Postgame Quotes: #9 Louisville 4, Michigan 3
5/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Michigan Head Coach Erik Bakich
Opening statement ... "It was a hell of a college baseball game. I am proud of the way our guys battled back and competed, fought pitch to pitch. It was one of those type of games that comes down to a swing, a pitch, where you can see the outcome of the game was decided on a few different plays. Credit Louisville, they're a great team. They came out on top tonight, but I am not going to take away from the way our guys battled and competed for nine straight innings."
On the foul ball catch ... "Everyone is going to talk about that play. He is running full speed towards the line, and the wind is blowing the ball back fair, he is making an aggressive play. He is running full speed not looking at the line, trying to make a play. If he pulls up, and it falls inside the line that would be a really silly play. He is just trying to make an aggressive play, he is going for the catch. I haven't seen that in a long time. Just one of those rare plays that comes up. When he is on a dead sprint he goes for the catch; if it's a high towering flyball where he has time and can get underneath it and he has his feet underneath him he could probably let it drop. On a play like that, it's just an instinct play, and he went after it."
On what he was feeling after that play when he came into the dugout ... "They took the lead, and we talk about winning the inning. Our focus was win the inning, win the frame. So really it wasn't about anything that happened on defense. Our focus was now to string quality at-bats together and get runners on base and score a couple runs."
On if he expected a pitching change with Harrison Wenson's at bat ... "Yea, I saw (Zack) Burdi down there. Wenson was the matchup for the lefty; (Kyle) Jusick was the match up for the righty. Kyle has a very shot swing, who handles velocity off the bench pretty well. That was what we were hoping for; we were hoping he would take a short path to the ball and be able to hit a line drive and tie the game up, which he did. Harrison has got power, for him it was more see if you can get the bat head out and hit one up in that jet stream."
On Brett Adcock ... "I thought it was two outstanding left-handers going at it. Give a lot of credit to (Brendan) McKay, you can see why he is the freshman of the year in the ACC. You look at Brett and how he has come on and progressed. He has improved each week, and today for six innings he was dominant. I thought he was outstanding. He and McKay were kind of matching each other pitch for pitch, the difference was that Rosenbaum had a guy on base for him. Carmen (Benedetti) hit a solo shot, and that is kind of the way it goes sometimes. They extended the lead and got up by two, and our guys fought right back. Credit our guys and their toughness for not giving up, but it was two outstanding pitchers going at it today. Two very tough competitors going at it today."
On Brendan McKay ... "He throws his fastball in and out, and that curve ball is a swing-and-miss pitch. He didn't even have to throw his changeup today. He just does a good job of locating the fast ball, getting strike one, strike two. He has a good demeanor about him, he is very poised. He is outstanding. He is going to be a star, you can already tell; he already is."
On the wind to left field ... "You always try to pitch down in the zone. You have an awareness of that, a mistake up has a chance to get out. That's what happened, and (Danny) Rosenbaum put a good swing on it. He is a good hitter. You always want to try to live down in the zone."
On how the home run affected Brett Adcock ... "I think it was disappointing. That is a big hit for them, a big momentum play. We seem to have the momentum early, even though it was a 1-0 game. That is a big hit by a good player on a good team. Gave them the momentum in their dugout, and then we got it back. That is why it was such a good game today. It was just trading punches back and forth. It is a huge hit, a two-out, two-run hit to take the lead in the seventh inning; that's a big play."
On positives he can take away ... "Of course, just the way we battled back and we competed and the way we fought, the energy in our dugout. I still feel really good about this team, our season isn't over, and it's still going. We are not playing Louisville next. Like these guys said, we are going to keep playing the tournament. We are going to do whatever we have to do tomorrow to come out on top against Bradley. Fight to see another game. But we are going to have to bring our best effort tomorrow against Bradley because we are in the same boat as them."
U-M Sophomore LHP Brett Adcock
On what he saw from his performance ... "Yeah I got ahead early with most of the hitters. Tip the cap to number eight, he hit one. I made the mistake. The team made good plays behind me, but they had my back, but then I just got ahead. Just got to get back on the horse. We've got one more game tomorrow against Bradley; we'll move on from there."
On if he was paying attention to anything that McKay or on the other side of the ball ... "I obviously do care, it's my team. When Carmen had the big hit, it obviously energized our whole dugout, then I got more momentum. We just have to take one pitch at a time. There's nothing we can really do. I'm just proud of the guys."
On no drop off in Louisville's lineup ... "Knock that pitch off. Make sure that every pitch is my best pitch. When one gets away from you, you just gotta go to the next one."
On the pitch to Rosenbaum ... "Yeah I was trying to do too much, which I shouldn't do. I should trust my own stuff. It was supposed to be an inside fast ball; I left it a little bit up. He hit a mistake. Like I said, tip my cap to him."
On how he spent the 53 minutes between pitches ... "Just stick with my routine. Take a breath. Just take it one pitch at a time."
U-M Senior IF Kyle Jusick
On his state of mind during the rain delay ... "I just took a deep breath. Everybody's gotta do it. Both pitchers have to do it. I just kind of had to stay within myself, keep going through my routines. Just stayed relaxed."
On his hit ... "We always practice being ready when the time is called upon us. It was my turn today, and we always practice being ready and was fortunate enough to help the team."
On if he knew who was going to be put in that spot ... "Like I said, I was ready for the opportunity, and Coach called my number, and I wanted to take advantage of that. The guys were behind me the whole time."
On if it is intimidating when you're coming off the bench to face a guy that throw 98-99 miles per hour ... "No I can't control that. All I can control is my bat and my swing, so if I get a pitch in the zone, then I am going to take a good swing at it."
On how the team can regroup and come back strong ... "I mean it was a hard-fought game. The ball just didn't bounce our way in the last inning, and like coach said we're just playing in the tournament, and tomorrow we have Bradley. And that's all were focused on right now."
