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NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 25, 2012Adam MatthewsMichael RothRay TannerOMAHA, NEBRASKA Arizona – 4 THE MODERATOR: Great baseball game. Give us a view from first base‑‑ third base dugout. COACH TANNER: First, congratulations to Coach Lopez and his staff. They did a great job in the postseason. We were delighted to be a part of the Championship Series. We battled as hard as we could, but they did a little bit better than we did. They played great defense, had timely hitting and clutch pitching as well. Although we're disappointed tonight, I'm not disappointed with my players. We battled hard. We've worked extremely hard, and we made a run. We got to the postseason and got back out here and got in the loser's bracket and got back to the finals. Like I said, we're disappointed tonight, but certainly not disappointed in our players and their effort to get us back in this position. But this is a national championship for the University of Arizona, and we congratulate them. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Michael, I noticed at the end there you were kind of watching the things there with Jordan next to you, and looked like you might have said something to him. Did you? If you did, what were you talking to him about? And, also, what do you kind of see with the future of this team? MICHAEL ROTH: Talking about Jordan Montgomery? I don't honestly remember. I mean, I don't think I was saying much. But he just came up to me and said congratulations. And I just told him just keep getting better, keep getting after it. And what was the last part? The future? The immediate future, I don't know. The next three days hopefully chill out a bit. I guess the Angels will call when they call. Q. I meant for the team. MICHAEL ROTH: They're going to be great. You've got Coach Tanner and the rest of the staff. I mean, without the talented freshmen we had this year, we wouldn't be in the position we are right now. So they're excellent. And with the guys they're bringing in, I'm sure they're going to be great. I wish them the best of luck. I'll always be a Carolina baseball fan and always be family to me, so I'll keep in touch with all these guys. Q. Adam and Michael, the two seniors. Just think back when you guys were recruited to South Carolina. Did you ever imagine you'd be in a situation to play for three national championships and part of such a historic run? ADAM MATTHEWS: Absolutely not. Obviously that's the goal of every college baseball team. When you're recruited to a big program like the University of South Carolina, it's an honor. And you get there and your goal is to contribute and get to Omaha and farther, to win a national championship. And to do that twice, be in a position this year to do it again, it's been unbelievable. It's been a lot of fun. We had a great run. We played with a great bunch of guys over the four years, especially me and Matt, since we've been here. And we thank Coach Tanner and South Carolina for that. MICHAEL ROTH: I can't say anything better. It's just been a wonderful opportunity. I don't think you can imagine something that I've been able to do in my four years, the things that the team's‑‑ you know, we all have been a part of for the past three years. I don't think you can imagine that, really. And it was a special time. And really can't say enough about how fun these past four years have been to me. Q. Coach, could you talk about the thinking process when you did pull Michael out and just the way the seniors performed for you over these past four years? COACH TANNER: Well, it was a tough call even taking him out of the game. But in the back of my mind, I knew that he was out there on three days and his pitch count was probably close to 90 at that point. The matchup said to go to the right‑hander, and the numbers were a little better right on right versus Michael against him, so he was only going to be out there for a few more anyway. So we made the move to try to get out of the inning, and we were able to get out of it. The second part of your question is these guys, the players come and go, but then you have guys that have tremendous roots in your program. And these guys do. There's a tremendous void. Not because of how successful they've been. Certainly that's a part of it. But these guys are‑‑ you know, they're like an extension of our staff. These guys take ownership. They have for a long time. And that's the part that's going to be most difficult. Certainly the performance that they've had between the lines has been incredible. But the ownership that they've had in our program at the University of South Carolina is second to none. And that's going to create a void. I hope that these guys will have success in professional baseball and they'll show up at the stadium. At least I'll be able to get a little bit of a fix if they come around a little bit. So these guys are just incredible people as well as players, and they're certainly going to be missed. Q. Adam, I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit what you saw from their starter, Farris, tonight, what he was doing to keep you guys off balance. ADAM MATTHEWS: Farris had a great start for Arizona. He kept us off balance. He was working away most of the night. Had his fastball. Hitting the spots with a fastball and had good fodder to go along with it. He was on all night long and kept us off balance. He pitched tremendous for them. You gotta‑‑ of course we wanted to hit better, but you gotta give him credit where credit's due. So he did a great job. Unfortunately we didn't get as many hits as we wanted to, and they ended up with the win. Q. Adam and Ray, Michael and Matt have established themselves as two of the finest pitchers that have ever pitched in the College World Series. What should Omaha fans, what should college baseball fans remember about those two guys? ADAM MATTHEWS: Michael and Matt, I've been next to them for the fourth year. And the way they work, the way they approach the game of baseball and the way they treat the game of baseball is second to none. I think that's shown through their pitching performance over the past few years. And they love the game of baseball. But they also realize it's a fun game and you gotta have some fun with it. And that I think shows in their pitching performance. They go out there and battle, yet they're having fun, they're joking around, and they mean business at times. But especially Michael also likes to have fun. And that's what it's about. And for all the fans, these are two of the best college pitchers to ever come through Omaha, and they've done a great job. COACH TANNER: To echo Adam's comments. They've done it the right way. They've done it with passion, enthusiasm. They've appreciated the fan support at home and they've appreciated it out in Omaha. And they've tried their hardest and they've been very, very successful on this stage. I'm not sure that‑‑ well, it would take a long time for two guys to have as many appearances, as many innings and good success that they've had in Omaha at the College World Series. These guys have been very special. Q. Ray, you talk about the disappointment of coming up short this year, but is the stain of that disappointment, is it soothed somewhat by the accomplishments of the past three seasons when you reflect and look back on it? COACH TANNER: I hope maybe going forward that will be the case. But it's disappointing tonight. We battled hard. We did everything possible to win tonight except come up with a few more hits. They came up with a couple of clutch hits there in the ninth that you've got to give them credit. And we got right back in the thing and it looked like Tanner English might drop one into the center field and it almost was a double play and game over. But that's baseball. And we fought, we scrapped, we battled, and Michael gave us a great start. Matt gave us some key innings. Webb goes in there and gets a couple of outs, but we just didn't do enough on the offensive side. You give credit to Farris and Arizona for making plays. They had a couple of nice defensive plays as well, and that's part of it. I knew going into this thing we were playing a team that had hit about .330 on the year. We were hitting probably under .270 going in. And I think we hit maybe‑‑ we were averaging 3.75 runs in the postseason. We were only averaging three here in the College World Series. And we're playing in the championship series. Eventually that's going to get you. And in the end, if you had to put your finger on one thing, it's run output. We just didn't get enough runs on the board. And they pitched really well against us and played defense. Q. Matt, obviously you guys have been on the winning side of the trophy ceremony the past two years. This year it was a different scenario. Did you have a message for any of the younger players, and if so what did you say to them? MATT PRICE: You know, it's disappointing, but you gotta tell the young guys you gotta keep fighting. You gotta get better, gotta get stronger and come back next year and try it again. Q. Michael, when Coach Meyers came out the first time, did he tell you that they would be looking to pull you in a couple of batters? Or what was the conversation at that point? And second time when he came out, your reaction to that? MICHAEL ROTH: First time he came out he asked me why I was meeting him at the bottom of the mound, because I told him‑‑ I was telling him I would come out there. And basically I pretty much knew I had to get a double play, and I had it. And then I dropped it. So I knew I was coming out and just frustrated that I didn't make that play. And it was just frustration. THE MODERATOR: Good luck next year. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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