The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
06.02.2014 | Baseball
Texas wins the Houston Regional Championship
Texas Head Coach Augie Garrido Opening Statement
"Obviously the story is built around Chad (Hollingsworth) and his pitching. I think that we played pretty well defensively behind him. We got off to a rocky start. I think this tournament is going to help us a lot. We showed out nerves a little bit. I think that we settled down as the game went on. We hit some balls hard with runners in scoring position right at people, so we could've separated earlier than we did. I thought we took quality at bats in those situations. They weren't giveaways. I thought we relaxed about midway through the game and got more control over and more consistency in what we were doing. Even though the score was still 2-1, I felt like we were seeing the ball better, had a better rhythm at the plate, better rhythm on the field and I thought we played a good game."
Garrido on Chad Hollingsworth
"I felt like Chad (Hollingsworth) said he was going to get (Texas A&M) in the eighth and in the ninth. Seeing last night happen, gave us more confidence in the fact and his attitude toward wanting ball and he found his rhythm in the second inning. He was throwing his pitches for strikes. He had his changeup working a little bit, he had a slide and he was locating his fastball, getting ahead on the count. You don't know what's coming out of that pen. You never know what's going to happen in a big game like this and how the player is going to respond. (John) Curtiss was on short-rest, so we went with a guy that really wanted to be out there. He backed up what he said he was going to do, got to get them out."
Garrido on team's maturity
"I think they're recognizing what they've done all year long. The team, as individuals and collectively, have responded well to the adversities that they have been through. They've grown from it. They've learned from it. They've become better and stronger as a result of it and that is what separates teams. Teams with mental toughness to accept the failures connected to baseball, because there are so many, especially on the offensive side of it, and keep grinding it out which they did tonight. When (Texas) A&M left the runners on base and made the third out with bases loaded, that is a real bummer for them. If you can get out of that situation many times, it inspires the offense, because it is such a close call. We did get our run back in that inning, so I thought it worked to our advantage in terms of the momentum the game, getting out of that situation with the bases loaded."
Garrido on manufacturing runs
"Tonight it worked. Tonight we got four runs and (Texas A&M) only got one. That's how we play a lot. We have been doing that a long time. I believe on getting the guys into scoring position and giving ourselves an opportunity to score run an inning to where you have nine at the end of the game. I just try to keep it simple and that's something they can accomplish."
Garrido on team compared to last few years
"This team has been a different right from the get-go. Their work ethic and I'm telling you we haven't had a problem off the field and haven't had a problem with people missing class. They've committed to doing things right, all things. There haven't been distractions that you might think are going on with a lot of teams right now. They've committed to doing things right and they've kept their word about that. A lot of that is about mental toughness. That's something we've used a lot. Mental toughhness, our definition for that, is doing the ting you hate to do the most and knowing that you are going to try and master it to help the team win the game."
Starting pitcher Chad Hollingsworth on outing
"Obviously I was pretty happy. I texted coach last night and told him to give me the ball. I wanted it. These coaches put us in a position to succeed all the time and I knew I couldn't let them down and they weren't going to let me down. It makes it a lot easier when you have guys around you."
Hollingsworth on texting coaching staff about starting the game
"I've never texted them that before. I knew our pen had been a little beat up. In the Big 12 Tournament, they threw a lot and had to come back and our guys have thrown a lot again. I knew there was other guys capable of throwing that could've given us a quality start, but I felt in my heart that I could go out there and get it done. I knew I wasn't going to let coach down and that I would come up big in the situation."
Hollingsworth on settling into the game
"I thought I had settled in in the bullpen before the game. I had my stuff going, but when I got out there it wasn't really working. I kind of scared everybody a little bit, but once I started throwing strikes it was just a matter of finding your pitches and what you do. There's really no looking back."
Centerfielder Mark Payton on team's approach
"We just wanted to kind of relax and put us in a situation where we are playing whiffle ball in the backyard hitting something fun. If you wear yourself out and beat yourself up too much, you have no shot, so we just wanted to get back to having fun. Playing baseball is fun. Hitting, I think is even more fun than defense. We just wanted that little kid in us come out today and obviously we hit a couple of hard balls with guys in scoring position right at them, but that's the way the game is. We really settled down, didn't swing at many pitches tonight and found different ways to score runs."
Payton on winning Rice Regional
"It feels good, especially when you have so many great teams here. Not one game was easy. It feels good to come out victorious and being able to keep on playing. It is something personally that I came back to do is help these young guys that are so talented and had the work ethic to get back where this program needs to be. We aren't done yet. We have a good week of practice coming up and then whoever we play, we have to be mentally and physically prepared to go to war."
Shortstop C.J. Hinojosa on weekend and playing without Dillon Peters
"It was really rewarding. Losing Dillon (Peters) was a big loss, but we have a deep pen with a lot of pitching. He has been a big leader. He got us all together today before we got off the bus and had a few words said. In his heart, this team is first and he wants us to win. Having him behind us after, after a big injury and everything that's happened, just him being there with us. We've had a brotherhood going through everything we did in the fall and it's been real rewarding from this weekend."
