June 16, 2009
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery
Arizona State head coach Pat Murphy:
(opening statement): "With Mike Leake on the mound and a six-run lead, we felt pretty good about ourselves, but that just shows you how great our game is, how beautiful college baseball is and how great this event is. The best teams are here, and the best team fought back to win tonight ...Mike Leake is 16-1 against very good competition and hasn't had an outing like that in three years. That's not typical of Mike."
(on why Leake struggled on the mound): "First of all, you have to give Texas credit. They put the bat on the ball and got some timely hits. When Mike is walking people, and dropping a ball going to first, something isn't right. Not sure exactly what happened, but his stuff wasn't his normal sinking stuff. He wasn't getting the low strike - this ump had a higher zone - which changes things a little bit ...But they got some timely hits, and that's what happens."
(on the pep talk he gave his team late in the game): "I talked about stringing some good at-bats together. We've been a team of destiny all year. Nobody expected us to be that good, except ourselves. Nobody expected us to win, and we've found a way over and over again. Being down some runs has never affected us that much ...Our guys didn't quit for one bit."
Arizona State pitcher Mike Leake
(on his struggles): "It wasn't too much rest, I couldn't really tell you what it was. There is too much going through my mind right now. I'll think about it, then put it behind me."
(on if the six-run lead changed his mindset) "A little bit, but like coach said, they got timely hitting. I wasn't locating very well, but they got the bat on the ball enough to get it out of the infield."
Arizona State outfielder Kole Calhoun:
(about the mindset of the team after taking a 6-0 lead): "When we were up 6-0, we kind of laid back, we were thinking we would be cruising. We got Mike Leake on the mound, but we've road him a lot of times."
(about the performance of Jungmann): "Jungmann was good, he pounded the zone, kept guys off balance. To throw 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run, that's pretty good."
Texas head coach Augie Garrido:
(opening statement): "Baseball creates enough adversity as any sport can. We added to it tenfold both offensively and defensively. To win that game tonight was nothing short of a miracle. They played the game from pitch to pitch. It was rough, ugly, but it got done."
(about what he said when his team was down 6-0): "Whatever I tell the team doesn't have as much value as how they respond. A better response may be to ask the players what did it leave them with. We gave them a lot of extra outs in those innings. That would have taken the pressure off. That was part of it."
(about chasing pitches early in the game): "I think after the third inning we stopped chasing balls in the dirt. He (pitcher Mike Leake) was smart about keeping the ball out of the strike zone the way we were swinging the bat."
Texas second baseman Travis Tucker:
(about if he thought they would win the game): "I felt like we'd come back. We rallied around each other and just took the game pitch by pitch."
Texas catcher Cameron Rupp:
(about what Coach told them after ASU went up 6-0): "Coach called us in and told us that we could do it. We had to compete and go play by play. We put everything behind us and moved on. He stayed calm; he just told us to put it all behind us."
Texas pitcher Taylor Jungman
(about coming in after the team got down): "After coach talked to us the guys rallied around each other. When we tied it, we knew that we had the win."