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COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 17, 2017Pat CaseyTrevor LarnachJake MulhollandJack AndersonOmaha, Nebraska Oregon State - 6, Cal State Fullerton - 5 THE MODERATOR: Once again, we'll have an overview from Coach Casey. Coach, give us an overview, please. COACH CASEY: Well, just I thought we were really tight at the beginning of the game. Obviously, Jake missed his spots, and the guy did a nice job to get him on the board. Their arm was good. He was throwing the ball where he wanted. We couldn't make the adjustments we needed to make. I might have got a little bit frustrated, but probably not too much. And our guys just kept battling and battling. The key to the thing, in my opinion is, first of all, Mully coming in and holding us. And the two big at bats were Malone and KJ getting the opportunity to extend the inning by really getting a couple of good at bats. We just battled. That's kind of the way we've done it all year long. So just proud of the guys. Q. For any of the guys, it felt like that was a long 2 1/2 hours where you're down 5-1. It felt like you were being lulled to sleep almost. How did you stay engaged enough to finally wake up and put a comeback together? THE MODERATOR: Jack, would you start. JACK ANDERSON: I think just with how this whole season's gone for us, we know that we're in just about any game. Doesn't matter. We're down one, down four, we're just believing in ourselves regardless of the score. THE MODERATOR: Trevor? TREVOR LARNACH: I'd just say that, even though we're down, we've been down before in the season, and just the thought of losing, it just never comes in our head. We like to battle. Coach Casey instilled that attitude in us, just battle and never give in, and that's exactly what we did. THE MODERATOR: Jake? JAKE MULHOLLAND: I think there was never a doubt in anyone's mind we wouldn't end up winning the game. We all battled really well and ended up coming back. It was great. Q. Jake, it seemed like those guys had a lot of success earlier in the game, working some deeper counts, but you were able to just carve them up. What was your approach against their hitters? JAKE MULHOLLAND: I was able to work backwards. I think that was important. And in my mind, I was just thinking to give my team the best opportunity to come back and end up getting a win. Q. Trevor, Colton Eastman has been one of their best pitchers throughout the year, maybe the best stuff on that team. When he comes into that game there, what are you thinking about pulling, and what was sort of your approach against him? TREVOR LARNACH: Are you talking about the at bat I was 2-0 and they came in with someone? Q. Yes. TREVOR LARNACH: They loaded -- he was down 2-0. I'm just looking for a fastball, and he threw one that I wasn't going to offer at because it was -- I mean, it was black. Just waiting for something I could hit, and he left one up for me, and I just took advantage of it. Q. For any of you guys, did it feel like, once you got that -- I think a leadoff walk from Gretler there in the seventh and two innings later, another walk, could you feel it? Like an energy shift in the dugout? JACK ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. I just think near the end of games we found ways to win all year. Just the way things were going, that was exactly what we expected to happen. TREVOR LARNACH: I think when guys start an inning off, it gets the inning going and gets us rolling. We like to feed off the energy of not only our teammates, but our coaches, and the fans too. The Beaver fans come out, they give us lots of energy, and they always come in large numbers. We appreciate that, and they really help us out. JAKE MULHOLLAND: I don't really think it was a matter of if. I think it was a matter of when. And getting a great leadoff hit by Gretler just really helped get us going, and we took advantage of it. Q. For Jack or Trevor, that confidence that you guys seem to have, that you just talked about, how much easier do you feel like it is to have that? Or how much of that is a result of all that you've accomplished this year and the fact that you guys haven't lost a game in almost two months? THE MODERATOR: Jack? JACK ANDERSON: I think it comes from the guy on the far end here. (Laughter). He just kind of believes in us the whole time. COACH CASEY: (Indiscernible.) JACK ANDERSON: Yeah. I've been on the bench before. So as long as I'm playing, I'm good. TREVOR LARNACH: I just think that we feed off of each other's confidence. We trust each other, and we love each other. So we come out and fight for each other. It's not just one person, it's just for everyone -- for Coach, for our teammates, for the fans, for everybody. Q. Jake, how -- just to talk about your stuff a little bit, I mean, the curveball looked like it was working really well. Even though you weren't throwing as hard as Jake was or Drew was after you, did you live off the fastball? Because it looked like you threw the curve first. It looked like you were throwing that for strike one a lot. JAKE MULHOLLAND: Yeah, I was using my slider and curveball often early in counts, and when I was able to have a well-placed fastball, it was working well. Just keeping hitters off balance even though my stuff is not as good as Jake's and Drew's, but just keeping them off balance any way I can. THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to questions for Coach Casey. Q. Coach, with a lot of controversy surrounding this baseball team, how were you able to keep the team focused? COACH CASEY: I don't know. I think we prepare for adversity during the season, whether it be an injury or whether it be -- you know, you lose a game you should win. You know, things happen. I think what you have to do is you have to try to create a mindset and an environment of which -- you know, when you get slapped in the face, you're willing to get off the mat. I got to give these guys a lot of credit because you can't do it yourself. You have to have good leadership off the field. Our two captains, Nick Madrigal and Drew Rasmussen are off the chart. Just great guys. And you can hear these guys talking about how they feel about one another. I've had some really good teams, and sometimes the desire to play a certain position or the desire to hit in the 3 hole can get in the way and maybe get an ego going, and there's no ego in our club. I put guys in the game all the time. I thought Tyler Malone coming in was huge, Preston Jones. You try to convince guys you don't have to be in the game to be ready to go. If you've been watching Nick Madrigal play or Grenier or Larnach or those people for 30, 40 games, you know what to do. I believe the mindset of what they do probably has helped us through that. Q. Coach, how big of a spark did Adley give you? When he had the diving catch on the bunt, double off the runner, and then he comes up with a big hit, seemed like he provided a big spark for the team when you needed it. COACH CASEY: Yeah, that was huge for us. The guys were excited in the dugout. You know, those dugouts are so big. Usually, we're cramped in there and give each other a little more energy. I was thinking of closing the back half off and moving everybody down. But it was probably a good thing because I probably had a little bit of smoke coming out of my ears about the third. You know, it's hard. I always told guys in '06, because the guy said -- we played Miami in '06. The first game, I think we got beat 11-1. We got beat the year before two straight. 1952, they got beat two straight. So I was on the verge of becoming the first coach ever to be part of a team that lost their first six times in Omaha. I just said to the guys, you've just got to win a game. You've just got to relax. We beat Georgia 4-3. Kunda turned a double play with D-Bar, little D, Darwin Barney, and it looked like the monkey was off our back, and we won 4-3 and ended up winning that game. Same thing here. I thought really -- I thought Thompson -- I never should have said what I said before the game. A guy said, what's your biggest concern about Thompson? I said, he'll be too amped up and won't throw the ball where he wants. I think he was a little bit overexcited. So it's good to relax. Q. Coach, the season that Jake's had, first of all, from your perspective, what makes him as good as he is? And second of all, you talk about the big game atmosphere and kind of the not being too amped up, being in control of your emotions. Is that just the guy that you would want in that situation to kind of stabilize things? COACH CASEY: Yeah, he's the right guy. He's 14-0. You're going to have a game where somebody's going to -- you're not going to be as good, and he wasn't. I mean, did he give up all three hits? I think he -- Q. I'm talking about Mulholland. COACH CASEY: Oh, Mully, I'm sorry. Mully was really good. He just carved, goes in, out, soft, firm. And then he's a really -- a contrast to the velocity of Jake -- Jake Thompson, and I imagine that Drew looked like he was throwing 200 when he got in the game after Mully's stuff. Q. Coach, Jack was just talking about how he gets that confidence, the team gets the confidence that they're not going to lose from you. What do you say, or how do you carry yourself, or how do you kind of translate that confidence to them? COACH CASEY: I don't know. I just try to be myself. I've kind of been a battler my whole life. I grew up in a competitive environment, competitive family. I just think -- you know, life sometimes isn't that easy. You know, we can sit around and think about the things we don't -- you know, or the things that aren't going our way, and that consumes you. I think, if you just think about the fact that I can never deny myself believing in myself, that's what I think we tried to do, and we try to do that coming in the fall. It's really important that guys start believing who they are. I know Billy Rowe made fun of me in this documentary. He was our first baseman in '06 who hit the big home run, he said, Coach used to say you got to brush your teeth like a champion. You've got to drive your car like a champion, you've got to study like a champion. He goes, it really kinda worked. I don't know, just be who you are. That's all I can do. Q. Coach, I assume you go back to Fehmel for your next game. How does Drew Rasmussen's role carry out from here, would you say? COACH CASEY: You know, obviously, you'd like to be in a situation where you know who your 1, 2, and 3 are, and we're not in that situation. Actually, Drew is probably going to throw Game 2 depending who is our opponent. That won't happen now. We will throw Fehmel. If Drew has to close, he can close. If not, we can use him down the road if we're fortunate enough to win. If we lose, it's going to be Danny Turpen again. He threw once in '06 and never threw again. That's the way it is. Q. Coach, you guys went down real quick. You got smacked in the mouth real quick. Do you think a game like this was needed to keep your guys humble? COACH CASEY: First of all, I do think we're humble. There's no doubt. I think we're a humble team. I think they smacked us in the mouth because they're in the World Series for a reason and because of the fact that Jake was -- you know, he wasn't sharp. Got behind hitters, and I think he started to press. I saw it on the board one time that he was down to 86, 87. Usually, he's 90 to 94. I just think he was trying to command stuff, and he couldn't do it. So he left stuff in the middle of the plate. So I don't think it was a matter of us coming out and thinking we were going to walk on this one because I don't believe that at all. I think the teams that are here are here for a reason. I've seen LSU and Florida State play a bunch on TV, and then I've seen Fullerton on tape. I've probably watched more tape on Fullerton in the last -- you know, since we knew we were going to play them. So we know how good they are. We've just got to come out every day and try be to the team that we are. THE MODERATOR: We will see you Monday, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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