The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
03.04.2014 | Baseball
Quotes from head coach Augie Garrido
Head coach Augie Garrido
On his team looking like a confident ball club tonight: I think the three runs in the first inning had a lot to do with that, Ben had a big hit... I do think the three runs loosened everybody up, as they usually do, and they came with a two out hit which really kind of separated it. We got the first run with a safety squeeze which was well executed. You will see me always wanting to get as many runs as we can in the early innings, I just think it really helps the pitchers and the players. And then, we didn't sit on that all the way, we had some other good innings along the way I thought.
On the current state of the team after winning ten out of eleven games: I still think the scope of our game is very small. What I mean by that, is you don't see us stealing a lot of bases, you don't see us running any crash bunt defenses, you don't see us doing many hit-and-runs or things like that, because we are playing the game we know how to play at this moment in time because that is what we know how to do. We need to expand the scope of our game, and when we are going to do that, I don't know. But, if we are going to be a championship team, we have to find more ways to get more bases and score more runs in different ways.
On freshman first baseman Kacy Clemens performance thus far this season: I think he is playing defense at an extremely high level, and offensively he is playing okay. But, remember we are more about getting our outs on time than batting average. He has one RBI, and it was an RBI that won a game. We have used the model of the Red Sox, we have used the model of UCLA, don't worry about the batting average, just make your contribution. Keep battling, keep battling, don't worry about your batting average. If you have the right attitude and the right approach you are not coming out of the lineup over your batting average, that is where we are right now.
On the freshman pitchers, particularly Blake Goins and Morgan Cooper: Well, Goins looks like he could step into the arena pretty quickly. What I like about it is their overall confidence in themselves and what they contribute to the pitching staff. Morgan Cooper was as good as anybody who has walked to the mound in the championship game in Houston. His breaking ball, as Skip likes to talk about it, was nose to toes, and he was absolutely not affected by the pressure, he pitched his game. In fact, I texted him afterwards, "Nice going, great job, it was awesome." He sends back, "Great fun coach." I said, "Keep it that way, good answer."
