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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

May 22, 2019

Durham, North Carolina

Boston College - 5, Louisville - 1

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Boston College. We have head coach Mike Gambino and student-athletes Jake Alu, Joe Suozzi and starting pitcher Dan Metzdorf. Coach, an opening statement.

COACH GAMBINO: I think Metzy should give the opening statement after that performance. It's fun to watch him pitch when he gets in a groove like that. And came out after the eighth and looked at me and just said, tell those boys down there to sit down. And we told them to sit down.

And that was an unbelievable outing. The thing I love from our lineup today was just they threw good arms with good stuff and just super competitive at-bats. Even some of our two-strike at-bats that didn't end up with hits, like Galland and Cody, just guys doing such a great job and competing. And I said it yesterday but it's a fun group to be around right now.

Q. Dan, you were only able to pitch four and two-thirds in your first outing against Louisville. What were you able to take from that outing to be able to toss a complete game today?
DAN METZDORF: That first outing I was kind of on a pitch limit too. But I just had the confidence to attack hitters. We made some unbelievable plays behind me. And Burnsy is giving me confidence these last four, five starts, the kind of run I've had right now. So basically I have all the confidence in the world in the guys around me and it's basically made it easier to pitch. Unbelievable. So much fun.

Q. Dan, it seemed like you got in that groove in the middle innings and then you're just mowing them down and attacking, working fast. When you're going good is that how you like to pitch in that kind of a style?
DAN METZDORF: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I'm much better when I go 0-1 rather than 1-0. And when I feel I'm pressing on somebody I'm going to keep going. We have a funny saying, just foot on the pedal. And once I got in that third or fourth inning where I got in that groove where I think it went nine in a row or something like that, I just stayed with it, tried to get ahead of guys early and just put the ball in play. So that was fun.

Q. Jake, couple big swings for you today also. How much are you enjoying this ride right now, and how do you attribute your success this season at the plate? You've had a big jump this year?
JAKE ALU: So the biggest thing is I just want to keep playing as a senior. I know a bunch of these guys in our class is just trying to get another day at the ball field together. And I mean, personally, I'm just trying to have competitive at-bats and play good D behind our pitchers. And if nine guys are doing that we're going to have a good, successful team.

Q. Joe, you guys just squeezed in right at the end to make this tournament; but even coming in, you guys were a pretty hot club to get yourself into that position. What's this ride been like, especially now after today, knowing that you're going to the semis?
JOE SUOZZI: Honestly, this is the most fun I've ever had playing baseball with this group of guys. I just love them so much. We're loose. We're having fun. We're being competitive. Just a lot of fun to be around right now.

Q. Coach, yesterday we talked about the freshmen, and today it's the seniors. Seemed like you're getting those kind of contributions from the entire roster. But what can you say about this group of guys and what they've meant for this program and this run that you're on right now?
COACH GAMBINO: Well, it's funny because you saw it yesterday when you asked about the freshmen, I talked about what the seniors have done to bring those freshmen in to get them ready, to hold them accountable, to teach them how we go about, teach them how to go about their business. So part of the thing I talked about yesterday was the success the freshmen are having because of the senior class.

And now you're seeing two of these guys sitting up here now and they've just done a great job leading. And the only thing that's mattered all year has been the team and the program, not each individual. And when you do that and the freshmen got on board, like I said, next thing you know it's a pretty fun ride.

They put us into a spot -- you look at the slow build of this program and this is going to be -- the senior class went to a Super Regional as freshmen. They went to the ACC tournament three out of four times, which if you look at these teams we're competing against in this league, that's no small feat. And now they get a chance to win an ACC championship on the way out. It's going to be a pretty good legacy. And I think -- and nobody probably knows it better than you and Kendall, but I think we've put ourselves in a pretty good spot.

I think there's going to be some serious consideration regardless of what happened on Saturday. I think we're going to play a couple more days, but I think we've got to be seriously talked about as an at large.

Q. Dan, talk about that final pitch, obviously to end it, that whole thing. You're a 12 seed going against the 1 seed, talk about the emotions going through your mind to finish it out and obviously move on to Saturday.
DAN METZDORF: Yeah, the last out was hard. Obviously the last one is the hardest one. Logan Wyatt, All-American, he made an unbelievable at-bat. His last two at-bats I think were the two hardest of the day, based on the way he was taking my slider low and away, seeing it really well.

And behind the plate, held his own the whole day. It was definitely an overall effort. Basically, when it came down to that, was trying to get the ball in play, went 0-2, just didn't want to get another walk. My pitch count kind of got up a little bit.

It was such a culmination of all different emotions. That's probably like the fourth time I've pitched in the ninth. I've never actually finished a game. So to do it in my senior year in this tournament is pretty cool. So no problem.

Q. About Dan and his evolution as a pitcher, from your perspective what makes him so tough, and what's been the biggest difference for him to have this standout season he's put together?
COACH GAMBINO: Well, I think it's been a really slow but steady progression. He just continues to get better. The thing about Danny he's one of the most competitive kids I've ever been around. And part of the thing with his freshman year was learning how to channel that.

And then as it sort of built his sophomore year he's learning how to be a starting pitcher, learning what it meant to work through one or two or hopefully three times during a game where things kind of start getting a little bit crazy and that's what happens.

If you want to throw nine, you have to get through three jams, right? And those comments continuing to get stronger, learning how to prepare. And that's what you saw last year. And then it kind of comes together. And that's, when it comes down to it, that's our job. That's what we're here for: Help these kids grow and get better. And first and foremost as a program we were built on player development.

So you see guys like Jake, same thing, Jake sort of had a bit part as a freshman and comes on as a sophomore now. For my money, he's one of the best players in this conference, just a pure baseball player.

And Danny's the same way, becomes First Team All-ACC. It's just that slow, continual build of guys continuing to get better and grow. And that's what makes our job so fun.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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