June 4, 2011

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UCLA Head Coach John Savage
"I thought it was a very good ball game. Both teams really battled in an elimination game. We had two champions - one from the WAC and one from the Pac-10. You can tell it was that type of a game. It was a grind. It could've gone either way. They fought Trevor (Bauer) as well as any team this season. We left 14 guys on base, and it was kind of frustrating that we didn't open it up more. But it goes back to Trevor again. It was a great performance pitch to pitch, and we live to play another day.

(on if the mentality is to win and survive): "We haven't been in this position in a while, we lose our first game at home and get Fresno State. It was not an easy task, but we still have plenty of good teams in this tournament. You can't win the tournament today, and we handed ball over to Trevor, and he had a good mentality today."

(on Trevor Bauer): "One thing about him is he is consistent. He's the same guy in a lot of different situations - on the road, at home, in a big game. He was himself, and that's what makes him so good. He wasn't any more spectacular than he was in the past. He was just Trevor being Trevor."

(on whether he thought of taking Bauer out to save him for later in the tournament): "Fresno's way too dangerous to mess with. There was no thought of heading in another direction. We want the guy to my right (Bauer) with the ball at the end of the game."

(on changing the lineup): "It was left-handed pitcher, so we moved some things around. Gio (Chris Giovinazzo) led off, we put in Brownie (Trevor Brown), and he had a good day. Fortunately we scored three runs, but leaving 14 on is tough to take, But a win is a win at this stage."

UCLA Pitcher Trevor Bauer
(on how he felt after the game): "Pretty wiped out. I'm the kind of guy who gives everything he has on the mound. I'm pretty drained and need to get some food to get more energy going. I just wanted to go out there and give my team a chance to win."

(on Fresno State's lineup): "Every single one of them is a tough out. Some lineups you face, there are some guys you don't not necessarily relax against, but you feel more confident against. But with that lineup, you're facing a 3 or 4 hitter every single guy. It's a tough lineup to pitch to, and they did a good job battling."

(on facing Fresno State's big hitters): "It's all about the pitch-pitch approach and executing pitches. One thing that might be different is when runners are on base, and you just lock in more. You can't strike a guy out before you get strike one. I take the same approach, whether there are guys on or not. You just have to execute pitches."

(on if he can go Monday): "It's not my decision. That'll be Coach Savage's decision. We'll see how that plays out. I don't think anyone here is assuming we're playing Monday. We've got to take care of business tomorrow."

(on mentality coming into today): "It's a big game, obviously the season's on the line, but it wasn't any different for me. It was just another Saturday 2 pm start against a good team."

UCLA Second Baseman Trevor Brown
(on team's offensive inconsistency from day to day): "Each pitcher we face, we have a different approach. I wouldn't say we do anything different day to day. Sometimes we have those days where we don't produce on offense, but today we put ourselves in a good position to get runs."

UCLA Catcher Steve Rodriguez
(on Bauer's performance): "Trevor always wants the ball. We were very confident going in today and having Trevor on the mound in an elimination game. He always goes out and competes to the best of his ability and treats every player the same. He mostly competes with himself. Today he did that and was successful. Every time Trevor goes out I always think he has great stuff. One thing he's really good at is making adjustments. Today he made certain adjustments and was able to attack hitters."

Fresno State Head Coach Mike Batesole
"It was an outstanding college baseball game between two teams fighting it out. That's what it's all about - two outstanding teams fighting it out at the plate. There were some good performances on the mound and two outstanding defenses that made outstanding plays. That's exactly what you'd expect in this atmosphere. And we saw two teams that can be very proud of what they did today."

(on his team this year): "This has been a great team. I've had teams that were more physically talented and better on the field between the lines. I've had some teams that were better in the classroom. But I don't know that I've ever had a team that was better in the clubhouse, or had a team that was better at all three. It was the funnest team I've ever coached, but it would have been a lot of fun to do it a couple more weeks. A great group of kids - A+"

(on the season ending): "To play like they did, finish like they finish, they can be proud of their work. What they did from start to finish, from August to today, they haven't done one thing to be ashamed of. I'm very proud of what they've done."

(on the team's struggles in the heart of the order) "Those guys have been fantastic for us, not just this year, but for 3-4 years. They won a lot big games for us, gotten big hits for 200 some games, had big hit after big hit for us. I like the way they swung today. They took aggressive hacks. They were aggressive and attacked. They can sleep well tonight."

(on UCLA's Trevor Bauer): "I've been watching him for quite a few years. I agree w/ Dusty - what separates him is he can throw three pitches for strikes on any count."

Fresno State Outfielder Dusty Robinson
"This was two great teams going at it and battling. It was a great college game to watch. We did face a lot of great teams this year. We're satisfied with what we did. We stuck together as a team, took great at-bats and pitched well."

(asked if Bauer was the most unique pitcher he's faced): "What helps him is he throws all his pitches for strikes."

(on Bauer's curve): "It's a good pitch - that's why he gets people out with it. We were not going to get cheated today. We were going to take aggressive hacks."

(on what was frustrating about today's performance): "There's nothing frustrating about it. You've got to give both sides credit. We left everything on field. Every single guy wanted to get in the game. For some it might be our last, but we left it all on the field."

Fresno State Pitcher Josh Poytress
"Both our teams are great. There were a lot of great players on the field. Everyone did their job. We came out and battled a great team. It was a well-played game on both sides. Can't be ashamed of that." "It seemed like they were swinging at a lot of first pitch fastballs, trying to get me behind in the count. They took a lot of pitches."