University of North Carolina Athletics
Game 5 Postgame Quotes: North Carolina 10, FGCU 1
June 4, 2017 | Baseball
Opening statement from Head Coach Mike Fox:
“It was a good complete game for us today. We got a good start from Tyler [Baum] here. We got some runs early that I think took a little pressure off him early. We played well. Good defense, good pitching. It was a good clean win for us.”
Fox on who will start the next game:
“Taylor Sugg will start. “
Fox on the aggressive base running the team showed today:
“It's a little bit of our mindset. Let's get some guys in motion. We really emphasize getting out of the box. We call it the first five. The first five steps out of the box determines whether or not you're going to get to second base. We've got some guys who take a lot of pride in that and took advantage of their outfielders playing deep, I thought. We saw that in the first inning and told our guys, if you hit the ball in the outfield, keep rolling if your head is up, you can get to second base and we did a nice job of that.”
Fox on if the team looks like it has settled in and playing well:
“Yeah I hope so. Obviously the other teams' pitchers had a lot to do with that. Sometimes it takes time through the order to see the guy for the first time. Brian [Miller] and Logan [Warmoth] both gave us a good start. Anytime Brian Miller leads off with a base hit, we've got an opportunity to score because of his speed and the guys behind him. It helps every team, but it certainly helped us today to get a lead.”
Fox on how comfortable he is with his pitching situation:
“Probably as comfortable as we could be. We were able to get Austin Bergner out of the game with 21 pitches. Any more than that he probably wouldn't be available for tonight. We have everybody ready now besides our three starters, which is obviously good.”
Fox on what the team will do between games:
“Eat and rest. Just try to stay cool and get some dry clothes on. I'm sure the guys will get in the shower and change uniforms and chill out. You have to remember that they have their phones, so you can burn an hour quickly on those things.”
Fox on getting three straight outs from Jason Morgan in relief:
“That was so good to see. I have to tell you, Jason Morgan is just a lovable, great teammate. He hadn't been in a lot of games recently, but it's nice to see him go out there and do what he did. We need to get Trevor Gay out there as well. It was good. We're sitting about as good as we could be from a pitching standpoint as we enter the next game.”
Fox on Tyler Baum's pitching performance:
“Five and one third [innings], three hits, one run, one earned run… Probably four walks too many. I would have liked to see him get out of the sixth there, and I probably left him out there one batter too long because I thought he was teetering there for a bit in the fifth. That's about as good as we can expect from a freshman in that situation. Lot of pressure right there. He's good, he's talented, and he's got that it factor. I didn't think he'd be scared at all and he didn't' look scared. That's half the battle because that gives you a chance for you to perform to your ability. I'm unbelievably proud of him.”
#23 Tyler Baum on the game's significance
“It's a big team win in an elimination game. I just tried to treat it as any other game, though. Not put too much pressure on myself, but obviously it's a lot bigger game than any of the other ones I've pitched in.”
Baum on if seeing Luca Dalatri's performance yesterday gave him confidence:
“For sure. It gives me something to try and emulate.”
Baum on pitching with the lead early:
“It gives you a cushion, but I tried to keep the mindset of a 0-0 ball game and stay focused.”
Baum on getting hitters to fly out:
“We have a great defense. I just try to throw the ball over the plate and let the defense work for us.”
Baum on how long he thought he would pitch this game:
“Just as long as he [Head Coach Mike Fox] lets me go. I didn't have a goal in mind, just as long as they let me go. Six innings would have been good, but I came up a little short. AB [Austin Bergner] came in in a big situation and got the two outs.”
FLORIDA GULF COAST
Opening Statement from Head Coach Dave Tollett:
“First of all, we were excited to be here for our first trip, but today Carolina was a lot better than us. We thought we had to come out and get the lead, put a little pressure on them. That never happened, and once they got ahead they could play the hit-and-run game and be able to run. So it really took us out of our game plan.”
Tollett on North Carolina's aggressiveness:
“I don't know if it knocked us back, but I'll tell you what, they did capitalize on the extra bases. I think two long singles, they stretched into hustle doubles, which is fantastic on their part but really put us in situations, and both of those runs did score to make it three. So once they got the lead, they just kept putting the pedal to the medal. I thought we had a couple chances with the walks, but when it got tough, Baum got tough also. I mean, to be a freshman and be put in that situation, I though the kid did an outstanding job.”
Nick Rivera on North Carolina's aggressiveness:
“We knew coming in that they were a very aggressive team. They hit a lot of balls hard, and a lot of balls fell for them today. They're just a really good team, and when teams like that, of that caliber, get on you that early, it's tough to come back.”
Rivera on the 11 fly-ball outs for FGCU and how Tyler Baum was effective:
“He did a good job. He did a good job getting ahead. I know the first inning he kind of struggled a little bit, but for being a freshman he did a really good job. I think again, we just couldn't capitalize. I don't know what we were for getting leadoff guys on this week, but it wasn't very good. So, he just did a really good job.”
Rivera on if there was any carry over from the previous game:
“No, today was a new day, and we had a lot of confidence going in to today. And again, just credit to their guy who did a really good job.”
Rivera on what this means for the FGCU program's future:
“I mean this is just good for everything, for recruiting, for us to put more fans at games. Again, I think it's just great for us just to open the gates and get to a regional. And for me, a senior, to help lead that was very special. It was something I wanted to come back to do, and that was very special to me to leave a legacy for these guys to say, 'Hey, we've gotten here. We can win a game in a regional.” And we've just got to work harder and take that next step.”
