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COLLEGE WORLD SERIES: LUBBOCK SUPER REGIONALJune 8, 2019Josh HollidayHueston MorrillNoah SifritColin SimpsonLubbock, Texas Oklahoma State - 6, Texas Tech - 5 JOSH HOLLIDAY: It was a great baseball game. I'm proud of the way we fought, a great win for us, and we're looking forward to tomorrow. Q. Noah, I know you were brought in for defensive purposes did you kind of feel like you had something special going on? What was it like to score that run? NOAH SIFRIT: Once they tied it up in the last inning, I knew I was the first one to lead off the game so my mentality was just to get on base and get my team a chance to win, and there were pass balls, and I took every opportunity I got. Q. Just for you, when you get on base, did your heart rate go the higher knowing that there was a possibility that you could score in a place where you've kind of watched games? NOAH SIFRIT: Yeah, of course. It was definitely up there, but I was trying to calm myself down, just stay in the moment and just do what I do. Q. Hueston, I guess what did you see on that pitch that you hit? I know You are not known for your home runs, this was your second one this year, but just what were you able to do in terms of that big spot? HUESTON MORRILL: Out of the hand I saw it was a curveball. It hung. Yesterday I missed a hanging curveball. Got it again today and didn't miss it. Q. First time getting a win against Texas Tech in a moment where you guys needed it in the worst way. Do you feel like you have momentum moving into Game 3 tomorrow? HUESTON MORRILL: Of course. Game two is a big one. Winning this one definitely will give us momentum going into tomorrow, so we will see how it plays out. NOAH SIFRIT: I agree completely. This is a momentum booster, so this is exactly what we needed and I'm excited for tomorrow. COLIN SIMPSON: Tech is a really good team. They're a tough team to beat. They have a great bullpen and good hitters 1-9, so they've got their way a couple times this year, and we have a funny thing going on, you know, it's really hard to beat someone five times, so today we finally got that, and it's a huge momentum swing going into Sunday. Being down in the hole 1-0 we all kind of all agreed, you're down in the hole 1-0, you have nothing to lose, so we just come out and fight. We gave it everything we had. So to get that win and keep the season alive, it gives you that edge to come out tomorrow and keep your season alive. Q. For you, Colin, obviously the big home run, then Tech was able to come back. I know yesterday was chipping away, never getting that big hit, and today you guys answered not once but twice, getting the walk-off win. Was it more of a relief today to come through when you guys needed it? COLIN SIMPSON: It is a relief. I struggled a little bit through the year, and I finally found my swing, so to be able to come up in big situations like that and get the big hit that the team is being looking for, it's a great feeling and definitely relaxing, but like I said, Tech is a great team so I knew they were going out that next inning and push and fight and scratch and claw to score one or two runs, so to get Noah on base in that ninth inning, he's fast and he can run. So for him to get on base and they throw a couple of wild pitches, I mean, they -- that game kinda fell into our hands there at the end, luckily, with Noah on the base pads. Q. Noah, how many regional or super regional games did you attend here when you were living in Lubbock? NOAH SIFRIT: I would say four or five games. I was actually at the Duke super regional last year, watching Braxton play. Growing up, I came to a lot of games but I don't remember too many regionals or super regionals as a child. Q. For the players, starting with you, Noah, because you scored the winning run, a walk-off wild pitch, have you ever been in a game like this where you win a game this big in that fashion? NOAH SIFRIT: Not on a pass ball, but I have been a part of a few walk-offs on this team in the past few years, so it was an incredible feeling. Q. Hueston? HUESTON MORRILL: Little League. Sometimes stuff like that doesn't happen. For us, fortunately, it did. Noah is quick, like Tank said, he's able to get around the pads and getting him on in that last inning was key. He does his job well, and we believe in him. It was good. COLIN SIMPSON: I would have to say I've never been a part of a wild pitch walk-off. It's a cool feeling, walk-offs are a great feeling, but most are singles through the infield or sac flies or maybe a home run, but to have a walk-off wild pitch, it's a different type of walk-off but we'll take 'em how we get 'em. Q. How do you feel your guys responded from yesterday and under adversity today? JOSH HOLLIDAY: Fantastic. I couldn't be more proud of them. I couldn't ask for more in terms of their fight and their toughness and their willingness to bounce back and overcome mistakes here and there and plugging away, doing it together. I'm very proud and grateful that they have learned to compete like that. As a coach, I'm proud of 'em for sure. Q. I know you brought in Noah for defensive purposes but what was it like to have him score that winning run and know that he's ready for any situation as he mentioned. JOSH HOLLIDAY: Fantastic. He's been an unbelievable teammate. He's put on display the attitude that you have to have amongst your team for a team to truly function and that is someone who has accepted his role and worked hard at it. And that's not the first time that Noah has been the one to step on home plate to win a game. His discipline to draw a lead-off walk against a pitcher with very explosive pitches was big. His trust in himself to take the extra base from first to second to get into scoring position was big, and then obviously with a shorter backstop at this ballpark, to get enough of a jump to score from third is not a gimmie. Sometimes the backstop is significantly further back, and it's an easy read. This is a field where you have to be very on point with your read, so very proud of him. He definitely contributed to that win in a big way. Q. Coach, Parker pitched really well today. Tough start, got a no decision. Just wanted your thoughts on his performance. JOSH HOLLIDAY: It was big, because they're a tough team to get a start like that against, I thought he went -- what did he go, six innings, and he got better as he went, do so on a warm afternoon, showed good stamina, great toughness, make some big pitches with key player at home plate at times that kept us in the game. I thought his outing was a huge step forward and definitely something we needed. As I saw, they're a very difficult team to get out in those late innings, and they're very hard to keep off the board, so his outing was no doubt a key in our victory. Q. And then Hueston, setting the table, showing a little power today, how about his performance? Your thoughts on that? JOSH HOLLIDAY: He's been a gamer all year long, he really has. There is a lot packed in that little body and you saw that on his hanging curveball, like he said. That wasn't a hanger. That young man has an outstanding curveball. He is a heck of a pitcher, and he just got a curve ball and he did the right thing with it. When players do big things in big games, it's fun to watch. That's what this is all about. There's high-level athletes on both sides. Some of their kids so some remarkable things. Their lead-off hitter, his hand/eye coordination is about as good as I've ever seen. I've never seen a hitter who can hit so many pitches in so many quadrants. He is just really, really good, to go along with some of the others that are outstanding. Just good athletes on the field playing good baseball. You got to watch one heck of a game. Q. Coach, considering the way the head-to-head has gone with all the success that Texas Tech has had against OSU, was there a time when you were concerned about a mental block or -- JOSH HOLLIDAY: No, because we don't talk about it. Last year was last year, regular season is the regular season. It's only something if you choose to talk about it, and we don't. Quite honestly, if anything I would be the one nervous to have the streak on my side to be quite honest. We had a little bit of that going with Oklahoma where people were talking about it every time we played them; you guys are 8-0. I don't want to sit around and talk about that. Every game is its own game; you don't want to think that way. It's a little bit of a trap. They have an excellent team. They have really good players. I think they do a great job of coaching them, and every single time we play 'em, it's a competition and a battle. That's it. Each one of them is settled, and you see it. You've watched them play out. The games are tough. They're an excellent team. We know every time we play them they're tough games. And that's about all you can handle in athletics. To sit around and talk about other things quite honestly, in my opinion, is foolish. Q. Coach, I know you spoke on this. I think it's 21 games this year that you've trailed and then you've come back and won. JOSH HOLLIDAY: Okay. Q. And you do it in a game where you absolutely needed it to happen. Going into tomorrow, is that just by accident that your team was able to do that, or is that something that happens because of the group of guys that you have? JOSH HOLLIDAY: I don't think it's an accident. I don't think you could be that fortunate to have that many accidents. I think what it is is probably more of what you said, it's really a compliment to the kids and their willingness to keep playing. It's kids like Colin Simpson who have been through these series, faced these great pitchers from Texas Tech, not one year, two years, three years, but four years, who have invested in Oklahoma State. Kids like Jensen Elliott in his fourth year, and Joe Lienhard, I could go up and down the list. They're invested in what we're doing, and their willingness to keep fighting is a compliment to the kids and their spirit in what we're doing. I don't think it's accidents as much as it's this team and the way it's kinda wired. Sometimes it's hard to get three or four hits in a row to come from behind and score, but if you can get one guy on and maybe catch a barrel, hit it out of the park, then a one-run deficit might turn into a one-run advantage and that's kind of live by the sword die by the sword, right, the home runs and the strikeouts and we've talked about that. People ask me about that all the time. Probably one of the reasons we have been able to come back a number of times is because the kids can close the gap with one swing of the bat from time to time. So it's a little bit of who we are. Actually it's a lot of who we are, and just ask them to keep competing hard to the very end, and they're willing to do that. Q. How much do you think the fact that you have done it before also plays into that equation just in terms of their confidence. They've done it in the postseason. JOSH HOLLIDAY: There is no doubt about that. When you've been able to rally and when you find yourself in that position again, rather than thinking I don't know if we can do it your mental talk is we've done it before, I believe we can do it again and then if you can do it another time or two rather than wonder you are start to know and as of late the kids have done it frequently enough now that I think they're expecting to. It's a little bit of a journey to get from I wonder, I think, I know, and now I expect to. And that's been a lot of fun to watch, because that's a live and well in these kids' spirit and it has to be when you look at the type of ball games that we're playing. It's high, high level baseball. I can't tell you in preparing for a series, scouting an opponent and watching the two teams play what high-level baseball is being played and the types of pitches and swings that are executed by Texas Tech, I think they're excellent, and I think our kids are doing a heck of a job going pitch-to-pitch with them. Q. Josh, a couple of rough outings with relievers late in the game. What is the mindset of the bullpen like going into tomorrow? JOSH HOLLIDAY: I don't think they were rough outings, Zach. Peyton has been unbelievably good, he's been dynamite. Basso came in and done his thing. Joe left the ball up once or twice, but he will bounce back. He pitched remarkably well last week, and I thought Ben threw great. I think those kids are all in a good state of mind. They will be ready to go tomorrow. When you are pitching with the game on the line, there is some pressure attached to that, and that's okay, but I thought those kids threw the ball well. And, again,they're facing some kids that are pretty gifted with the bat. You've got to keep believing in them and pitching with the game on the line, that's a tough job. Q. Tomorrow will be all hands on deck, but do you know who you are going to give the ball to? JOSH HOLLIDAY: We don't know yet, we will know after we get back to the hotel and take a shower, grab something to eat and we'll figure it out. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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