May 16, 2014
2014 Kentucky Baseball
Post-Game Quotes
Kentucky at Georgia
May 15, 2014 — Athens, Ga.
Foley Field
Head Coach Gary Henderson
On clinching a spot in next week’s SEC tournament…
“Well it’s good to go to the tournament. I was pretty confident that was going to happen. We are looking forward to it, but we have to win a series and carve out a spot for us in a regional and that’s what is first and foremost.”
On Reed’s pitching performance tonight …
“He was pretty sharp tonight. The life on his fastball was as good as it’s been in a long time. He was able to use both sides of the plate. He didn’t use a lot of secondary pitches tonight, he didn’t have to. It was a really good night for A.J. (Reed). I thought he was able to maintain his delivery for almost the entire night. He lost his delivery for a very short period of time twice. He ended up with one walk and came back from a 3-1 count. It was a really strong outing for A.J. and also a very nice night for him at the plate.”
On Reed’s ability to beat the defensive shift…
“Sometimes the game falls in your favor and you catch a break a little bit. It was not by design, but he hit a couple soft balls over there and ended up with two hits and a double. That’s the way it goes. Sometimes you hit the ball on the nose and hit an excellent line drive and it gets caught and other times you hit a little softy and it falls in, but he ended up with four hits. The two-strike line drive down the line was a very nice piece of hitting and came at a crucial time for us. Overall, just a tremendous night for A.J.”
On the resilience the team showed tonight…
“I thought it was good. The game was moving very fast for both clubs early on. There were five double plays in the game and that speeds the game up quite a bit. Both pitchers were very good through four or five. Their kid was impressive as well. It was good to get a run in the fifth and in the sixth. I thought the turning point was Max’s at-bat in the seventh inning.”
#18, A.J. Reed, LHP/1B, Jr.
On his performance on the mound tonight…
“I was just trying to go out there and throw strikes and attack the hitters. They have a down batting average against left handed pitchers, so I just tried to come out there and throw strikes and attack and not try to walk anybody.”
On battling through the first few scoreless innings…
“I know we are going to score. I started hitting the ball a little bit better today, which was good enough to get out of a slump. Hopefully that’s what starts happening to us. I started hitting the ball better and we piled on some runs that gave us some confidence going into the rest of the weekend. We just need to go out there and throw strikes, attack hitters, and keep putting up zero’s and give ourselves a chance to win.”
On his success against the defensive shift…
“That’s what we have been talking about. I need to see the ball a little bit deeper, letting it travel, and it all started with batting practice. I did that today in batting practice and it paid off for me in the game. I was just trying to see the ball deep and take it the other way, especially when they are playing a shift, that’s what you have to do. I did that a couple of times and they ended up having to keep their third baseman over because we had a runner on second, so that opened up that four-hole for me. I hit it there once and got a couple RBI and a hit out of it and all is well.”
On the hitting of UK’s top four guys in the order…
“If our first four guys are hitting, everyone else is going to hit. That’s the way I look at it. We set the tone and we are going to do a good job of it the rest of the weekend. We just have to come out here and be aggressive with the pitches and attack the hitters.”
On clinching a spot in the SEC tournament…
“It’s huge. We can relax and come out here and play our game. We can’t be too relaxed, but be aggressive and go out there and attack them and play our game.”
#9, Max Kuhn, 3B, Jr.
On clinching an SEC tournament berth…
“It was a huge win going into postseason. It was kind of a typical Friday night win. We like to win big on Friday and with A.J on the mound we know he is going to give us a great start.”
On having the comfort of A.J. Reed on the mound…
“It kind of allows you to relax. You don’t have to score as many runs, although we usually do on Friday nights. It’s fun to play behind him. He gets outs, gets the game moving, has great rhythm on the mound, and works at a good pace. It makes the game fun and moves us on to the offensive side as well.”
On the season A.J. Reed has put together…
“All I know really is that when I get on, he’s driving me in. I’ve said this before, but it’s basically a 100-percent chance that I am going to be scoring when he puts the bat on the ball. It’s been fun watching him play the whole year and it’s an honor to be his teammate.”
On his big offensive night…
“I guess we were only up two, so getting another two runs and make it 4-0, it puts the pressure on the other team. I haven’t been swinging the bat as well as I have been this spring and I finally had a good game tonight, so I just hope to keep it going the rest of the season.
