University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postgame Quotes - UCLA 19, Fresno State 4
POSTGAME QUOTESย
UCLA 19, Fresno State 4ย
Jackie Robinson Stadiumย
May 30, 2025ย
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UCLA Baseball Head Coach John Savageย
opening statementย
โI thought that they did a great job against [Michael] Barnett. Barnett wasnโt very effective, no strikeouts, kind of dodged a few bullets. I thought that we were fortunate to be up 6-2. We stranded some people too, and then we obviously got going with big innings in the seventh and eighth. We separated the game. Theyโre a very offensive team and I thought they did a great job against Barnett. Our bullpen did a nice job, Grothuesย came in and got that double play, that was a big play. The 3-6-1 was a big play. Then he went 123 the next inning. OโConnor was good even though he gave up two home runs. It didnโt feel like the cleanest game, but at the end of the day, at this time of the year, you win in any way that you can. Certainly, we did that today. It was a good win, the score doesnโt really dictate the whole game, but at the end of the day, you move on. Weโre happy about that.โย
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on the offense in the first inningย
โ[Jack] Anker is a very polished guy; thereโs no panic in him. We were fortunate. There were some balls that werenโt hit that hard that went through. But there were a bunch of foul balls, I like that. We battled them. We ran up the pitch count. I know that pitch count is not a deal for a starter i the playoffs so much, but at the end of the day, we did a good job of battling him. We were fortunate that some balls fell in. I like [Anker] a lot, I canโt say enough about how competed. He was out there through five innings, and it wasnโt an easy game for him. At the end of the day, we came out ready to go. We did what weโve been doing; some hit by pitches, a couple of walks, some base hits. Just some really good offense and stringing at bats together.โย
on the offense recovering from last weekโs loss to Nebraskaย
โThat was a week ago. Itโs really about the postseason, and I think last Sunday was a really good learning lesson in front of 15,000 people at Nebraska. We just werenโt quite ourselves. The game plan was to get back to ourselves, and I thought we did that today.ย
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on Michael Barnett and Ian Mayย
โ[Barnett] is 11-1 and heโs been our best guy all season. Fresnoโs a legitimate team, and you donโt want to run someone up there. Theyโre not a four; I donโt look at them as a four. I think theyโre the toughest four in the country. There wasnโt any second thought that went into that; we knew that Barnett was going to go in game one. Weโll see what happens tomorrow. Itโs a tournament, so youโve got to play matchups. Ian May has been very effective coming out of the bullpen this season and he wanted to get his feet wet tonight going into tomorrow.โย
on this weekendโs schedulingย
โI didnโt have any choice, which is fine. They dictate times, they tell you when to play. At this time of year, when they tell you what time to play, you do it. Thereโs no complaining about playing early or playing late. Tonightโs loser has to turn around and play at 12 tomorrow, and thatโs not easy. I donโt think that anyone really cares at this time of the year. There are 64 teams left. Anytime, anywhere, thatโs the mindset that you have to have to progress through this tournament.โย
on the offensive success of the team outside of Roch Cholowskyย
โI think it just goes to show the balance of the offense. Roch didnโt have his best day, clearly, which is fine. It's an everyday game, and good players have tough games. He still had two hits, but at the end of the day, West, Roman, and Blake really had big games. Any good team has a really good player, itโs all about the lineup and continuing at-bats throughout the lineup. We did a really good job of that today. I thought that Blake and Roman had some really good at-bats that got the next guy to the plate.ย ย
UCLA catcher Blake Balszย
on his three-hit gameย
โToday, I wasnโt trying to do too much, I was just letting the game happen. The nice part about today was that I was trying to simplify everything. I knew that my teammates were going to pick me up and that I didnโt have to do too much. That was my approach for the day and just trusting that the guys behind me were going to pick me up.ย
on the four early runsย
โI think it definitely helped. One of the huge things that we talk about and one of our offensive goals is to score first. Thatโs a huge momentum shift for us, especially early on. It definitely took [pressure] off, especially with this being our first playoff game. It kind of eased us into it. It was huge.ย
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UCLA infielder Roman Martinย
on playing against Jack Ankerย
โI think I just really trusted in our plan, especially what coach Ward says. He always comes up with really good plans, so I think it was just sticking with that. I got my pitch, and I hit it well.โย