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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMay 25, 2019Mike FoxMichael BuschIke FreemanDurham, North Carolina North Carolina - 13, Boston College - 5 MIKE FOX: We are very excited to be playing for the ACC Championship tomorrow. Like I said, he was hungry to keep it short. Q. Last night you talked about the need for this team to answer after Miami got up 5-0. Wondering, I'm guessing the same mindset applied today when BC scored four there in the sixth, you guys came out and scored three the bottom half of that inning? MICHAEL BUSCH: Yeah, we knew we were going to battle the whole game. When they came back with that 4-spot -- like I said last night, though, again, we just stick to our routine, stick to our plan, not try and do too much, and we happened to get three runs that inning, which was huge. Q. Ike, I think you have about five RBIs in the last three games. What are you seeing out there? What's going well for you, and how do you keep it up? IKE FREEMAN: I mean, I feel good in the box right now. I feel comfortable. I'm just not getting big, just staying short. Kind of found my swing, and it feels good. Q. Coach, talk about your dominant performance this game; you guys scored 13 runs and everything, and also talk about in the sixth inning where you guys gave up four runs because it could have been a 13-1 win rather than a 13-5. MIKE FOX: Well, first of all, I think it was good for us to get off to a good start, get a lead. I thought Will Sandy did that for us on the mound, and getting a lead certainly helps. But BC has got a good offensive team. They showed that against us when we played them in Chapel Hill for three games. They can really hit. We knew they weren't going to go away, and those kind of innings happen. It's how you respond to them that's important, and that's what we did. Q. You probably have run out of things to say about Michael Busch over the last three years, but I mean, these are your last few weeks getting to watch this guy probably in a Carolina uniform and he comes out and performs like this on this stage. How much fun is that to watch a guy with that kind of talent show up on a spotlight like this? MIKE FOX: I mean, you just said it. I'm about as blessed as can be because I've seen every swing he's taken while he's been in Chapel Hill. That's one of the more impressive ones, that two-run homer, and I've seen a lot of good swings by Michael Busch. What's impressive is just that it's -- it's probably as corny as it can be, but I get to watch, and I've said it for a number of years of how good these kids are, just how good they are, just not on our team but all around college baseball. The players are so good now, and Michael is right up there with the best of them, and he's even a better person. I know you've heard that from a lot of coaches, but that's what makes it more special, and Ike, as well. They're two of the best kids I'll ever coach. Q. Michael, talk about that sequence on the two-run home run, that pitching sequence, were you looking for something at the plate to drive the ball or just talk about it? MICHAEL BUSCH: He's been giving us trouble. He gave us trouble back when we played him at home, and so when he came in we kind of knew what he had. He did make some fastballs, breaking balls, changeups, whatever he threw. So honestly, like I said last night, I was just trying to see a ball up, and I saw he threw me a curveball earlier in the at-bat and I kind of saw that same pitch again and just tried to put a good swing on it as usual. Q. Michael, to be able to play for the tournament title tomorrow and finish this thing off by winning it, what would that mean, and especially to take into next weekend and beyond. MICHAEL BUSCH: Yeah, that would mean a ton. But I think just going out there and enjoying our time during this ACC Tournament, you know, it's something that you'll never remember. I don't forget our freshman year ACC Tournament run, and I'm sure it'll be the same for this one. Whoever wins out there tonight, it's going to be a good battle. We've got two good teams out there. So we're going to be excited for sure. Q. Mike, I wanted to ask you about Dallas Tessar. Actually he's had a really good hitting tournament, and the bottom of your lineup has not been especially productive over the long haul. If I'm not mistaken, his hit early in the game gave you guys a working lead, and it seems like he's picked you up for a guy who came in hitting a buck-50 has performed above that level. What do you see from him? MIKE FOX: Well, Dallas started a lot of games for us last year and did some really good things for us last year, and he's been injured. But he brings us really good defense in the outfield. He's a converted shortstop. He's one of our better outfielders, so we're playing him for defense here in this park initially because right field is very challenging, I think, here. But he came over that big swing of the bat on the 3-2 pitch and it pretty much turned the game. They were about ready to get out of the inning, and all of a sudden we've got three runs. I thought that was the biggest momentum swing of the game, and Dallas is another good leader for us, and just low heart rate, so he's not going to get in there and press, and usually gets us some good at-bats, so it's nice to see kids like that hang with it and come -- he hasn't played, so all of a sudden you're playing in the biggest games of our season. That says a lot about Dallas Tessar. Q. Mike, your initial thoughts on your pitching plan for tomorrow? MIKE FOX: Well, we've got Connor Ollio, who started some games for us. Austin Bergner will be available, as well. I saw Andrew Grogan there. I think Hansen probably will tell me he can give us an inning tomorrow. So we'll be able to piece nine innings together. Maybe not any more than that. We'll see. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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