Solid win last night. Jackson Linn looks like he can be a major factor this year, which is a huge benefit. The pitching was pretty good. The defense was decent. And I got to see the first straight steal of home by Tulane maybe ever. Todd Graffagnini contacted Rick Jones and Jones could not recall one under his watch. I know there had not been any since then. Connor Rasmussen is the type of player Tulane has not had under my watch (2011 and on)--a hyper competitive, fast athlete with good bat skills. He would not have been in position to steal home without taking two bases instead of one on an errant pickoff throw. Whether or not he can consistently hit top level pitching remains to be seen, but the early signs are good and his competitiveness will rub off on his teammates.
The next step is putting the hammer to a bad team in Yale this weekend, something this team has not come close to doing under Uhlman. Yale got outscored 20-8 in its opening series at North Florida and was picked fifth in the Ivy League.
I talked to Rasmussen, Jackson Linn and Uhlman last night.
RASMUSSEN
On stealing home:
"Honestly we didn't really look into it pre-game, but I got to third base and saw that he was in his windup and saw the first couple of pitches and realized he was pretty slow to the plate. We were actually going to go with a fake steal just to see what he did, and he didn't look at me and I heard Jay yelling, 'yeah, yeah, yeah', so I just went and it worked out."
On getting to third on errant pickoff throw:
"Just trusting Jay what he was telling me. We like to be aggressive on the basepaths. We have a goal of leading the country in going from first to third and we had an opportunity there to take it. We did."
On bouncing back from UC Irvine sweep:
"It was huge. We had a lot of confidence coming off the weekend. I know we lost three games at home, which you never want to do, but we felt we beat ourselves those games, and we know if we minimize those mistakes that we're going to win a lot of games and we came out here and played our brand of baseball today."
On if had stolen home before:
"I believe that was the second time (did it in high school). I believe it was the same situation except I think it was off a lefty (in high school) so he couldn't see me going."
On significance of beating UNO:
"Definitely. We talked about it before the game, about how they took the Pelican Cup from us last year and that's something we want to have. We talked about that before the season started. We wanted to bring that back over to this side of town."
LINN
On what is working:
"I think keeping it more simple than I have been in the past. I haven't really gotten to my brand of baseball in a long time, so I kind of got back to that just staying through the ball, swinging at the right pitches. That's what makes a good player is if you can swing at the right pitches and take the ones that you're not going to be able to do damage with. That's what I've been doing. I've been trying for a long time to get to the mental place where that's kind of where I'm at, and finally I'm getting there."
On feeling 100 percent:
"I've had a long road. At the very end of my freshman year I got the bad news that I tore my UCL and it was going to be a long road. It was kind of more extensive than most UCL surgeries, so I've just been working really hard in the training room and working really hard to get through the fact that my body wasn't 100 percent and I'm taking better at-bats than I did last year."
On waiting a few games to get in starting lineup:
"I got that hungry desire to get back on the field. I really hadn't had that sense of peak desire to go out there and compete for a little while, and like I said, I've been getting back to my brand of baseball. It's been fun. I'm glad we won. It's a big game to win to get the momentum going in our favor, so I'm happy that we pulled it out at the end."
On doubts:
"Yeah. There were definitely points where I felt, I don't want to say sorry for myself, but I was feeling down at times, especially when I was struggling and I felt like there was an expectation for me to succeed. That was a challenging time for me, but last year's in the past. As a team we're doing a good job flipping the page and we're playing different this year."
On difference this year:
"With the transfer portal you can flip the team over. I think we've done a really good job with the guys that we got. There was a lot of development this fall, more than last year, where we got better. We made changes and we're in a place right now where I think we're going to start rolling."
On Rasmussen stealing home:
"That's a first for me being in the box. I saw him coming nonstop and I was like oh, man, he's coming."
On significance of Pelican Cup:
"We hated giving that up to them last year. We've got a vengeance on our mind. We took the first step and hopefully we can sweep this thing. That's our goal."
UHLMAN
on Rasmussen stealing home:
"We originally called it as fake steal knowing that he was slow to the plate. He started down the line and just my instincts I said, go, go, go, go, go and he went and we got lucky the guy threw a breaking ball in the dirt and he was safe. Those are really electric plays. A steal of home, you don't see it, so when it happens it's pretty cool."
On spark the play provided:
"I'd love to say I had some premonition, but I didn't. It was a good, unique way to start a game that way and get on top early, and then we extended the lead four times. We had a lot of shutdown innings. We punched back when they scored, so just a lot of team-oriented goals that happened during the game that led to what I think was a total team victory."
On waiting to start Linn until last Sunday:
"We all suffered and hurt for him what he went through last year, and then to delay, for him to trust the plan. I talked to him early and just said, look, I don't want to put you in a position to fail. I want to put you in a position to succeed and I'm going to kind of ease you into this. The first hit was a double and he got some confidence. He's been working really hard, so for him to have this kind of game--two absolute blasts and an unbelievable walk in the last inning, and he made a great play in left-center at a critical time in the game. Just really more than anything satisfied and happy that he had that type of game and is feeling good about himself."
On doubts about recovery:
"There were some doubts that he would ever play again. They had diagnosed a certain thing that nobody really knew about, so it kind of confused doctors for a little bit. They had a plan in treatment. He went through it all and I was fearful for the kid that he may never be able to do what he can really do. I'm just really happy for him more than anything."
On team seeing the ball:
"You can make some complaints about swinging at some bad pitches that were out of character, but for the most part situationally we hit and could have had another home run ball with Rasmussen's one at the fence, and he made a great slide on the push bunt at home. Just really proud of their effort tonight, especially coming off a rough weekend where we didn't get what we wanted."
On winning first game of Pelican Cup:
"They got it back last year. We had it the year before, and we want to make sure we keep that cup. That's an important piece, but you can't get that back until you get that second win. It's a series. I have tremendous respect for coach (Blake) Dean and their program and what they do. They are a tough club. It's always fun to play them win, lose or draw. It's a unique rivalry that I really appreciate."
On Henry Shuffler (ULM transfer) getting save and not having allowed a run in five appearances:
"I just like that he works low in the zone and throws most of his pitches down there in the zone. Actually he was elevated (tonight). I'm not sure if we were calling those elevated, but he just pounds the bottom of the zone. He's been better than advertised for me. I'm really pleased. We saw glimpses of it in the fall, but I'm really pleased with how he's transitioned from the fall to when the lights come on. And Blaise, too. Blaise was tremendous. He struggled in the fall. Coach Izzio and coach Niemann were tinkering with him, so he wasn't clean in the fall, so for him to come out and do what he's been doing is great, and I told the guys between Fladda, Blaise and Henry, to save our bullpen which was taxed this weekend was a huge thing for us."
The next step is putting the hammer to a bad team in Yale this weekend, something this team has not come close to doing under Uhlman. Yale got outscored 20-8 in its opening series at North Florida and was picked fifth in the Ivy League.
I talked to Rasmussen, Jackson Linn and Uhlman last night.
RASMUSSEN
On stealing home:
"Honestly we didn't really look into it pre-game, but I got to third base and saw that he was in his windup and saw the first couple of pitches and realized he was pretty slow to the plate. We were actually going to go with a fake steal just to see what he did, and he didn't look at me and I heard Jay yelling, 'yeah, yeah, yeah', so I just went and it worked out."
On getting to third on errant pickoff throw:
"Just trusting Jay what he was telling me. We like to be aggressive on the basepaths. We have a goal of leading the country in going from first to third and we had an opportunity there to take it. We did."
On bouncing back from UC Irvine sweep:
"It was huge. We had a lot of confidence coming off the weekend. I know we lost three games at home, which you never want to do, but we felt we beat ourselves those games, and we know if we minimize those mistakes that we're going to win a lot of games and we came out here and played our brand of baseball today."
On if had stolen home before:
"I believe that was the second time (did it in high school). I believe it was the same situation except I think it was off a lefty (in high school) so he couldn't see me going."
On significance of beating UNO:
"Definitely. We talked about it before the game, about how they took the Pelican Cup from us last year and that's something we want to have. We talked about that before the season started. We wanted to bring that back over to this side of town."
LINN
On what is working:
"I think keeping it more simple than I have been in the past. I haven't really gotten to my brand of baseball in a long time, so I kind of got back to that just staying through the ball, swinging at the right pitches. That's what makes a good player is if you can swing at the right pitches and take the ones that you're not going to be able to do damage with. That's what I've been doing. I've been trying for a long time to get to the mental place where that's kind of where I'm at, and finally I'm getting there."
On feeling 100 percent:
"I've had a long road. At the very end of my freshman year I got the bad news that I tore my UCL and it was going to be a long road. It was kind of more extensive than most UCL surgeries, so I've just been working really hard in the training room and working really hard to get through the fact that my body wasn't 100 percent and I'm taking better at-bats than I did last year."
On waiting a few games to get in starting lineup:
"I got that hungry desire to get back on the field. I really hadn't had that sense of peak desire to go out there and compete for a little while, and like I said, I've been getting back to my brand of baseball. It's been fun. I'm glad we won. It's a big game to win to get the momentum going in our favor, so I'm happy that we pulled it out at the end."
On doubts:
"Yeah. There were definitely points where I felt, I don't want to say sorry for myself, but I was feeling down at times, especially when I was struggling and I felt like there was an expectation for me to succeed. That was a challenging time for me, but last year's in the past. As a team we're doing a good job flipping the page and we're playing different this year."
On difference this year:
"With the transfer portal you can flip the team over. I think we've done a really good job with the guys that we got. There was a lot of development this fall, more than last year, where we got better. We made changes and we're in a place right now where I think we're going to start rolling."
On Rasmussen stealing home:
"That's a first for me being in the box. I saw him coming nonstop and I was like oh, man, he's coming."
On significance of Pelican Cup:
"We hated giving that up to them last year. We've got a vengeance on our mind. We took the first step and hopefully we can sweep this thing. That's our goal."
UHLMAN
on Rasmussen stealing home:
"We originally called it as fake steal knowing that he was slow to the plate. He started down the line and just my instincts I said, go, go, go, go, go and he went and we got lucky the guy threw a breaking ball in the dirt and he was safe. Those are really electric plays. A steal of home, you don't see it, so when it happens it's pretty cool."
On spark the play provided:
"I'd love to say I had some premonition, but I didn't. It was a good, unique way to start a game that way and get on top early, and then we extended the lead four times. We had a lot of shutdown innings. We punched back when they scored, so just a lot of team-oriented goals that happened during the game that led to what I think was a total team victory."
On waiting to start Linn until last Sunday:
"We all suffered and hurt for him what he went through last year, and then to delay, for him to trust the plan. I talked to him early and just said, look, I don't want to put you in a position to fail. I want to put you in a position to succeed and I'm going to kind of ease you into this. The first hit was a double and he got some confidence. He's been working really hard, so for him to have this kind of game--two absolute blasts and an unbelievable walk in the last inning, and he made a great play in left-center at a critical time in the game. Just really more than anything satisfied and happy that he had that type of game and is feeling good about himself."
On doubts about recovery:
"There were some doubts that he would ever play again. They had diagnosed a certain thing that nobody really knew about, so it kind of confused doctors for a little bit. They had a plan in treatment. He went through it all and I was fearful for the kid that he may never be able to do what he can really do. I'm just really happy for him more than anything."
On team seeing the ball:
"You can make some complaints about swinging at some bad pitches that were out of character, but for the most part situationally we hit and could have had another home run ball with Rasmussen's one at the fence, and he made a great slide on the push bunt at home. Just really proud of their effort tonight, especially coming off a rough weekend where we didn't get what we wanted."
On winning first game of Pelican Cup:
"They got it back last year. We had it the year before, and we want to make sure we keep that cup. That's an important piece, but you can't get that back until you get that second win. It's a series. I have tremendous respect for coach (Blake) Dean and their program and what they do. They are a tough club. It's always fun to play them win, lose or draw. It's a unique rivalry that I really appreciate."
On Henry Shuffler (ULM transfer) getting save and not having allowed a run in five appearances:
"I just like that he works low in the zone and throws most of his pitches down there in the zone. Actually he was elevated (tonight). I'm not sure if we were calling those elevated, but he just pounds the bottom of the zone. He's been better than advertised for me. I'm really pleased. We saw glimpses of it in the fall, but I'm really pleased with how he's transitioned from the fall to when the lights come on. And Blaise, too. Blaise was tremendous. He struggled in the fall. Coach Izzio and coach Niemann were tinkering with him, so he wasn't clean in the fall, so for him to come out and do what he's been doing is great, and I told the guys between Fladda, Blaise and Henry, to save our bullpen which was taxed this weekend was a huge thing for us."
