6/5/2023 baseball Edit

What Oregon State Baseball Said Postgame After Loss To LSU

Brenden Slaughter • BeaversEdge

Publisher

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Hear what Oregon State head baseball coach Mitch Canham, Gavin Turley, and Travis Bazzana said following the 13-7 loss to LSU in the Baton Rouge Regional...

Opening Statement

COACH CANHAM: "Well, first of all, as we got together, after the game, an important thing for each of these guys to know is that they're an incredibly tough group. They built an extremely strong bond together this year. I'd say each and every one of them found a way to get better and pushed the envelope.

I know there's a lot of broken hearts in there, but at the same time, whether we won it all or did not, tomorrow's going to be the same thing: work.

And we've got a handful of things, obviously, that we learned about ourselves this year. We had a lot of young guys, especially this guy next to me, that jumped in and was a huge part of this baseball family.

And golly, I wish every guy was in here sitting next to me because I'd like to talk to each and every one of them how remarkable they are and how much they've changed my life. Legend.

Came up short. But there wasn't any lack of effort or attitude in what these guys were trying to do, and that was win it all.

So I'm proud of them. I love them. And I know they're hurting right now pretty good. But I know they're going to respond because that's what they do."

Q. When you look back maybe down the road at the last week or two weeks and this experience, what do you think you'll take away most, and how might it help the team moving forward next year?

TRAVIS BAZZANA: "I think we're a bunch of fighters and that's what this program's going to continue to breed. And couple of pitches went down. It's a strong team. But, man, like the growth I saw from everybody this year, had our ups and downs, but just continued to push through the game with confidence, and that's what we're going to take away, is just keeping doing that and good things are coming."

GAVIN TURLEY: "I think this past few weeks has been big time maturing for me and I feel like a lot of the young guys. Coming into next year, I think we know a lot more what to expect whereas a lot of us haven't been here before. Now we have a little bit of a bad taste in our mouth and it makes us mad. So it's some fuel for the fire."

Q. Travis, I noticed when Brady came off, you shared a moment with him. I don't know if you can offer much about that, but just that moment, did you guys talk about anything, or just kind of let it go?

BAZZANA: "Brady is my roommate. Just the growth I've seen from him. I just wanted to acknowledge him and pick him up. Being the last out is tough. And he's just had such of a hell of the last couple of days and hell of a season. I'm just happy for that guy. I just wanted to make sure his chin stayed up."

Q. What will you remember most about this season? Obviously it started slow and had some highs and lows. But in the end a pretty good one.

TURLEY: "I'd just say that the connection that we built together as a team, coming from on and off the field, is something I never thought I could have somewhere. So seeing that throughout the whole season and how much each guy cares about one another is something that doesn't go unnoticed."

BAZZANA: "Yeah, just continuing to learn about all the guys, learn how to be a better teammate, better person on and off the field, just trying to grow with one another. And I know Gavin and I are going to come back really strong next year and hopefully bring these guys that we've built relationships with all year with us. And we're excited for the future, just keep going."

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Q. How hard was it to try to find some arms? You used four guys you all used in this tournament. Trying to find arms to finish

COACH CANHAM: "No doubt we were down a few arms. We had a couple of guys get banged up this year. Kmatz and Hunter, two of our starters. Really only had one of our weekend guys going at this point. But instead of getting down in the dumps about it, it's out of our control, really.

And so what a great opportunity for our young guys to take the ball. What a great opportunity for other guys to get out there and compete. We saw that from Jimenez yesterday, how he handled six innings of work, from getting the ball that many times, he felt more confident in that big environment that he can sink it down in the zone. It's something we saw, why we recruited him. He's got the attitude. He's got the makeup to go out there and compete, and he made some big strides.

As we were in the clubhouse debriefing after the game, it was fun to have each guy stand up and share gratitudes towards each and every one of them, regardless if they're pitchers or position players. The first half of the season, our pitching really held us together. We were running a 3.14 ERA through the first couple of weeks of PAC play, and our offense hadn't gotten going yet. We had four freshmen taking the ball consistently.

And I know they want to come up big, and they had to put together a heavy workload, especially at the end, without a couple of starters in there. But saw guys like AJ Lattery.

This morning we woke up and we knew we would have to play five games to win it all after a double-header yesterday and potential double-header today. And we were getting together before stretch, every single guy, including Jimenez, came over and told me "I'm good to go today."

They didn't even tell me they were good for an inning; they told me they were good to go whatever it takes. That's when you know you have a special group. That feeds off guys like Ben Ferrer or Ryan Brown, or AJ Lattery, those older guys that set an example of putting in work each and every day. And it's no different. Those are the guys that are doing extra at practice. And they're doing extra when no one else is around. And they're taking care of the kitchen in the clubhouse and the dugouts. They're leading by example in all that they do. That's why, even though we had a couple of guys down, as frustrating as that can be, at the same time there's no fret. We always talk about being foxhole guys. And who are the guys you want with you in there.

And you look around the clubhouse, they're going to find a way to get it done. Victor Quinn, guy who threw that last inning for us, had a couple of innings here, and really the whole first year he had struggled finding the strike zone. And this last month he really made big strides. And it was guys continually pouring into him and him never giving up, trying to find a way to make it work.

We had a handful of guys trying to make moves because they knew that opportunity was going to come up. We had a guy, Joey Mundt, who was on roster this year but didn't get to throw an inning, was coming back off injury. He shared stories with other guys about his freshman year, where he did not get out and compete to his best, did not pitch for a long time because he did not do well. Then he had opportunity late in the season, in the postseason, and he said his biggest regret was that he didn't go out there and continue to train and get ready for that next opportunity. He said, well, I guess I wasn't going to play. He learned a lot from that. And he wants to teach others about how to go about their work.

Just because you may have fallen on your face once doesn't mean you're no good. It means it's time to wake back up and go to work. So we look at it as great opportunity, even down pitching. Don't use it as an excuse. Those are the guys we have. And we were excited to get those 27 guys on the plane out here."

Q. I know this is fresh today, but when you start to flip the page and move forward, you have so many guys coming back and so many key guys. How would you describe the potential of this team next year?

CANHAM: "When it comes to Oregon State baseball and this family and the tradition that's gone on there, from Jack and Case running the ship, and I know that that coaching staff in there cares so much about this Beaver family and how they put in the work too. It wasn't just in that clubhouse sharing gratitude towards the players. I want those coaches to know, undergrads, our SID, our athletic trainer, our strength coach, our analytics, everybody is an integral part of this family.

And I know that there's so many people that care deeply about it. And I know those guys like Bazzana and Turley that were sitting up on the stage next to me and those young arms, I'm excited. I'm excited because I know tomorrow morning we get on a plane and head back home. You can get distracted but I know those guys aren't going to. They're going to want to go to work.

When I go by the field tomorrow there's going to be guys hitting. There's going to be guys playing catch. There's going to be guys bringing out a machine and turning up the velo. That what makes me so I don't worry at all. I don't lose sleep over it.

We may have a roster full of 18- to 22-year-olds and they're still growing up to be men, that's what they want to do and we're going to continue to push for them because we owe it to them. I'm not concerned. I'm excited for the next opportunity."

Q. What makes LSU so difficult to deal with? What's different about them than other teams you've played?

CANHAM: "They're a good ballclub. Honestly, I look at their lineup and I think a lot about our lineup. First two guys reminds me of Bazzana and Forrester. As you go down the lineup, there's guys that can do damage. We preach a lot of zone control. I think they do a lot of that as well. There's guys that are very competitive. 1 through 9, you've got to be on point.

And when we were successful, we were pitching down in the zone, just executing our game plan. When we were losing sight of that a little bit maybe going to effort instead of conviction on that location, then it got us into trouble.

But, of course, they have a solid offense. And some pitching depth as well, couple of strong starters and guys out of the pen. But we've always talked about all year, doesn't matter if you're playing on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, the real guys show up all the time.

And we're going to take any opponent as if they were all the best in the country because we always assume that every team is going to approach us like we're the best in the country.

We know what our program brings. We know how tough we are. And so we know that everyone's going to bring their A game against us, and we need to make sure we're doing that as well."