Quotes: Oklahoma vs. Xavier

Quotes: Oklahoma vs. Xavier
Location: Louisville, Ky. - Jim Patterson Stadium
Result: Xavier 11, Oklahoma 0
Attendance: 1,884
Date: June 4, 2017

Head Coach Pete Hughes

Opening statement:

“Their guy was unconventional, but effective. He gave us a different look and competed like crazy and just pounded the strike zone. They got off to a really good start and it proved to be too much for us to be able to get back in the game. Sometimes when you try to do too much you get out of your approach. The ultimate challenge when you are behind like that early is to stay in the game and treat it like it is a 0-0 game. You can't try to hit an eight or nine-run home run. Sometimes you get out of your approach to do that. But that takes nothing away from Astle. He was awesome. Competed like crazy. In a win-or-go-home situation he made every singles pitch.”

On what the year meant to him:

“It has been a crazy process, but rewarding. The people you get involved with in building it. I love where we are at with the culture and the atmosphere and having returning guys with pivotal experience in winning. When you can do that and you have it in every class and you have balanced classes and good recruiting classes coming in you have success and you are really building a foundation for a long time. Sustainability is the challenge in this profession, in college baseball with the draft. You look at the program we're at right now (Louisville) as the gold standard of sustainability. You do that with a strong culture that never leaves your clubhouse. You do that with recruiting classes that you recruit with a purpose to fill those needs. We're in great shape. I wish I was having this conversation in Omaha. I'll never be satisfied until I do that. I think our guys are as disappointed as anyone. When you have a whole dugout as disappointed in the result as I am then you have the right guys.”

On how much experienced factored in:

“I don't know if he (Astle) was slated to start against us, but after the style of pitching we saw in game one and game two—velocity from the left side—finesse from the left side makes a lot of sense. The perfect thing happened for them. They jumped out to a lead. Like I said earlier you get out of your comfort zone and you get out of your approach when you are chasing a lead, whether it's in the first inning or the fifth or the sixth. That guy lives off that style of pitching. You can't chase him. You have to patient. We hit 15 balls to the third baseman because we weren't being patient and we weren't seeing the ball deep.

On if the team can learn anything from Xavier:

“No. I have a good tournament team and I don't have to look at anyone else. I have a ton of Xavier and their coaching staff I will tell you that. Those kids play the game hard like my kids do. They are well coached and they play with class like my kids.”

On his team's performance against the pitchers they saw:

“Tough to grade versus those first two guys they saw. Two of the best pitchers in the country and we beat one of them. We had another one on the ropes. Our numbers are glaringly successful versus left-handed pitching this year. I think Austin O'Brien was hitting .480 against left-handed pitching at one point. I don't know if left-handers is the way to go, but when you have two of the best guys in the country that's the way to go against anybody. You match it with this guy who is an experienced kid who doesn't care about regional play, he cares about getting people out. He pitched with a lead. There wasn't a 0-0 moment in that kid's head in the entire game. That's a really good thing for me to talk with my young pitchers about.”

On if Saturday's game affected the team on Sunday:

“I don't think so. We hit three guys. They had a couple hits that didn't leave the infield. My kids are mentally tough enough not to let a loss hang over them the next day in a win-or-go-home situation. This generation is so much more resilient than you give them credit for. These guys are off to the next thing and that's good in this game. That wasn't the case this morning. It snowballed on us in the first inning and then we're chasing and we're chasing.”

On the senior class:

“That's as good a group—and when you're a head coach for 20 years it's a dangerous road to go down to use superlatives but that's as good a group as I've been around. Program wise we were still changing a culture so I needed personalities that could lead despite not being the most popular guy in the clubhouse and losing friends along the way because they know the right thing and how to approach the team and set a higher standard and hold each other accountable. Those guys are unbelievable. When your clubhouse runs itself you have a good culture and our clubhouse runs itself because of those seniors. The payback for that comes when a guy like Steele starts doing things the right way and guys like Adams and Lindsly start doing the right things socially and academically and in the weight room and playing summer ball like crazy because that's what those seniors do. The value in having strong leadership from a senior class in college baseball is immeasurable. Some of them will play pro—most of them will have pro careers. They will go about it the same way and those organizations will be lucky to have those kids in there because they are going to show young prospects how to do things and how to be professional in a sport you should be consumed with being great at. Those organizations are going to get outstanding human beings and great baseball players. The ones that choose—like Ben Hollas is going to go start his medical career. He has a chance to get drafted but he knows what path he wants to go down. I have more respect for Ben that he'll ever know for him to know who he is and where he is going right now. In that phase of life at 20 years old not many guys can do that. They are all going to be successful I know that. They are leaders and they have integrity and they don't compromise their standards. It was a pleasure to coach them.”

Senior Catcher Renae Martinez

On if the Louisville loss affect the team on Sunday:

“No, not really. We came out ready to play. They just capitalized on us early and got on the board before us.”

On the growth of the program:

“It has grown a lot, since last year especially. I think it's only going to grow from here on out. We have a great group of guys and a great group of young guys who want to compete.”

On adjusting to Astle:

“You have to make a big adjustment honesty. It's a very middle approach. You have to stay within yourself and not try to do too much.”

Sophomore Center Fielder Steele Walker

On if the Louisville loss affected the team on Sunday:

“No we put last night's game fully behind us. Obviously that's not how we saw it going early, but it happened. Credit to them. They came out and attacked us.”

On what the team has learned from being in the NCAA tournament:

“I think it's going to flow easier for us next year because we have guys like this dude (Martinez) who paved the way. It's like coach said after the game. This has been easily the best group of guys I have ever been a part of in my life. It's a credit to the seniors. A lot of times the seniors can bash the younger guys and give them a hard time. That was never the case. I really just want to follow in their footsteps. They laid the foundation and I just want to build on it. There is talent coming through and I'm really excited to see what is coming next.”

On adjusting to Astle:

“It was tough because we say McKay last night hitting 92 and then you have this guy. You really have to be so disciplined. When you are down by a lot you want to hit a home run but really you have to have the opposite mindset when you are facing an unconventional guy who keeps you off balance. Hats off to him. He did a really good job.”

Quotes: Oklahoma vs. Xavier