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NCAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SUPER REGIONALJune 7, 2014Taylor ClarkeBrandon GlazerMonte LeeLUBBOCK, TEXAS TEXAS TECH – 1 BLAYNE BEAL: We'll start with an opening statement from Head Coach Monte Lee, then questions for the student‑athletes. We welcome College of Charleston head coach, Monte Lee, for an opening statement. COACH LEE: It was obviously a tough loss for us today. Clarke was outstanding. He did everything that he needed to do to help us win that ballgame. Defensively I thought we played a very good game. The big difference in the ballgame really was we failed to execute when we needed to offensively with runners at third with less than two outs. We made a mistake. Didn't get to the bag on a hit‑and‑run play which allowed their base runner to get to second base. Then Neslony their three‑hole hitter who is one of the best players around, you let that guy come up to the plate with a runner in scoring position after you make a mistake, and he did what good players do, he drove the run in. That's really it. There were just a few moments in that ballgame for us because Sadberry did such a good job of pitching today. He pitched like a number one in a Super Regional is supposed to pitch. He didn't give us a whole lot, but we didn't capitalize when we had opportunities to do so. I just feel bad for Clarke. Taylor did an outstanding job today. He pitched his rear end off. I just wish we could have given him more runs for it. BLAYNE BEAL: We'll take questions for right fielder Brandon Glazer and starting pitcher Taylor Clarke. Q. Brandon, could you talk about the calls when you were sent home? Was that a coach's decision or was that your decision? BRANDON GLAZER: The second one was a primary run‑on‑contact play, so hit the ball, I ran home, was tagged out. The first one I just hesitated. It was a bad decision on my part. Q. Taylor, just what was working for you today? How did you feel out there? TAYLOR CLARKE: I thought I had everything working for me pretty well. After that first inning the nerves settled down a little bit, and I was able to execute some pitches and get ahead of batters a little bit better. Then I was just able to start pitching a little bit better after that. So, yeah, I think I was on, made pitches, and defense was great behind me. Q. Brandon, just how frustrating is a day like today? You're the only one that got to third for the Cougars and out twice at home? BRANDON GLAZER: I wouldn't really call it frustration, but, I mean, we had opportunities. I think if you give us that chance again, we'll get it done. Q. Brandon, what was facing Sadberry like, what was working for him, and why did you guys have so much trouble? BRANDON GLAZER: He had a really good fastball. He was locating his breaking ball and changeup in and out of the zone. That's what good pitchers do. Q. Taylor, can you just talk about going toe to toe on a game like today with Sadberry, knowing you're both throwing up a bunch of zeros out there? TAYLOR CLARKE: I was just trying to control what I can control. I can't really control our offense or how he pitches or not. I've just got to focus on what I can do, and that's what I was trying to keep my focus on. I knew he was a good pitcher going in, so I knew I was going to have to have my best stuff to compete with him. I just was unfortunate not to come out on top. Q. Obviously, you're on the road, a huge crowd. Did that play into you guys at all? Was that going to be a factor the rest of the way? How did you guys handle that did you think? TAYLOR CLARKE: I think it helped playing at Florida last week. Kind of got us a feel for it, so we were more prepared for it this week. The first inning I might have been a little overwhelmed, just nerves, little rattled. After that, I kind of settled down and just focused on playing catch like I've been doing all year. Q. Brandon, can you just talk about would you maybe have played that ball the game your way out in right a little differently? Just what were you trying to do there? What were you thinking when that ball came your way? It took a funny hop off the turf. BRANDON GLAZER: It just caught me in between. I thought I was going to have a play on it off the bat and I slowed up because knowing I wasn't going to get to it. I just saw the ball hop. Q. Brandon, at what point did you realize you were out? Did you realize you were out before when the ball was coming or did you have to concede the out afterwards? BRANDON GLAZER: I mean, he had the ball before I got there by that time, so I knew I was out. Q. You guys didn't lose a game in Florida, so this is kind of new territory playoff‑wise. Talk about how you feel like you'll come back tomorrow? TAYLOR CLARKE: I feel really confident in our chances tomorrow with Bailey Ober pitching. I think we've bounced back from losses earlier this year, so it's just like coming back from anything else. Ober on the mound is one of the best freshmen pitchers in the country if not best pitchers in general. I like our chances with him on the bump tomorrow. I think we can get it done. Q. Monte, seemed you got beat at your own game today? COACH LEE: Well, you've got to give Sadberry credit. First and foremost, he sets the tone for them. In Game 1, he did a really good job of locating pitches, and then he's got a good fastball. You don't see a lot of lefties, number one, who can pitch in the low 90s. That is a difference maker. He can elevate his fastball just enough to get you to swing underneath it when he needs to, and he's got a really good breaking ball. His breaking ball is a plus pitch. There is a reason the kid went in the sixth round of the draft. We knew we were going to have a tough test, we just had to try to find a way to get runners in scoring position. Somebody had to step up and drive a run in. But you've got to give him credit. And they've got a really good defensive ballclub. Obviously, we've seen some film on them, but just watching them from the dugout, they've got some really good athletes. Their shortstop is a very good defensive player. Catcher is a good player, made a great play. We were trying to bump for a hit. Caught the ball, slammed into the wall. They're just a very good defensive ballclub with a very good guy on the mound. We knew we were going to have to fight and try to scratch and claw to find a way to score some runs, and we had our opportunities. We had runners at third twice with less than two outs with corners in. Instead of hitting the ball through the big part of the field, which is what we try to teach our guys in that situation with corners in, Sadberry did a really good job. He threw two off speed pitches, got Champ to roll over pitches and hit them full side. And Glazer hesitated just enough because he didn't know if that ball would be hit. Third baseman was going to have a play on it or not. He wasn't going to have a play, but when you're standing at third base and the ball is hit poolside, sometimes you hesitate. In that situation, he's just got to stay if he's not going to go. If he's going to go, he's got to go immediately off the bat. But once he hesitated, I felt like he should have stayed, but it's tough. Once he realized the ball was going to short, when you teach guys the groundball to short or second, or corners in, you're going. He hesitated and went and their shortstop did what a good shortstop does. He made a really good play. But that's just poor execution on our part offensively. As coaches we've got to do a better job of coaching our guys on trying to make sure that they stay inside the baseball and hit it through the big part of the field in that situation, and it happened again. On the second one, we're running on contact. At that point a play at the plate, we've still got a runner at first base. We're going to go on contact. We've got to try to find a way to score runs especially with one out. But, again, we rolled over an offspeed pitch. Sadberry made a good pitch, and we rolled over it to the defense. If he hit a groundball to second base or short, he scored a run. If he does that either time, we score two runs. But you've got to give Sadberry credit there. He made two pitches to get us to hit into the defense, and that's what good pitchers do. Q. Just one run game this stage, this environment. What do you take away positive from what your kids did? COACH LEE: I think we played a good defensive ballgame. Nick Pappas made a couple plays in the first inning on a bunt play. Lucky threw the ball into the baseline and Pappas caught it. A lot of times the first baseman is blocked out by that ball and that ball goes down the right field line and that could have been disastrous for us early in the game. Then Lucky loses a ball hit straight up and Pappas runs in there and makes a nice catch. Phillips, Morgan Phillips made a nice catch which robbed a single which could have scored a run. I thought we played really well. Champ played great at shortstop. So we played a good game defensively, and we pitched extremely well. We just made one mistake on defense. It was a hit‑and‑run play, and a lot of times in the middle of the field, if you see a guy swing, you hesitate just a little bit before covering the bag because you think the ball could be hit to you. You've got to hold your ground as long as you can. Blake just didn't get to the bag. Again, Sadberry made big pitches, and Neslony, their 3‑0 guy, delivered a big blow in a big situation for them. You've got to give those guys credit for doing that. Q. Coach, how do you bounce back tomorrow without understanding exactly who Texas Tech's starter is? COACH LEE: Well, I mean, it doesn't really‑‑ as far as who they're starting, once we know who they're starting, we'll adjust game plan‑wise. We've watched film on all their pitchers, so we have scouting reports based on who they're going to throw. Obviously, if they're going lefty or going righty, that will dictate what we do as far as lineup a little bit. But I mean, it's just a matter of our guys understand it. The season is on the line. Ober's got to throw well. But if my season's on the line and I get to pick a guy to pitch, I feel pretty good with Bailey pitching. We're very confident in Bailey. Offensively, we've just got to do more. It's not a matter if we need to pitch or defend better. We've got to be better offensively. Q. Facing elimination first time this postseason, have they already responded? What have you seen from the kid kids? COACH LEE: They were disappointed today. They knew that we had our opportunities and we didn't capitalize. They knew it, so they were disappointed. I mean, this ballclub has been able to capitalize on other team's mistakes and the run that we've been on. We've capitalized when teams have given us opportunities and they've made mistakes. Texas Tech just didn't make that many mistakes today. Outside of the aggressive swing and bunt, I guess you could call it. Even then we had a little luck on our side. The ball shot off the brick wall and the second baseman could have had a play at second base. We had a little luck on our side there. But we didn't catch any breaks really. Outside of that, they played a pretty dang good game. They threw and caught the ball pretty well. So our guys were a little down. But it's my job to make sure they try to flush it as fast as they can, and move on from it. We need to go get a dinner and laugh and cut up a little bit and try to brighten the mood. Heck, we're still alive. We're still playing. We're still getting to play tomorrow. If we win tomorrow, it's anybody's guess as to what's going to happen in Game 3. So we've just got to put ourselves in a position to play Monday. That's what it boils down to. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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