick who's going to come out from each bracket, I haven't thought about playing them, and really I'm sure we'd be excited to any one of us so play anyone on the other side.

Q. A followup if I could?
THE MODERATOR: Okay. Real quick.

Q. I just wanted to ask, is the degree of difficulty for what Oregon State has done, is that more difficult than maybe some of like the great teams of the past that didn't have the scholarship limits? There's more teams now trying to be good at baseball than maybe there were X number of years ago?
DAN McDONNELL: I think, like Schloss alluded to earlier, one year these teams can't make the NCAA field it's so competitive, and the next year you're one of the best teams in college baseball. So with all of the limitations on scholarships, with the 1,200 draft picks being taken just a few days ago, sophomore draft eligible, juniors, seniors, high school signees, JuCo signees. It's hard to know you're going to put together a great team. And they're coming off of, I guess for them, a down year.

Obviously, that must have been a hungry, competitive, goal-driven group that they were not happy with the way things went last year, and they were determined to put it together this year, and they got off to a great start. Like I said, doesn't seem like they had a hiccup all year.

Q. Really for any of you guys, you're all Omaha veterans now. I'm curious how that has -- your experiences in the past have changed the way you prepare your teams. I mean, how much of an advantage is it as a coach to have been here multiple times before?
THE MODERATOR: Rob start.

ROB CHILDRESS: You probably ought to start at the other end of the table with these two down here. It's just I've been here five times, three as an assistant, two as a head coach, Coach Bolt and Coach Seely have as well. Just to be able to share with our players those experiences and how you need to handle it. You almost need to slow down, just like your wedding day. That would be my advice, too, to our players when they call and get married is slow down and enjoy it. Remember every hand you shake and every hug you get. Don't look up and go, what just happened today?

But at the same time, you need to make sure you keep your head down when it's time to prepare in practices and when the games occur. You need to make sure you prepare and you deserve success. Our guys hopefully will do that. They've done that in the last two weeks and staying in the moment and preparing the right way and deserving success on the weekend. But at the same time, make sure you enjoy the moments that are to be enjoyed.

THE MODERATOR: Next, the bridesmaid?

DAN McDONNELL: I'm going to steal that one from Rob. I can't use that today. I'm going to use that one in the future. That's a great one, comparing it to a wedding day.

For me, I was blessed to play in the College World Series in 1990. Any opportunity I get to mention the Citadel and that great team, I proudly do it. I got to come as a coach in '07, and then '13 and '14. You hope the more you come, the more you learn, and you try to prepare your kids. But I think, at the end of the day, you've got to be who you are. If you're different, if you're different the way you run the ship throughout the season, then I think it puts more pressure on the kids.

By no means, I haven't figured it out because we haven't played particularly great here, but I'm just going to be who I am, learn from the few years that we've been here before, and just try to help our kids stay relaxed. And as Rob said, keep them focused on what this is about. This is about baseball.

The first trip of the year, we opened up in Clearwater, Florida, at the Phillies complex, beautiful complex down there. I called it a business trip. When we got up on the plane to come here, I called it a business trip. This is obviously a business trip. There's a lot of external factors going on and we want to enjoy it, but I think you're going to remember most whether you played good baseball or not, and that was the emphasis to our players.

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: I think you always try to learn something. We had five one-run losses in a row out here. It's difficult. There's such a fine line between winning and losing out here. First couple years came out, maybe too restrictive. Probably trying to keep too much of a stranglehold on the players and what they were able to do on off days and learn. That's didn't work. You need to learn, there's a fine line. They have families out here and girlfriends, and they need to enjoy themselves.

I think the players listen to everything that the coach tells them, and I think these guys will agree with you. I think simple is more. Once again, just staying focused on TCU and trying to have our players understand who they are and what they do and try to keep things as simple as possible and just go play baseball. It's really that simple. They listen to everything you say. They look at your body language, and that's the responsibility of me and all the coaches up here to try to help our players play their best. If they're uptight or they're not having fun, they're not going to be successful on the field.

So it's a fine line, and every year you try to tweak things. But at the end of the day, it starts with that guy on the mound in the first game. You know, the biggest key is to try to win Game 1, and then you worry about Game 2. So simplifying, keeping it simple. And all the information that you give them. It can't be complicated. Obviously, we've all got scouting reports on each other, and we've just got to keep it simple and really focus on what we do. Just go from there.

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: You know, I think, from a baseball standpoint, we all try to prepare our teams all year long for this moment, which means you're just consistent. Whether it be with routines, -- pregame routines, practice routine, in game routine, pitch-to-pitch routine. All those things to me -- we talk about a ground ball hit at Lufkin stadium, a ground ball hit at Olsen Field, or a ground ball hit in Omaha is just a ground ball. You can make it more than it is if you're paying attention to the external things. So from a field standpoint, trying to do that.

Outside, the thing I learned and the thing I ask our teams every year is I try to have two personalities. One is, when we need you to be a baseball player, you need to be a baseball player. But there's so many off days, and the more you win, the more off days there are. When you're not in baseball, it's okay to be a fan. I don't want you walking around all day, but if you're off and you need to go buy a T-shirt, go buy a T-shirt.

I think, if you try and dominate their time -- I mean, there's going to be enough schedule to the days that we play. Of course you're going to have practice on your off day and things like that, but once practice is over with, what else is there to do? I don't know. There's only so much film you're going to watch. It's going to be way more about how our team plays than it is about a scouting report on Florida. If Faedo executes pitches, it's going to be a tough day. If Janczak executes pitches, we got a chance. I want our guys to enjoy this experience but be ready to play when it's time to play, and they'll be ready to play.

Q. Rob, can you describe the moment your players first realized TCU was on their side of the College World Series bracket and how they -- (laughter) how they reacted to that?
ROB CHILDRESS: I couldn't speak to it. Obviously, I knew they were on our side of the bracket. I know there was a moment our players realized that. I think their sole concern was trying to get through that Super Regional and a very, very good Davidson team. I'm sure they realized it at some point that night when they were celebrating winning the Super Regional.

But it's something we haven't addressed. Our whole focus is Louisville and trying to move on to Tuesday, and we'll certainly be playing one of these two guys. Hopefully, it's the later game and not the early game. We played TCU earlier in the year. We've had some barn burners with them the last two or three years. If we do match up with them again, I would expect the same.

Q. Kevin and Jim, you've both mentioned being here a lot before. Do you think your players kind of feel a pressure to win since your guys have never done it before, or is it motivating? How do you think they feel in this situation?
THE MODERATOR: Sully?

KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: I don't think they feel pressure at all. I think they're excited about the opportunity. We don't address that, this has got to be the team. I mean, we're lucky to be here. I know we've been here 6 of our last 8 years, but it's not easy. I do not want the players to feel pressure. There's no pressure from me.

I think the thing to keep in mind and remember, just getting to this point is a success. I think -- I know everybody wants your team to win the last game of the year, but when you're one of the last eight teams standing, I mean, I can't look at this as a failure, and I don't want our players to feel that way either.

There's no question we would love to win the first National Championship at Florida, but I never look back on the season and say that was a failure because it's so hard to get to this point.

JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE: Ditto. It's just the -- I can't say it any better than Sully said it. It doesn't matter how many times you're here, you respect how hard it is to get here. I'm a firm believer, even though they were 2-0 last year and we had to win one game and Coastal Carolina had to win three, that really, really hurt when you're close to playing for the championship.

But there are no bad days in this town, ever. I've never, ever had a bad day here, and I refuse to allow our players to have a bad day. They've earned the right to play in this awesome experience, and we're just going to enjoy the heck out of it.

Q. Dan, there are going to be some people here that are going to see McKay play in person for the first time. (Indiscernible) going to share what he's meant (indiscernible) these three years for you, and what's made him such a special player at this level?
DAN McDONNELL: Well, the great thing about Brendan is how much he's been loved over the years. I thought PU said it best at the regionals. A kid with that star power, that presence, when you get a chance to see him in person, how humble he is, how respectful he is, how mild mannered he is. It's been a joy. There's no secret, I believe, that the success he's had individually parallel with the team's success we've had is a direct correlation to the relationship he has with his teammates, how much he loves being around his teammates.

And we've all been around great players and guys who get awards, and sometimes there's jealousy and things that go on. I mean, the team celebrates every time Brendan gets an award, and it's been really, really fun as a coach to see. I congratulate his parents for how they prepared him for this.

I think it might have been Aaron who wrote a story on him earlier in the year about what's the highlight of your year? You'd have thought he'd say the four home runs in one game. He said the seven-hour bus trip to Georgia Tech because he's a college kid, because he sits in the back, because he plays -- I call them stupid games. I don't know what they're playing. They've got so many different games going on these days, and they're laughing and they're talking and they're joking. As a coach, it's always refreshing because that's one of the great advantages of coming to college is for this experience and the bond and the relationships.

So I'm so proud that he's got that bond with his teammates. Obviously, he'll be loved by them forever, and he left his mark. He came to our program at a time when we were fortunate to go into the ACC, and it couldn't have been a better marriage because we needed a superstar player like Brendan along with all the kids we've had around him to elevate each other and allow us to compete in a great baseball league.

Q. Going off of that, Rob, how do you look at someone like McKay, this morning he just got the Dick Howser Trophy, and how do you guys prepare to face him?
ROB CHILDRESS: It's certainly going to be a challenge on the mound. I was hoping Dan was going to tell me he was going with a right-hander, but I don't know if that would have been any easier. He has such an aggressive approach and such an easy swing. We hope to (indiscernible) eliminate runners in scoring position and do our best to pitch around him. There will certainly be moments we can't do that, and we'll have to make great pitches for a chance to get him out.

Q. Rob, Logan Foster, kid from Nebraska. How did you get him away from the Cornhuskers?
ROB CHILDRESS: Like I said, he's grown up coming to (indiscernible) and TD Ameritrade. I've known him since he was one year old (indiscernible) he kept coming to camps. Once he made the decision to be an Aggie, I said, I'm not putting the pacifier in your mouth anymore. That's done and over with. He's had a great year for us, certainly the reason we're back. I know he's looking forward to getting an opportunity to play in the College World Series.

Q. Kevin, lightheartedly, is there a story behind the nick under the eye?
KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: My 4-year-old right in the back, Finn. He's playing the game just like the players. How are you doing, buddy?

Q. What did he do to you?
KEVIN O'SULLIVAN: It's a long story.

Q. Just real quick. For Coach Childress, just curious about the decision for you to go with Martin over Hill. What kind of went into that?
ROB CHILDRESS: The last three weeks, he's probably been our hottest pitcher. I know the line doesn't say that against Davidson. But against Iowa and Arkansas the week before, he was fabulous, and I feel like he matches up really well.

Brigham Hill, we can use out of the bullpen. He's done that at a very high level last year early in the season. He was willing to do that here in the tournament. I guess not willing, but eager to do that. And I just feel that gives our pitching staff the best chance to win early in the tournament.

THE MODERATOR: Any more questions, folks? We'll have our second group of coaches this afternoon. State of Baseball is at 1:00 too. Congratulations and good luck.

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COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 16, 2017

Dan McDonnell

Kevin O'Sullivan

Jim Schlossnagle

Rob Childress