June 16, 2015
Recap | Box Score | Peterson’s Photos 
| USATSI Photos
THE MODERATOR: Representing Vanderbilt, head coach Tim Corbin, first baseman Zander Wiel and starting pitcher Philip Pfeifer. Coach, an opening statement.
COACH CORBIN: I’ll let the kids do the majority of the talking. But from a game standpoint, it felt like a championship-style game in every way. I think once we got through the third or fourth, you felt like one run could possibly make the difference. And that’s the way it shaped up. Jim’s team is good, very good, in a lot of different ways. I thought Young was obviously very, very effective. And I credit him, because once he found that we were going to make moves to pitches below the strike zone he kept forcing that. And he pitched very, very well. One ball made the difference. And that’s the one Zander hit out. On our side, you know, I’ve got a lot of feelings about what Philip did today. I just think that this kid drove to Omaha last year by himself just to watch this thing because he wasn’t a part of it. So him pitching the way he did tonight and him basically at peace — all I remember tonight was him walking back and forth from the dugout with a smile on his face saying, hey, fellas, we’re in Omaha. He continually said that. I think it showed. He was very tranquil on the mound, he was at peace with himself and he was executing his pitches. And I don’t think that there was anyone here that enjoys being in Omaha, the moment more than he does. I credit him. I’m so happy for the kid in so many different ways. So we’re fortunate, just a very well played baseball game.
Q. Tim, with the margin for error so small, the way Young was pitching, how do you kind of assess Philip from just his style standpoint and his approach overall tonight?
COACH CORBIN: Well, it was outstanding because he really had to match Young in a lot of different ways. To me, the third inning was the biggest inning of all just because we had a situation and we were building an inning. I know that the strikeout, when we got to first base, but after that we bunted the ball well, set up a bases-loaded situation with one out. When the inning broke down, and I can’t recollect, but I think lead-off hitter got on for them, but Phil did an outstanding job of just closing that inning. That probably could have been damaging for Vanderbilt had they scored. But they didn’t. And then his push after that was just so consistent. I just felt very good. We all felt very good about him and how he was approaching the plate and how he was approaching the hitters. He had to pitch that way in order for us to have a chance tonight.
Q. Zander, what did you see that made Young so effective early on and what did you see when you hit the home run?
Zander Wiel: I mean, he just did a great job against us. He was locating the fastball in and out. He was able to backdoor the slider and put — like Coach said — he would throw them low and we were going after them today. So he was just really able to keep us off balance and in that at-bat, I was just — he threw me a changeup and it had been higher than the rest of the ones he had thrown. It still wasn’t a terrible pitch. But it was hit-able. And I just put a good swing on it.
Q. Phil, what did you think the College World Series would be like and what was it like?
Philip Pfeifer: It’s lived up to expectations so far. I mean, it’s obviously the best venue for college baseball in the country hands down. I was just trying to soak in every minute of it that I could while I was out there on the mound. I’ve been looking forward for this moment for a long time and playing it over and over in my head and I feel like taking advantage of today’s game was kind of what kept me at peace. I had seen that game before. So it was just enacting what had been playing in my head.
Q. Zander, just with Alex, the way he was pitching early on with all the strikeouts, is it tough to remain confident at the plate at that point? How do you guys regroup?
Zander Wiel: I’d say you’d probably take a hit I guess a little bit mentally. But with Phil pitching the way he was, I don’t think — I think that everyone thought that we were going to be able to make a push and you never think that a sole home run is going to do it but the way that our pitching staff threw today, it was incredible. Phil going strong seven and KW coming in, closing the door. So I don’t think anyone was down. People were still up there competing. But they did a really good job.
Q. Zander, you’re on kind of a roll right now, coming up with these clutch hits, and seems like you were able to put it away yesterday and pull one today. Your approach right now, can you kind of describe what you’re doing, go to the plate, what your plan is, and do you feel locked in right now?
Zander Wiel: Aside from the home run today I struck out three times. So I guess sometimes when you do something like that it helps you forget about the bad ABs. But last year it really helped because you kind of get, I don’t want to say overwhelmed when it’s your first time experiencing it, but seeing it the second time, it puts you a lot more at ease in this venue. I’m just trying to go up and compete every time and put a good swing on a ball and hit it hard somewhere. I’ve been able to do that the last couple of days.
Q. Tim, you kind of talked a little bit about Phil and what he’s gone through. From a personal standpoint, how happy were you that his experience turned out to be as good as it did the first time?
COACH CORBIN: I’m just happy he’s here. I’m just happy he’s a part of the team. The fact that he’s able to pitch and then pitch well, it probably is more than my expectations, to be honest with you. I didn’t know how he would do in this moment. He’s pitched very well for us the last couple of weeks, but you never know what it’s going to be like when you step out there for the first time. But he contained himself so well. And it really felt like he was enjoying it more than any other person out there at the time. Personally, you know — personally, I’m just so overwhelmed by it, because the fact that he’s here and just playing for us, it’s such a good story from a human comeback thing, from a personal standpoint, just that he’s able to be wearing a uniform, still going to school and still living a normal life, that supersedes everything, supersedes the game, but just for this moment, it’s great for him personally. Everyone’s tremendously happy for him.
Q. Phil, you’re hearing all these wonderful words your coach is saying about you. What about your experience here last year do you think helped you stay so calm and so at peace today?
Philip Pfeifer: Well, I think from one perspective, I had no idea what Ameritrade Ballpark looked like until I drove up here and saw it, other than through TV. But TV tends to distort things a little bit. Secondly, coming to terms with the fact that they didn’t need me to win last year, as selfish as that is, I think once I swallowed that, my ego deflated and I had a realistic appreciation of myself, my skills. And lastly, you know, I think just visualizing being in this scenario, in the situation like it was tonight, you know, from one side of the ball, you would love to have 20 runs scored just because it makes things easy. But you know from a competitive side, you want that 1-0 ballgame. And they gave it to us. They really did. That’s a very strong team. So I think just visualizing what playing in the College World Series is like is probably the biggest thing that helped me.
THE MODERATOR: Representing TCU, head coach Jim Schlossnagle, starting pitcher Alex Young and shortstop Keaton Jones. Coach, an opening statement.
COACH SCHLOSSNAGLE: Congratulations to Vanderbilt. Heck of a ballgame. Obviously thought Alex pitched outstanding. And we had some opportunities, and either Pfeifer made pitches or Wright, or they made plays. And Alex was just outstanding, as good as he’s been all year long. Never been more proud of him. Had an opportunity to fold early in the game against some of the very best hitters in the country and made great pitches. I thought when we got through that inning some good things were going to happen but we hit a few balls hard, Keaton in particular — hit his to left-center field instead of pulling it down the line the way Zander did. So, great ballgame and the Frogs will be back and ready to go Thursday night.
Q. Jim, the last couple of outings by Alex have just been tremendous, so when you look back at the NC State outing it wasn’t so great. What was the difference between maybe some of those previous outings and the last two, because he’s been pretty rock solid?
COACH SCHLOSSNAGLE: Well, you know, he had all three pitches going tonight. Key for Alex his entire career and he’s been so great at it lately is managing his way through the adversity that comes with being a starting pitcher like he did today. Ended up with the bases loaded or second and third and one out, whatever it was and pitched his way through it. So he did that last week against A&M and they caught his rhythm. They were threatening him in the first three innings and we made some plays. He made some pitches and we gave up one run through the first three innings, and he pitched outstanding, and then the same thing today. So just like any other good starting pitcher, he’s evolved into being an elite guy by managing his way through tough innings.
Q. Keaton you’re 4-0 in elimination games this year, but does this one on Thursday feel like there’s more weight on it than the others?
KEATON JONES: I haven’t really thought about it. But I guess it does. Because it’s the end of our season. But all elimination games are. For us, we’re not really thinking about that. We’re just going to play our own game and just play TCU brand of baseball.
Q. Alex, if we were to describe this as a really, really good performance with only one bad pitch, is that fair; is that accurate? Do you think the home run was the only bad pitch you had all night?
ALEX YOUNG: It was just one mistake and his bat just ran into the ball. Every other pitch I was throwing for a strike. And it’s bad luck.
Q. Alex, looked like you were bearing that slider out of the zone early on. Could you describe your strategy with your early success early on in the game?
ALEX YOUNG: Just being able to establish my fastball early on, dealing my change-up and then putting guys away with my slider. And the one that Zander Wiel hit it was a change-up that just happened to run to his bat. Pretty good swing on it.
Q. Alex, when you’re in a groove like that and 0-0 game deep into the game, do you get into the duel part of it and rhythm and do you enjoy just the whole atmosphere, the stage?
ALEX YOUNG: It’s just like every other day. It’s just go out there and compete, just being able to throw quality strikes, quality pitches, and just doing what I’m supposed to do. Not really changing what I’m out there to do. So just keeping it simple.
Q. Coach and Keaton, what was Pfeifer able to do to keep you guys off balance tonight?
KEATON JONES: Well, he made a lot of good pitches. He used his curveball. He was throwing that for strikes, and I think using his fastball and his curveball kept us off balance. I think mainly the use of the curveball is good for him especially against those lefties.
COACH SCHLOSSNAGLE: I think he pitched at the bottom of the zone most of the night. He had — I wasn’t in the batter’s box obviously, but I think he had a little slider, too. He threw his breaking ball two different speeds that I could see. And just everything, he never elevated the ball.
Q. Coach, speaking of the at-bats, were they disciplined to you as you were watching them? What did you see throughout the night?
COACH SCHLOSSNAGLE: I mean, you can sit here complain about the at-bats that takes away from the pitcher. I think he was great. The only thing I felt like was when we had some opportunities there, I felt our guys, and they’re really trying hard. Their swings were a little bigger. Couple of guys were just trying to be the hero, which is nothing wrong with that. It’s just the key is that we just have to stay in control of ourselves and put good — put better swings on the pitches that he gave us. But you can nitpick that game apart like crazy. I actually, seeing the video, I didn’t think it was a bad pitch that Alex threw. It was a change-up, right? It was down, a little bit more in. I think it ran into his bat path. Not to take anything away from him, he’s the one who hit it out of the park. But it wasn’t an elevated pitch. Alex makes that pitch a thousand times out of a thousand and usually it goes our way.
Q. Alex, you had a career high for strikeouts tonight. Did you feel like this was the best game you’ve ever pitched?
ALEX YOUNG: I mean, just like every other time I’ve pitched, guys just happen to swing and miss at my curveball. And I was just trying to throw everything for strikes and everything was working tonight. It just happened to go my way.
Q. Jim, your team has been so focused on going all the way and getting, maturing and being a veteran team. How do you think they’ll handle this momentary setback?
COACH SCHLOSSNAGLE: I think they’ll handle it the way they’ve handled everything else all year long. The way we handled losing a game in the regional, the way we handled losing a game in the Super Regional. They’ll be ready to play. That doesn’t guarantee success at all. But we certainly — we feel confident in our pitching staff, that can give us a good chance. We know that LSU has a great team. And obviously Vanderbilt is sitting there after that, if we’re fortunate enough to advance. But in 25 years I’ve never trusted a team more than this team. They’re unbelievable human beings, and I believe in them, and I still believe we’re going to be hanging around here before this thing is said and done.
Q. Keaton, you went up against Kyle Wright in that game. He struck out four over two innings. How was he all giving you trouble tonight?
KEATON JONES: He worked the ball in and out of the zone really well, especially the outer half, throwing both pitches for strikes. And he was locating really well.
