Cincinnati earned a spot to play Tennessee baseball for a spot in the Knoxville Regional finals on Saturday.
The result was an impressive 10-6 win for the Vols.
Afterward, Bearcats coach Jordan Bischel and players Kerrington Cross and Brandon Scheurer met with the media. Here's what they said.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
HC - Jordan Bischel
Opening Statement…
“Yeah, just tip of the cap to coach [Tony] Vitello. Tennessee swung the bats well. They took advantage. They had a good hitting approach. They didn't give away at bats. We had a few free passes that bit us, but some of that's credit to them too. They didn’t chase a whole lot, and obviously, three talented arms they ran out there. We knew they'd be good. We knew we'd have to play really, really well. We competed, but just didn't play our best baseball. Again, tip the cap to Tennessee.”
On what the biggest turning point in the game was and if there was one…
“No, I don't think so. Obviously, you know, big innings win and lose a lot of these games. Yesterday, it won one for us in the fourth and the sixth. It took a really tight game and gave us some breathing room. Even then, Brandon [Scheurer] came out, could have blown it open, kept it where it where it was at and kept us in the game. But no, not really one spot. I think they had chances to turn the lineup over, because a lot of guys got on base, and we have to face those guys five to six times they're often going to do some damage.”
On how he feels about the quick turnaround…
“Well, I grew up playing and coaching (NCAA) Division III ball. You're lucky if you get 14 hours between games. Usually you get 25 minutes, so this is a long rest. I mean, in the league, you get things like travel curfews, and you have to turn around quick somedays. So, if we're not excited to play baseball in the NCAA Tournament, then we have a lot bigger problem than how many hours we slept.”
INF - Kerrington Cross
Cross On what his mindset is going into tomorrow…
“The mindset doesn't really change. This is kind of like another game. If you treat it as an elimination game, then you are kind of going to get nervous, and mentally, not there. So, I think the goal is just to tell them, ‘Hey, it's another day, keep the energy high. Who wants to be out there the most?’ If we just play our style and we want to be there, I think you're going to see the results at the end. If we treat it like an elimination game, we are cooked from the start.”
On what it was like facing Marcus Phillips…
“I was seeing the ball pretty well. He's got good stuff. His fastball was coming in pretty good. He's a legit guy, but I thought, I don't think our full lineup, top-to-bottom approach was all necessarily there. I think we could have had some bigger at-bats. We definitely took our walks. We struck out and struck out a little bit too much, but overall, he's a good, good pitcher. I mean, we knew coming in that it was going to be tough, and we were going to have to grind. He beat us today. I mean, it's plain and simple as that.”
RHP - Brandon Scheurer
On how he attacked the Tennessee hitters…
“Yeah, it's a really good lineup. We all knew that coming in, but we talked in our pitchers meeting this morning. That's kind of a good matchup for me, specifically, just because of how I throw in some of my stuff. Credit to them. They made it really tough on me. Even some of the guys that I just felt like every guy was two-two or three-two count every at bat. So, they're a really good lineup, and I knew that coming in, but I was just trying to attack the zone, and just trying to keep us in it.”
– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.
– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.
– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.
