Post-game coverage, Game 4 - Horns sweep Gophers

[Matt Cotcher]

Augie Garrido on no earned runs for the pitching staff: "That's a pretty awesome accomplishment. I think all things are entertwined in baseball in so much as when you score runs and the pitchers on the bench see you scoring, it gives them confidence that they just need to hit the mitt. When they see the players on defense making the plays behind them, consistently - making those plays on time. They know they don't have to strike people out to be effective. Those things go together to complement the efficiency of the team. It's all about confidence and that's healthy to bring the confidence they need. Plus they see one of their teammates go out there and it's 'If Hollingsworth can do it, I can do it' - there's a lot of follow the leader in this game."

Augie Garrido: "There wasn't one complaint by the guys that weren't in the game. They were all ready to go into the game. We took a giant step toward teamwork this weekend."

Augie Garrido on the offense: "All in all, you can count pretty easily all of the at bats that weren't really good at bats - that's pretty efficient. No matter who went out there and pitched for them, we did a good job of going out there and making contact. We hit a lot of line drives - a lot of base hits with runners in scoring position with two outs. I think we played our game and that's what I was most proud of. Mentally we were tough. We stayed with it and did the job the way we ask them to do the job. They were a product of the way they practiced. They were much more relaxed in this environment at home than they were in the first weekend at Rice. You could see the difference - that's pretty natural."

Augie Garrido on the schedule: "The next series at home will be with San Diego. They're a very disciplined and talented team. There will be more details to deal with - more fake steals, bunts, and that kind of stuff. That's a good thing - to see a different kind of offense. Then, the following week, we go back on the road and play on a grass field. I think we'll have as good of a variety of experiences that we'll encounter through the Big 12 as we lead into this thing. There hasn't been anything conservative about the way we've scheduled this first part of the season. I'm hopeful that it will give us the experience to get off to a good start in the Big 12 and handle all the different venues we're going to play in."

Augie Garrido on Kacy Clemens: "Kacy looked good. He made a huge improvement. After the real long inning, I think he got kinda out of rhythm for a little while. But by the time he finished his last inning in the fifth, he was right on top of his game again. When he came out in the 3rd, he settled a little bit, was off his mark, and not as consistent. Then he got back on it in the 4th, and he was even better in the 5th - that's encouraging. Much better than the experience at Rice, but maybe the experience at Rice...he handled it right. This is what we want to see from our players when they do have a negative experience, how do they respond? A champion responds by being motivated and inspired to do better. Then they do it. And that's what Kacy did. And we're confident he's that kind of player. He did it last year....he wasn't the best hitter on the team, but he got big hits in big games to win games. That's the same personality. He's two years removed [from high school] and he's got two starts here...so, pretty good progress."

Augie Garrido on pulling starting pitchers: "We want pitchers to have good experiences. We don't want to take them out late and they give up 2-3 runs with runners in scoring position for the next guy coming in. It's so much easier for them to come into the game when it's to start an inning - especially the young guys."

Augie Garrido on Skip Johnson: "Skip is the main reason that he [Clemens] is back on track. He deals with pitchers in such a way that they establish confidence in themselves."

Augie Garrido on if the team is comfortable with high expectations: "(laughing)I haven't told them yet. They don't know I said that stuff."

Augie Garrido: "The hitters realize they don't have to do it all themselves. That's how important each guy is to the other guy. It's almost inseparable - it's an unbelievable connection that has to go through everybody on offense, everybody on defense then how it applies to the team. It's almost magical."

 

[streettopeschel]

This weekend couldn't have worked out better. Onward.

 

[Matt Cotcher]

Brooks Marlow: "It's just the start of the season for us. We've been practicing all Fall and all Spring and these are the kinds of outcomes we've had in practices - just hitting the ball hard and pitching very well. Now it's just a matter of bringing it to the ballpark when we play somebody else. It's good to get the wins."

Brooks Marlow on the series sweep: "It was nice to see what we're made of. Minnesota is a great team, but we played really good every game. We played pitch-by-pitch and our pitchers threw well. We hit a lot of balls hard and scored a lot of runs."

Brooks Marlow: "We're hitting the ball hard. There's not an easy out in the lineup. That makes it difficult for people that play against us. Then when you have pitching and defense like we do, it makes offense a lot easier for us."

Brooks Marlow on Kacy Clemens: "No matter what pitcher it is - you go out there and give them a 4 or 6 run lead, and they're going to pitch loose, not so tensed up. He [Clemens] struggled a little bit in that first start, but he came out today and he threw well."

Brooks Marlow on the team's ceiliing: "This team still has a lot of building to do. I know we scored a lot of runs and played well against Minnesota, but there's still a lot of things we still need to do to get better. If we do, this team's gonna be very good."

Brooks Marlow on practices/scrimmages: "For hitters, you know, just seeing our pitchers every day, it helps. Not just hitting off the coaches every day, then you get in a game and the game speeds up on you. We've been playing a lot of scrimmages - seeing those fast pitches, that game speed and let it come to us. And it helps because then you get in a real game and you're already up to speed. You don't have to rush or make mistakes."

 

[Matt Cotcher]

Collin Shaw on the team's improvements: "You saw the work we've put in for the last year. Coming to the ball park and working with Tommy [Nicholson] and  [Ryan] Russ and Coach Garrido  - letting us have a good approach at the plate, swinging with confidence, and having a plan. All that helps get runs on the board."

Collin Shaw on the team's hot hitting: "Absolutely, hitting is very contagious. In baseball, when everyone is hitting, everybody wants to get in on it. 1 through 9, it helps confidence in the lineup."

Collin Shaw: "This is my last year here and I'm just taking it one day at a time and enjoying the moment. Coaches tell us to treat every day like it's Opening Day because everybody has confidence on Opening Day - there's no stat's to get in the way; nothing bad's happened; nothing good's happened. You just walk to the plate with confidence like it's Opening Day."

Collin Shaw on if the team's performance is surprising: "I don't think so. We knew we had good offensive club, good pitching, good defense. The hits are falling right now. We expected them. Now we just gotta keep on doing it."

Collin Shaw on Kacy Clemens: "He's a strong, tough kid that played all last year. Dealt with a lot of adversity and a lot of ups & downs. We knew he was gonna be fine."

 

[Aaron Carrara]

Shaw leads the team in RBI's (10) and has a .368 BA.  He's baaaad.

 

[Donald Boyles]

One of my favorite shots from today;

http://donaldjboyles.smugmug.com/G4-Images-University-of-Texas/i-St3cwKN/A

 

[Matt Cotcher]

Kacy Clemens: "It was fun to get back out there again. Get going after it - everything clicked with Tres. We just stuck to relying on what we have. It worked out pretty nicely."

Kacy Clemens on his Rice start: "After experiencing that - you know, I hadn't really experienced that before. I spoke with Augie and they're proud that I came out and had 2 good innings after the struggle in the first inning. To throw up two zeroes to keep us in the game at that point because our hitters were hitting it so well. We scored a bunch of runs and that gave us a chance to win that game. But I was obviously pretty bummed about my first start finishing like that but I just want to play my best for these guys. We all love each other so much that we all want to go out their and do our best and have good outings. This whole week, I was talking with Skip [Johnson], talking with Augie, talking with my Dad - even he got rocked every once in a while, it got everything back to speed and washed it all away. It turned out well."

Kacy Clemens on his pitch mix: "That's my best pitch right now [change-up] - it's come back the quickest. Bouncing back from surgery, my velocity will come back, my breaking ball will come back, as time progresses. Having a change-up with a good fastball - if I can locate my fastball and have a good change-up, that's tough to hit. That was tough for me to hit last year. My breaking stuff, my slider, my curveball, will come back with time. Today, I had my change-up, and that's kind of what made the difference."

Kacy Clemens on his Dad: "He wanted to watch me pitch in a Texas uniform. He said, 'No matter what happens out there, I love you. It's very special for me to watch you continue at this level.' But honestly, he just looked over some stuff - my mechanics looked good. He thought I was a little tentative. I felt like I was just guiding pitches in there, and just making pitches. You can't really do that at this level. You've got to go out there with everything you've got and create more of a battle rather than try to just locate and guide spots. He said, 'Just get out there and let it go next game. If they hit it, they hit it. But go out there and be ready to beat somebody rather than to just feel good and make a few strikes.'"

Kacy Clemens on if today was a relief: "It was a long week for me obviously. I was ready to get this start going so I could prove myself wrong. In reality I watched a few of the Fall games. I threw against the Orange team, that's our starting lineup, seeing the way they hit - I didn't give up any runs, had four strikeouts, five innings pitched, one hit...against them? Then I knew I had the confidence to come in - I don't think there's a better lineup in the country right now than what we have. So after seeing how I pitched to these guys and seeing how they're hitting, I knew I could do it. I came out today with confidence. Chad [Hollingsworth], Josh [sawyer], and Parker [French] have been talking to me the whole time. They trust me so much. And the defense. It worked out well."

 

[joeywa]

Really good reports, Matt.

Thanks!

 

[joeywa]

Fun fact: Texas had 20 extra-base hits in the series vs. Minnesota. 

I cannot tell you what the Texas record is for this in a series, as it appears that this is not a stat that is kept, at least as far as I can tell.  I have to ask a couple of folks this week.  This has to be close if not the record.

 

[Matt Cotcher]

Augie Garrido on if the team is comfortable with high expectations: "(laughing)I haven't told them yet. They don't know I said that stuff."

This was Garrido at his best. Realizing how aggressive he had been in talking expectations, he diffused everything with a few quips.

 

[Juan]

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

 

[Juan]

Kacy Clemens on his Dad: "He wanted to watch me pitch in a Texas uniform. He said, 'No matter what happens out there, I love you. It's very special for me to watch you continue at this level.' But honestly, he just looked over some stuff - my mechanics looked good. He thought I was a little tentative. I felt like I was just guiding pitches in there, and just making pitches. You can't really do that at this level. You've got to go out there with everything you've got and create more of a battle rather than try to just locate and guide spots. He said, 'Just get out there and let it go next game. If they hit it, they hit it. But go out there and be ready to beat somebody rather than to just feel good and make a few strikes.'"

That had to be pretty damn great for all involved