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NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 21, 2012Michael RothRay TannerOMAHA, NEBRASKA South Carolina – 4 THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Ray. Give us an overview. COACH TANNER: Yeah, it turned out to be a game. I thought was going to be a pitching duel to the very end. We were fortunate in the second and third inning we got a two out run, and a two‑out base hit, and Dantzler homers after the double in the third. I thought Tyler had a couple of‑‑ Roth was very special today. He has been many, many times. Last night I told him we need you to stay out there for a long time. He picked a great time to give us a come pleat game and gave us a chance to rest in the bullpen. But a tremendous outing by Roth. And we get a chance to play again. Q. Michael, how did the decision go down last night? Did you approach Ray? Did Ray go to you? MICHAEL ROTH: Coach came to me and asked about 100%? I said yes, and he said you're getting the ball. I was looking forward to it. Q. Coach, the fact that Michael saved your bullpen for tomorrow? COACH TANNER: It's do or die situation. You're going to have all hands on deck in a game like this. So we had a good bullpen today. If we had to go to it, I was hopeful that Michael would be out there in the sixth or seventh inning, worst case scenario. He had a couple three good innings where he kept his pitch countdown and ended up just a tad over a hundred today. So it was outstanding. I had called down, I guess, in the 8th inning, and Webb, Tyler Webb told me today, he felt great, which was a little bit surprising to me. But told Matt Price to be ready to go, and neither one of those guys moved very quickly. I said to them after the game, you didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry. They said Roth was on the mound. Why do we need to be in a hurry? I said, well, I understand, but you get a walk, and a bloop, and you get the tieing run at the plate. But it did help, no question about it, the fact that he stayed out there today. We didn't really crank anybody up down there. So we'll be back tonight with all hands on deck again. Q. Michael, what was it in particular that was working for you today that made you so effective and helped keep those guys on their heels? MICHAEL ROTH: Really just going out and pounding the strike zone. I was able to hit the strike zone with pretty much every pitch I threw. That helped me a lot. I didn't have any walks today, which when there are base runners and you can stay on that roll, that I haven't really been able to get into this season much. So, it was nice to be able to throw everything for strikes. Q. Who gets the ball tonight, and will Webb be available to pitch in the bullpen if needed? COACH TANNER: Montgomery is the likely starter in tonight's game. And Webb assures me before the game, during the game, after the game, he assures me that he feels fine. He even said last night my arm's fine. I got a little tightness in the shoulder, in the back of the shoulder just from the torque. But I said I do not want you out there if you don't feel great, and he said I'm ready to go. I feel really good. We'll have everybody available down there. Q. Coach, you're facing Randall Fant tonight for Arkansas. What do you expect from him and Arkansas? He had such a great game the other night with them. COACH TANNER: They're on a roll. They've got momentum there in the winner's bracket. Fant is a guy that's had some good ones in his career, and he's going to come right at us. He's rested and ready to go. We're playing one of the favorites now, certainly, with being undefeated on our side. So there is a lot of work to do. They played really well the other night, and we've just got to go back and rest fast and get ready to go again. Q. Michael, you've set a record for most innings pitched in College World Series career. What, if anything, does that mean to you? MICHAEL ROTH: It's pretty sweet. Q. Ray, when you talked to Michael last night or maybe before the game today, did you have any indication that this was the kind of performance you were going to get out of them? COACH TANNER: Michael's very humble, but since he became a pitcher, he's been a guy that straps it on for you. He's going to give you a great effort, even if it's not what he thinks is a best effort from him. As a coaching staff, we feel good about having him out there. Would have, could have, should have, should we have held him? You know, you can't play games like that. He's our best guy. He got an extra day's rest because of the rain, and you go. He's going to give us a chance. If we would have been down 4‑2 whatever it might have been in the sixth or seventh inning, he's going to give you a chance to win. That's how you have to approach it. The only question I had was not if he's going to pitch, if he's a hundred percent, and that's the only thing I asked him. He said I'm a hundred percent, and I said that's good enough for me. Let's try to get back in this thing. Q. You say Michael's special on a lot of occasions, given the stakes today, is this as good as he's been? COACH TANNER: Certainly today he was very special. But he's been really good a lot. There's been a lot of games since he started pitching. Even back when he was just a situational reliever with that 36, 37 appearances his sophomore year. His E.R.A. was 1.5 back then. So he's had a lot a lot of good ones. But this was probably the most critical game that he's pitched for us because he was good, and he gave us nine innings, which gave our bullpen a chance. You can't go into a game against Arkansas as good as their pitchers are with not feeling like you have a pretty good staff ready to go, and he gave us a chance today. Q. What are the minuses or pluses about having to play twice in one day. Does it give Arkansas an advantage, do you think? COACH TANNER: I don't know. We're coming off of a win, so it's not like you're coming off a loss and you have to turn around and play. We won the game. Got back. Getting a little rest, and hopefully the momentum and excitement will be fine. I don't think it's necessarily a negative. You say, well, 18 innings, but these guys are young and have a lot of energy. So it is what it is. We're scheduled to play, and we're going to try to answer the bell. Q. Ray just said this was probably the most (No microphone)? MICHAEL ROTH: The last time I threw nine innings was against Clemson. I don't know if that one matters either. To me they'll all been important games here. So I just try to go out there and give the team a chance to win. I guess I've been saving all my complete games for the postseason. But it's nice, and I'm glad we have the opportunity to just keep playing. Q. Michael, have you made any adjustments here lately to kind of get your best command? It seemed like today was as good as it's been in a while, right? MICHAEL ROTH: Yeah, it has been the best command that I've had in a long time. So that's nice. Whenever I'm getting behind, you have to start putting balls in the zone and letting them hit it, where I like guys that swing at some pitches that are more my pitches. But you know, just following through, really. I don't know. I didn't necessarily make any adjustments per se, because I think everything's been fine. Maybe it was being on a little shorter rest than I'm used to. Q. Michael, I believe your sophomore year is the last time you pitched with your team facing elimination. Does that sound right? MICHAEL ROTH: Yes. Q. Did that even enter your mind today? You've had this amazing streak, but did it feel any different leading into the game? Did you feel a comfort level here now that it's kind of like your second home? MICHAEL ROTH: I don't really think about the past too much. Maybe you can draw from it. You know, when you're preparing, I guess, to get yourself ready. But you're not in the game thinking about anything. You just go out there and try to fill up the zone, get guys out. It's been nice to have the opportunity to pitch here for three years, and just really don't take that for granted. Q. Michael, what were your emotions like at the beginning of the game, knowing that this could be, even if you guys won, your last time pitching at USC? Just sort of your emotions early on knowing that things were going well for you today? MICHAEL ROTH: Well, before the game you think this could potentially be my last game or my last start ever, but while you're getting ready and getting ready to pitch, you're focusing on that game and where your pitches are going and how you're feeling. So that's really, that's all you think about is just getting prepared to go out there and throw the game. You just try to go out there and keep filling it up. It can always switch on you. At the drop of a hat, you can walk a guy or have a bloop or something like that. And next thing you know you've got men on first and second. So you just try to keep filling up the zone, making them hit pitches rather than walk people. You just try to hope that role continues and I was able to do that today. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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