June 10, 2010
TCU Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
Opening Statement: I'm excited to be here. It feels like déjà vu all over again as Casey Stengel said. This is a great challenge for us against a great team and a great program. We're looking forward to starting to play. We've been tired of practice since Sunday night. So we're ready to face a different colored uniform.
On the importance of Freshman P Matt Purke to the team: Last year, I thought they were three really well played games (in the 2009 NCAA Super Regional), but I thought the difference was Taylor Jungmann. They had a guy who turned down a lot of money to come to school and certainly could've been a guy who was a first rounder (MLB draft pick) out of high school. Any time you have depth at pitching it's important in any form of tournament. Matt decided to come to TCU and decided to forgo pro ball for a while. That was a great thing for us. He's had a great season to this point, has matured over the course of the year and has really done a great job. You'd like to think between the way he's pitched and (Steven) Maxwell and (Kyle) Winkler along with the other guys that we're a little deeper. I know we're deeper. We'll see how it plays out this weekend. It's an entirely new challenge.
On what he's saying to his freshmen: We talk all year long about controlling what we can control. We can't do anything about the environment. We talk about playing the game and playing the ball instead of playing the opponent. I know that's cliché, but it really is the vernacular that we use all year long in practice and in games, whether they be in a regional or super regional or weekend series in the Mountain West Conference. I'm hoping they'll stick to that. It's easier said than done. Bryan (Holaday) and the older guys will play a big part in that as well. We'll be fine. Last time I looked, they (Texas) were running some freshmen out there too, maybe not on the mound but in some other places. It's just part of it. This is why you come to college. This is what you work for your entire life is for opportunities as this. Anybody that has any kind of competitive nature like Matt certainly does or any of the other young guys, they're fired up to play. They're not shying away from anything.
On the pitching rotation for the series: Matt (as the game-one starter) for now, then wait and see. Last year we played Texas that one time during the regular season, not that that one game makes a huge difference, but I want to watch and see how the game goes. Winkler and Maxwell are similar in that they're right handed but they do different things. So, we'll wait and see how the first game goes and whether we'll need to use anybody in the pen. We'll go from there.
On if there was any hesitation to start Matt Purke: He'll be fine. No hesitation at all. We started a freshman this time last year in Kyle Winkler. I don't know if he's pitched in front of seven or eight thousand people or not. He's done a really good job of staying focused regardless of the challenge. To be honest with you, and no disrespect to what goes on here, pitching at Air Force in front of 20 people when it's 20 degrees is a way bigger challenge than it is here. That's just a fact. Especially because we're used to three or four thousand people in our ballpark and a great atmosphere, so it's actually the other end of the spectrum that's a lot tougher, and Coach Garrido would probably agree with that.
On the significance of playing Texas two years in a row in the Super Regional: I just think experience is such a great thing in anything in life. Last year we hosted a regional for the first time. We won a regional for the first time and we won it on a walk-off hit. There was a great sense of accomplishment in the three or four days leading up to this point for a program that's never done it before. When we got here, we were ready to play and we were focused and I thought we played really well. But this has been a completely different four or five days for us. The regional was significantly different in the way we handled things during that time. I don't know if that's going to breed success. We'll see. I can tell you we're in a much different mindset than we were at this time last year.
On if he can see a difference in his team's attitude: It's business as usual. Practice and the energy around practice was as if you could pick this week of practice up and slide it back six, seven weeks in between conference series or in February. Nothing has been different at all, the bus ride down here, just everything. That's what you want. We're striving to be a place that's doing this on a yearly basis. I think the more often you get in these environments, then the more likely you are to have success.
On what makes Texas so good: Beyond the pitching, which is about 95 percent of the battle, they're an underrated offensive club. They set a school record for homers if I'm not mistaken in a park that's not known as a hitter's park. They've always played great defense. There's a reason they were No. 1 in the country for a great portion of the season, at least I voted them there for a while. They've got the greatest coach, a legendary coach in the history of our sport. He's the Dean Smith of college baseball or whatever you want to call it. There are a lot of things they have going for them. There's no reason to think that they're anything other than a great team. You've got to play the games. The games aren't played on paper. We will be out there at 2 o'clock tomorrow.
On if it helps playing on Air Force's field turf: There's a lot of places like that. The adjustment is a lot easier going from grass to turf than it is going the opposite direction. Coach Garrido I'm sure would agree with that. He told me last year, "You can take the worst defensive player on your team and put him on that stuff, and they get 50 percent better." That's what he said. It's baseball. Certainly being here last year and the other places that we've been help a little bit.
P Matt Purke
On pitching game one of the Super Regional: It's a great honor to this team that we're down here (in the Super Regional). We've worked hard for this. That's why we're here. It's phenomenal to go out there and throw during any series. To start game one is going to be awesome. I'm ready to go, and I'm fired up and excited to be out there.
On if this is a major reason why he decided to play in college: Definitely. If you decide not to go pro you want to go to a place where you can compete for a National Championship and go to Omaha. This is a place that I feel like we can do it every year, and they (Texas) have done it. Last year, we were one game away (from advancing to the CWS) down here. We're coming down here to play our best ball and hopefully turn that around.
On his emotions on the mound: Throughout the whole year I've been an emotional pitcher. I like to harness the energy from the stadium and the team and everything else and focus it all in. There are thoughts of trying to keep yourself inside yourself and not try to do more than what you're capable of. Some guys get caught up in that and think they have to throw a perfect game or something like that to be successful. I'm just going to be focused on making pitches. That's what I've done all year, that's what we coach. I'm just going to go out there and focus on one pitch at a time and just keep pounding the zone.
C Bryan Holaday
On if catching every game this season has taken a toll on his body: Not at all. This is my last year so I feel no wear and tear. Coming into this environment and this situation, nobody is going to be tired. This is a great experience for all of us. We're all ready to go.
On being back in Austin a year later: Last year's experience was incredible. I basically thought about it all year up until this point. I had that gut-wrenching feeling of the loss last year. Being experienced coming back here, last year I was a little overwhelmed with the environment. This year I'm a more experienced ballplayer. I am able to exclude the environment and control what I'm able to control as coach was mentioning earlier.
On the mood of the team: It's a relaxed intensity. We're calm right now. I can tell everybody is ready to go. We've been practicing for a week now. Like Coach (Schlossnagle) said, it's getting old. We're ready to go. Right now we're relaxed but I know tomorrow we'll be pretty intense.
TCU Press Conference Quotes
Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle
Opening Statement: I'm excited to be here. It feels like déjà vu all over again as Casey Stengel said. This is a great challenge for us against a great team and a great program. We're looking forward to starting to play. We've been tired of practice since Sunday night. So we're ready to face a different colored uniform.
On the importance of Freshman P Matt Purke to the team: Last year, I thought they were three really well played games (in the 2009 NCAA Super Regional), but I thought the difference was Taylor Jungmann. They had a guy who turned down a lot of money to come to school and certainly could've been a guy who was a first rounder (MLB draft pick) out of high school. Any time you have depth at pitching it's important in any form of tournament. Matt decided to come to TCU and decided to forgo pro ball for a while. That was a great thing for us. He's had a great season to this point, has matured over the course of the year and has really done a great job. You'd like to think between the way he's pitched and (Steven) Maxwell and (Kyle) Winkler along with the other guys that we're a little deeper. I know we're deeper. We'll see how it plays out this weekend. It's an entirely new challenge.
On what he's saying to his freshmen: We talk all year long about controlling what we can control. We can't do anything about the environment. We talk about playing the game and playing the ball instead of playing the opponent. I know that's cliché, but it really is the vernacular that we use all year long in practice and in games, whether they be in a regional or super regional or weekend series in the Mountain West Conference. I'm hoping they'll stick to that. It's easier said than done. Bryan (Holaday) and the older guys will play a big part in that as well. We'll be fine. Last time I looked, they (Texas) were running some freshmen out there too, maybe not on the mound but in some other places. It's just part of it. This is why you come to college. This is what you work for your entire life is for opportunities as this. Anybody that has any kind of competitive nature like Matt certainly does or any of the other young guys, they're fired up to play. They're not shying away from anything.
On the pitching rotation for the series: Matt (as the game-one starter) for now, then wait and see. Last year we played Texas that one time during the regular season, not that that one game makes a huge difference, but I want to watch and see how the game goes. Winkler and Maxwell are similar in that they're right handed but they do different things. So, we'll wait and see how the first game goes and whether we'll need to use anybody in the pen. We'll go from there.
On if there was any hesitation to start Matt Purke: He'll be fine. No hesitation at all. We started a freshman this time last year in Kyle Winkler. I don't know if he's pitched in front of seven or eight thousand people or not. He's done a really good job of staying focused regardless of the challenge. To be honest with you, and no disrespect to what goes on here, pitching at Air Force in front of 20 people when it's 20 degrees is a way bigger challenge than it is here. That's just a fact. Especially because we're used to three or four thousand people in our ballpark and a great atmosphere, so it's actually the other end of the spectrum that's a lot tougher, and Coach Garrido would probably agree with that.
On the significance of playing Texas two years in a row in the Super Regional: I just think experience is such a great thing in anything in life. Last year we hosted a regional for the first time. We won a regional for the first time and we won it on a walk-off hit. There was a great sense of accomplishment in the three or four days leading up to this point for a program that's never done it before. When we got here, we were ready to play and we were focused and I thought we played really well. But this has been a completely different four or five days for us. The regional was significantly different in the way we handled things during that time. I don't know if that's going to breed success. We'll see. I can tell you we're in a much different mindset than we were at this time last year.
On if he can see a difference in his team's attitude: It's business as usual. Practice and the energy around practice was as if you could pick this week of practice up and slide it back six, seven weeks in between conference series or in February. Nothing has been different at all, the bus ride down here, just everything. That's what you want. We're striving to be a place that's doing this on a yearly basis. I think the more often you get in these environments, then the more likely you are to have success.
On what makes Texas so good: Beyond the pitching, which is about 95 percent of the battle, they're an underrated offensive club. They set a school record for homers if I'm not mistaken in a park that's not known as a hitter's park. They've always played great defense. There's a reason they were No. 1 in the country for a great portion of the season, at least I voted them there for a while. They've got the greatest coach, a legendary coach in the history of our sport. He's the Dean Smith of college baseball or whatever you want to call it. There are a lot of things they have going for them. There's no reason to think that they're anything other than a great team. You've got to play the games. The games aren't played on paper. We will be out there at 2 o'clock tomorrow.
On if it helps playing on Air Force's field turf: There's a lot of places like that. The adjustment is a lot easier going from grass to turf than it is going the opposite direction. Coach Garrido I'm sure would agree with that. He told me last year, "You can take the worst defensive player on your team and put him on that stuff, and they get 50 percent better." That's what he said. It's baseball. Certainly being here last year and the other places that we've been help a little bit.
P Matt Purke
On pitching game one of the Super Regional: It's a great honor to this team that we're down here (in the Super Regional). We've worked hard for this. That's why we're here. It's phenomenal to go out there and throw during any series. To start game one is going to be awesome. I'm ready to go, and I'm fired up and excited to be out there.
On if this is a major reason why he decided to play in college: Definitely. If you decide not to go pro you want to go to a place where you can compete for a National Championship and go to Omaha. This is a place that I feel like we can do it every year, and they (Texas) have done it. Last year, we were one game away (from advancing to the CWS) down here. We're coming down here to play our best ball and hopefully turn that around.
On his emotions on the mound: Throughout the whole year I've been an emotional pitcher. I like to harness the energy from the stadium and the team and everything else and focus it all in. There are thoughts of trying to keep yourself inside yourself and not try to do more than what you're capable of. Some guys get caught up in that and think they have to throw a perfect game or something like that to be successful. I'm just going to be focused on making pitches. That's what I've done all year, that's what we coach. I'm just going to go out there and focus on one pitch at a time and just keep pounding the zone.
C Bryan Holaday
On if catching every game this season has taken a toll on his body: Not at all. This is my last year so I feel no wear and tear. Coming into this environment and this situation, nobody is going to be tired. This is a great experience for all of us. We're all ready to go.
On being back in Austin a year later: Last year's experience was incredible. I basically thought about it all year up until this point. I had that gut-wrenching feeling of the loss last year. Being experienced coming back here, last year I was a little overwhelmed with the environment. This year I'm a more experienced ballplayer. I am able to exclude the environment and control what I'm able to control as coach was mentioning earlier.
On the mood of the team: It's a relaxed intensity. We're calm right now. I can tell everybody is ready to go. We've been practicing for a week now. Like Coach (Schlossnagle) said, it's getting old. We're ready to go. Right now we're relaxed but I know tomorrow we'll be pretty intense.
