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NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 22, 2012Tim CarverMatt ReynoldsDave Van HornOMAHA, NEBRASKA South Carolina – 3 THE MODERATOR: Coach, can you give us an overview on today's game? COACH VAN HORN: I thought it was a great college baseball game again. And if you like outstanding pitching and outstanding defense, I thought it was just very well played. I think South Carolina, they did a great job of manufacturing a run there late to win the game or to get the lead to end up being the winning run. But just feel bad for our players. They fought hard. It was just one of those games. It could have gone either way. We had runners on. Could have driven in a run early. I think we had a runner at first and third, one out, and didn't get a runner in. Ended up with a runner at second and third with two outs and a couple of strikes. And if you can just get one more hit or somebody makes an error, all of a sudden you jump up and have a four‑run lead. I knew it was going to be tight, and it didn't surprise me it ended up being a one‑run game. We played so many. Hats off to my pitchers. I thought they did a great job. I thought they filled up the zone all night long. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Coach, obviously only one factor in the game, but can you talk about how the fluctuating strike zone affected the approach for your pitchers? COACH VAN HORN: I would love to, but I can't. Sorry. Q. Did you sense maybe that your players were letting frustration maybe with the umpires get to them a little bit? COACH VAN HORN: No, not one bit. I thought they did a great job. We had one hitter get upset when he came back in after he struck out, but I thought it was a strike, in my opinion. But that's just the way it goes. I thought they did a great job trying to battle through it, to be honest with you. Q. Looking at the season as a whole, you knew at the beginning of the year these guys had talent to get here. When you look back at it, what do you think of the season and what they accomplished? COACH VAN HORN: I'll do that in next few days or the next couple of weeks when things slow down. But we knew coming into the season that we had a pretty good pitching staff. We had a little depth and we were going to have a very good bullpen. And we were really trying to find a third starter. And we never really found that third starter that could maybe push us over the top where it would make it a little easier. We tried a couple of things where we brought some guys out of the pen, but then it hurt our bullpen. But we end up doing what we thought we could do, especially at the end, and that's get to the College World Series and have a chance to contend for a national championship. And I think that's the positive thing. We played great defense down the stretch. Even again tonight, Bo made some great plays up the middle. And think about Matt's play last night in the hole. It's just what we've been doing, turning double plays, when we get a chance we turn it.  And just real proud of the guys for hanging in there. Because baseball, it's tough, and when you're playing this league and playing teams like South Carolina every weekend and they're all so close, it can beat you down a little bit when you end up, when you lose some of those games. But we held it together. And they did it. They got us here, and, hey, a break here or there, we're playing for a national championship. Q. Coach, you talked about outstanding pitching. I'd like to focus on Colby Suggs.  Heck of an outing by him tonight, heck of a relief. Could you reflect on his performance and how it lays the foundation for him in the future, what you expect of him in the next couple of years? COACH VAN HORN: Colby, he's a bulldog. He came in when we bring him in, it's usually a tight situation. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. He shut down Baylor a couple weeks ago. It helped get us here tonight. I thought he came in and was throwing the ball pretty good. He just had a little trouble with the breaking ball tonight. So basically went to his fastball about 90, 95percent of the time. I thought he spotted some out pretty good, and sometimes it was and sometimes it wasn't. So I'm just proud of him for hanging in there, battling through it. And I think the toughness that he has, and he came to Arkansas with that toughness. It spread throughout the team this year. And it's definitely going to help us next fall getting ready for next spring. Q. Tim and Matt, what were Tyler Webb and Price doing to kind of keep you guys in check? MATT REYNOLDS: They were pounding the zone. Tyler Webb had a real sneaky fastball, and he can move it around the plate. And didn't really have his offspeed working tonight. But we had that thought in the back of our head. And Price just did what he always does, just found the zone and throws a good slider. TIM CARVER: Pretty much that. Came at us. Didn't throw many balls. Just I guess Webb just did a good job of sneaking fastball by people. And we hit some balls hard and just did what we could. Q. Coach, what does it do for your program just to make it this far, A? And then, B, for those of us, Birmingham, Houston, Waco, and now Omaha, just to see the fan following, those two items I wanted you to hit on. COACH VAN HORN: Anytime you get to the College World Series, it helps your program. It's definitely going to help the confidence of the players in your program. Hopefully it helps build support amongst your fan base. And our fan base has been incredible. They come early and they stay late. They showed up here in droves, and I was proud to be walking around seeing all the Razorback fans, wearing the gear and talking. It helps. It helps you in so many different ways. And to be on TV across the country and prime time like this, it's a good thing. Q. Matt, I thought that Jake Wise had one of the most extraordinary at‑bats I've ever seen in the College World Series, even though I think it was 14th pitch, made an out, looked like it inspired you guys a little bit. Could you talk about that a little bit? MATT REYNOLDS: Jake went up to battle with us against Price. Price was throwing his best stuff. He kept fouling it off. It's probably one of the best at‑bats I've ever seen. Price just kept filling up the zone, and Wise kept spoiling pitches. And it just shows what kind of battler Jake Wise is and what he brings to the table. Q. Matt and Tim, you guys really both progressed a lot over your careers here. What did it mean to come to the College World Series? TIM CARVER: I mean, it means a lot to get here. I love everybody on the team. I think there's not one person on the team that we could do without that got us here. I think what I'll miss the most is just everybody on the team. MATT REYNOLDS: Going to the College World Series has always been a dream of mine. And we knew we had the team to do it this year. And we went through a struggle mid‑season, but we never gave up and we kept fighting, and I think we really jelled as a team late in the -- early in the postseason. And it's a bad feeling that it came to an end like this. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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