June 2, 2007
State Head Coach Pat Murphy
On the game:
Leake right here, this guy is masterful. When he is locked in, you can see it in his demeanor on the mound. Every ball is moving which way. They don't know what pitch is coming. It is just amazing. He could have pitched 16 innings tonight. is a good club. They won the Big West for a reason. That pitcher today, I don't care what his line says, was good. He was a pitcher. That kid they pitched the first night was a pitcher. They have a heck of a club.
Pitcher Mike Leake
On his talk with Coach Murphy:
He encouraged me to finish the game. He told me to get the next batter out and cruise through the game. He said the right thing, I'd say, because after that I was a different person.
On pitching:
I try not to think about it. I try to think of us losing or we're down, just to stay focused. Just to keep pitching well and so our team can stay in it. They gave me nine runs. They kept me in the game. I try not to look at the score board either. I like to stay focused.
Every start feels the same here on out. You have to fight the best you can to keep the team in the game.
[My command] is about the same. When I'm in the zone it works better. I usually get first pitch strikes.
ASU Roling
On Mike Leake:
Tonight, like every other start, he is focused, he gets in the zone. He wants the ball. He doesn't even want me to come out and talk to him half the time. He just wants the ball and wants to get back out there. When his pitches are working, as you have seen, he is pretty much unstoppable. You have to tip your hat to their club though. They're a good team, but when you have Mike Leake on the mound he is a tough pitcher to beat.
UC Head Coach Doug Smith
On the game against ASU:
I thought just a little bit too much [ASU pitcher] Mike Leake. Mike Leake was really good tonight. I thought Matt Montgomery threw the ball really well for us. Obviously, the seventh inning was the downfall for us. We didn't get a couple calls that we thought maybe we'd get. But having said that, that doesn't mean we have to go out there and hit a guy and get four more pinch hits. I thought threw very well, just a little bit too much of Mike Leake.
On playing again:
I haven't gotten there yet. We'll go back tonight and go through it. Having played , we've seen them twice now, so we have a better feel for them maybe than we did yesterday. They probably have the same feel for us because they've seen us twice. We are going to start Pat Cassa tomorrow. Cassa is going to be a good match up for them. I expect him to go out and throw well.
Pitcher Matt Montgomery
On pitching:
Pretty much when I got ahead and stayed ahead I was effective. When I fell behind that's when I got into trouble. My command was off and on. My fast ball had some run to it, as usually. My slider was moving well. It was just my command was a little off.
I felt good. I felt confident. I felt like my team mates were going to pick me up. They scored two runs but it just wasn't enough today.
First Baseman Mark Samuelson
On ASU pitcher Mike Leake
Leake was excellent all night. He had really good stuff. His location was really great all night. He was able to throw inside and outside. Pitch after pitch he was really excellent. He was able to get after us better than we were able to get after him.