Tough, exciting game tonight. Tulane outhit Ole Miss 12-6 but made a few too many mistakes, which the 10th-ranked Rebels capitalized on fully. And I'm lost by the strategy of trading a run for . an out when Ole Miss intentionally got into a rundown with runners on first and third. Travis Jewett and Trevor Jensen insisted they do that every time in the early innings to avoid a big inning. Don't you have to trust your fielders to make a basic play? What am I missing here?
This is a much better Tulane team than in the past two years, but the Wave has to win at least one this weekend for RPI purposes down the road. The non-conference schedule is less demanding than last year's, so this is the primary opportunity to notch one or two RPI-boosting victories against a top notch team.
Jewett, Trevor Jensen and Kaleb Roper spoke after the game.
JEWETT
What are your thoughts?
"It was a good game. It was an anticipated matchup. We certainly knew what kind of a team they have and you guys have seen what kind of a club we're going to have so it was a good matchup. What they did was when we made a couple of mistakes, they capitalized. and that's what good teams do. We had some opportunities for some shutdowns there. (Cade) Zabowski put a good swing on a ball there (for a mammoth 2-run tying homer). It wasn't meant to go our way, but I'll tell you what, I like this group. We fought like heck. We outhit them 12-6, and you saw the fight in the kids. That's what I like to see. I don't know if you could ask for a better opportunity. You've got (Kody) Hoese up there with two on and one out in the eighth, and then we don't go down quietly in the ninth either. We put a couple guys on there, and (Luke) Glancy's kind of been our ace in the hole coming off the bench doing his thing. I felt pretty good about some situations we had late and they were able to make some good pitches and get out of here with the W."
Trevor Jensen talked about knowing you guys could hang with this team. Is that the sense you have from the guys in the dugout?
"Absolutely. The thing is I've been talking to you guys about this group and kind of how they connect and their believability. We talk about hearing the bell. These guys hear the bell, man. The leadership group, before I even had a chance to talk, I kind of stepped to the back and they were kind of pulling themselves together saying we're fine, we're fine, we're fine. I told them that at the end of the game. It's a three-round fight and they won round 1. We just have to come out tomorrow, learn from our mistakes and our positives today and we've just got to put it into effect tomorrow. I liked watching the kids battle tonight and I'm looking forward to seeing how they respond to their first adversity of the season.
"Ty Johnson wanted to apologize to everybody for getting picked off of first base. It was a pretty comforting feeling to think that the other 34 guys were like, no, you just keep coming, you're fine. There's a lot of leadership in there. This is a team I'm enjoying around here right now. These kids are engaged in one another. I genuinely like these kids. I like the way they compete, I like the way they train. I like the way they go about it. I'm just excited the game's at 1, not 2 tomorrow so we can get out here sooner and see how these kids respond."
In a close game, there a plays you'd always like back. Roper hesitated when he fielded a bunt with a runner on second and threw to third too to try to cut down the lead runner. Ty getting picked off. I know Trevor Jensen said the run that scored while you got an out in the rundown was OK.
"Yeah. We had a certain play on, and it was early in the game. Against a team like that, you just want to get off the field. That to me was a damage control opportunity. We were able to just keep that inning at a minimum. That's important. If we're trying to run everybody around the bases, then all of a sudden safe there and safe there and then the inning has a chance. Obviously if it was later in the game we would have probably done something different, but right there we felt good about the balance of the game."
Were guys maybe a little over-eager in the first couple of innings? After that it seemed like the whole team settled down.
"Yeah maybe. I was eager all day. When you get these moments, this is why we coach and this is why we play, for games and moments like this. We had a great crowd. They brought some people with them and we had a nice crowd, so it's easy to get a little bit hyped up. But like I tried to tell the kids, if we're going to win and be the team I think we're going to be, we're going to have to control these moments. I've said this to you guys a million times. It's just experiences, experiences. We haven't maybe had these experiences yet. It's a good feeling to know that you're good enough and maybe be a little bit overhyped, but like you said I thought we settled in. We played good enough to win. We made some mistakes, and when you're facing the 10th-ranked team in the country, they take advantage of them. When they do, that's kind of the difference in a very close game on a Friday night."
What was Ole Miss coach Rob Bianco so hot and bothered about (he twice came out screaming at the umpires)?
"Obviously coach Latham's doing a good job of just trying to create tempo. It's not like we're trying to be bush league or anything. We're just trying to get the flow of the game going. We're trying to be quick and efficient and get back to the dugout to hit, which we're doing well. We're just trying to speed it up, and their guys felt that a little bit. They certainly want to get time as a hitter. You don't want to feel rushed up there, so they were doing fine. I think he was protecting his players. It was a good managerial move on his part. It's nothing personal. It's just we were trying to get on the rubber and trying to get going. That's baseball. It just got a little animated, which is fine."
Keagan Gillies struggled last week. What are you looking for from him tomorrow?
"A good one. You're right, he wasn't as sharp as he's been in the spring and the early scrimmages and stuff like that, but I think he'll get that one away from him. Hopefully he'll come out tomorrow and I'm sure he will and pitch well."
What did you think of Roper's performance?
"He was pretty good. If you can hold that team, and like I said, when we did make the bunt play you referred to and he'd hit a guy with two outs and all of a sudden the ball goes over (the wall). They just capitalized, but for the most part he gave us a pretty good start. He got us deep into the sixth, so we were able to save some bullets that way. We should be loaded for bear in the bullpen tomorrow."
This is a much better Tulane team than in the past two years, but the Wave has to win at least one this weekend for RPI purposes down the road. The non-conference schedule is less demanding than last year's, so this is the primary opportunity to notch one or two RPI-boosting victories against a top notch team.
Jewett, Trevor Jensen and Kaleb Roper spoke after the game.
JEWETT
What are your thoughts?
"It was a good game. It was an anticipated matchup. We certainly knew what kind of a team they have and you guys have seen what kind of a club we're going to have so it was a good matchup. What they did was when we made a couple of mistakes, they capitalized. and that's what good teams do. We had some opportunities for some shutdowns there. (Cade) Zabowski put a good swing on a ball there (for a mammoth 2-run tying homer). It wasn't meant to go our way, but I'll tell you what, I like this group. We fought like heck. We outhit them 12-6, and you saw the fight in the kids. That's what I like to see. I don't know if you could ask for a better opportunity. You've got (Kody) Hoese up there with two on and one out in the eighth, and then we don't go down quietly in the ninth either. We put a couple guys on there, and (Luke) Glancy's kind of been our ace in the hole coming off the bench doing his thing. I felt pretty good about some situations we had late and they were able to make some good pitches and get out of here with the W."
Trevor Jensen talked about knowing you guys could hang with this team. Is that the sense you have from the guys in the dugout?
"Absolutely. The thing is I've been talking to you guys about this group and kind of how they connect and their believability. We talk about hearing the bell. These guys hear the bell, man. The leadership group, before I even had a chance to talk, I kind of stepped to the back and they were kind of pulling themselves together saying we're fine, we're fine, we're fine. I told them that at the end of the game. It's a three-round fight and they won round 1. We just have to come out tomorrow, learn from our mistakes and our positives today and we've just got to put it into effect tomorrow. I liked watching the kids battle tonight and I'm looking forward to seeing how they respond to their first adversity of the season.
"Ty Johnson wanted to apologize to everybody for getting picked off of first base. It was a pretty comforting feeling to think that the other 34 guys were like, no, you just keep coming, you're fine. There's a lot of leadership in there. This is a team I'm enjoying around here right now. These kids are engaged in one another. I genuinely like these kids. I like the way they compete, I like the way they train. I like the way they go about it. I'm just excited the game's at 1, not 2 tomorrow so we can get out here sooner and see how these kids respond."
In a close game, there a plays you'd always like back. Roper hesitated when he fielded a bunt with a runner on second and threw to third too to try to cut down the lead runner. Ty getting picked off. I know Trevor Jensen said the run that scored while you got an out in the rundown was OK.
"Yeah. We had a certain play on, and it was early in the game. Against a team like that, you just want to get off the field. That to me was a damage control opportunity. We were able to just keep that inning at a minimum. That's important. If we're trying to run everybody around the bases, then all of a sudden safe there and safe there and then the inning has a chance. Obviously if it was later in the game we would have probably done something different, but right there we felt good about the balance of the game."
Were guys maybe a little over-eager in the first couple of innings? After that it seemed like the whole team settled down.
"Yeah maybe. I was eager all day. When you get these moments, this is why we coach and this is why we play, for games and moments like this. We had a great crowd. They brought some people with them and we had a nice crowd, so it's easy to get a little bit hyped up. But like I tried to tell the kids, if we're going to win and be the team I think we're going to be, we're going to have to control these moments. I've said this to you guys a million times. It's just experiences, experiences. We haven't maybe had these experiences yet. It's a good feeling to know that you're good enough and maybe be a little bit overhyped, but like you said I thought we settled in. We played good enough to win. We made some mistakes, and when you're facing the 10th-ranked team in the country, they take advantage of them. When they do, that's kind of the difference in a very close game on a Friday night."
What was Ole Miss coach Rob Bianco so hot and bothered about (he twice came out screaming at the umpires)?
"Obviously coach Latham's doing a good job of just trying to create tempo. It's not like we're trying to be bush league or anything. We're just trying to get the flow of the game going. We're trying to be quick and efficient and get back to the dugout to hit, which we're doing well. We're just trying to speed it up, and their guys felt that a little bit. They certainly want to get time as a hitter. You don't want to feel rushed up there, so they were doing fine. I think he was protecting his players. It was a good managerial move on his part. It's nothing personal. It's just we were trying to get on the rubber and trying to get going. That's baseball. It just got a little animated, which is fine."
Keagan Gillies struggled last week. What are you looking for from him tomorrow?
"A good one. You're right, he wasn't as sharp as he's been in the spring and the early scrimmages and stuff like that, but I think he'll get that one away from him. Hopefully he'll come out tomorrow and I'm sure he will and pitch well."
What did you think of Roper's performance?
"He was pretty good. If you can hold that team, and like I said, when we did make the bunt play you referred to and he'd hit a guy with two outs and all of a sudden the ball goes over (the wall). They just capitalized, but for the most part he gave us a pretty good start. He got us deep into the sixth, so we were able to save some bullets that way. We should be loaded for bear in the bullpen tomorrow."