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NCAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: BLOOMINGTON REGIONALJune 1, 2014Steve GillispiePhil LipariDavid SalugaBLOOMINGTON, INDIANA STANFORD – 12 STEVE GILLISPIE: As disappointed as we are that we didn't play a little bit better today and that we were unable to win that ballgame and keep moving forward, I'm that much more proud of our guys and our kids and the way they have gone about things in the last month. They have a lot to be proud of. Accomplished some really huge milestones, not only for themselves as individuals but for our program and for Youngstown State, and I think we can really build off of what we have done in the last month. It gives us a great opportunity to move forward, so we're excited about that. I'd like to thank the University of Indiana, the tournament directors, the hosts, just everybody involved. It was absolutely a first‑class event. I've been to a few of these in my time, and this is absolutely a fantastically‑run NCAA regional. So thank you to Bloomington and the University of Indiana. Q. The past few weeks, just coming from where you were during the regular season and your conference season, and advancing to the regionals and your experience here, just take us through the whole process and tell us where you came from earlier in the year to competing with some of the better teams in the nation. PHIL LIPARI: It's been an incredible ride. Couldn't trade it for anything. Teammates are phenomenal. Started off the year obviously played good competition, but we just weren't playing very good baseball. And to finish it like we did, we played pretty much flawless in our conference tournament. A couple games out here were disappointing, but we came out against Indiana State and played much better. You know, like I said, I wouldn't trade it for the world. It's just an amazing experience and to be able to share it with these guys is awesome. Q. How can you guys take a moment like playing on the same field as a program like Stanford, and use kind of what they do to build your program? DAVID SALUGA: I mean, obviously it's such an accomplishment to be on the field with them. For the younger guys to get this experience‑‑ as a senior leaving, it was great. But as a freshman playing in these games, in the future, three years from now, they are definitely going to rely on this and keep going back to and always be proud of what we did this past year. Q. When you go back and talk to some of your friends from high school and stuff, what are you going to be able to tell them about this experience, about the program, for years to come now that you have made it this far? PHIL LIPARI: Hopefully we turn it around a little bit. I think as seniors, that's pretty much the way we wanted to go out. Obviously we got a ring, and you know, talking about it, just going back to the feeling that we had in the dog pile; and how we accomplished what we did and the streak that we were on; and obviously finishing it out here against Indiana, one of the top teams in the country in Stanford, these are moments not too many people get to have. It's just going to be awesome to look back on and see what we accomplished. Q. There was a play in the defensive half of the second inning a play at the plate and a throw from right field, and looked like the ball got cut off and looked like there may have been a play there. What did you see as far as that inning went? STEVE GILLISPIE: Well, from my angle, it was kind of hard to tell, whether it was slightly off‑line. I think the guys that are out there, we drilled through that and worked on communication, and just knowing that if it's off‑line and there isn't a chance to get the out, we want to keep runners from moving up. So I'm going to trust the players; that they made a good choice there. From my angle, it's hard to tell, but I'm going to put my faith in them that they did the right thing. Q. Do you feel you ran out of steam at all, or did you just run into two opponents in Indiana and Stanford who are just a little bit better? STEVE GILLISPIE: Well, I think the biggest thing is that their skill level, their talent level. If you make mistakes, you probably are going to get hurt pretty badly. And we couldn't close out innings. After that second inning, then they put up six; that was the 18th run that we had given up in the tournament. 16 of those 18 runs came after two outs were recorded in the inning. So if you can't put away a hitter and if you keep missing toward the middle of the plate in counts that are to a hitter's advantage, you're probably going to get a lot worse than maybe what we experienced during the course of the year when you have athletes like were on the field today and Friday. Q. All clichés aside everything and what did you tell your team immediately after this loss and what was kind of your message to them? STEVE GILLISPIE: Well, as I said, it was an honor to see what had happened and be a part of that from a coaching standpoint. We had set a goal back when we were playing at the University of Milwaukee that there was 21 days‑‑ there was 25 days leading up to the conference tournament, and they say that it takes 21 days to create a new habit, so we had time to gel and come together, and they embraced that. I thanked them for their commitment to what they did there, and it's‑‑ each team's unique, because that team will never be the same again. Guys will move on; they will graduate; next year will be a whole new team.       So it was a sad time, but yet, they had a lot, a lot to be proud of what they accomplished in that 25 days. Q. Looked like Coach Marquess had a few words for you after the game, looked like of encouragement. Can you share anything about what he said to you after the game was over? STEVE GILLISPIE: I just told him that I had been a big fan of is. I grew up in Beatrice, Nebraska, which is about 60 miles from Omaha. So I was able to get to some College World Series. Stanford, obviously one of the elite programs in college baseball and one of the storied programs in college baseball, and I told him I was a big fan and it was an honor to coach against him today. Where I had been geographically, we are not going to run into Stanford too often, so I had an opportunity to tell him that. So I just thanked him. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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