Lexington Regional
Sunday, June 4, 2023
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Kentucky Wildcats
Coach Nick Mingione
Nolan McCarthy
Ryan Hagenow
Hunter Gilliam
Postgame Press Conference
Kentucky – 16, Indiana – 6
COACH MINGIONE: Just really proud of our guys’ toughness. Obviously to play two games in one day with your back against the wall and I think it was no more evident than the way our hitters stood in there and wore HBPs. How many times did we get hit? Nine times. Real toughness.
Love the grit of Logan Martin. Good to get him back out there. Obviously he started in the Friday night role and we’ve gone basically an entire season without him. To get him back, kudos to Logan, our training staff, our strength coach, everybody to get him back.
I thought Evan Byers was great. And Ryan Hagenow, just huge innings and outs for us.
Proud of their toughness. Proud of our toughness. I know you guys aren’t surprised that we were able to do that. I can’t say enough good things about them. I’ve been saying it all year and it was apparent today really how tough these guys are.
Q. Nolan, big day for you. What was your mindset — like on the last month were you prepared for this opportunity to make (indiscernible)?
NOLAN MCCARTHY: I mean, we get tested every week. Just get a chance to get better every time I get an at-bat. And looked over to third base and Reuben was telling me, come get me in. And I just kind of shortened the swing down just so I could get the job done. Didn’t take necessarily a big hit, just getting the ball in play.
Q. How infectious is it, you start off and it just snowballed. It’s been a while since we’ve seen that kind of offense just how nice was it to have that going into tomorrow also?
NOLAN MCCARTHY: It’s really good. We all know we can hit. We’re a really good offense. We can do small ball and we can also leave the yard. I just think we’ve got everything going for us. Going into tomorrow we, just take gotta it one pitch at a time.
Q. It’s viewed as being in a tough spot having to play two games in one day. Are there any advantages from being able to play two when you get in a good groove?
NOLAN MCCARTHY: It’s tough playing 18 innings but I feel like we had the advantage going into the second game today because we’d already seen pitching. We already put up some good runs. I mean, we were just ready to go from the jump.
HUNTER GILLIAM: I think that 18 innings was good for us. It kind of got our groove back. And you’ve got a bunch of animals up there and we don’t do tired. So 18 innings was nothing for the boys. We’re ready to go.
Q. Hunter, baseball is funny because Indiana has the momentum. At this point you guys got (indiscernible) your momentum (indiscernible) scoring teams 26-6 today. How much do you believe it in it. How much (indiscernible) careful not to get trapped in baseball one game inning type of proposition?
HUNTER GILLIAM: I mean, momentum is cool and all. But this win expires when we wake up or when we go to bed tonight. So we’re going to create our own momentum tomorrow. And that’s the momentum we are worried about is pitch one tomorrow.
Q. Neither of you got hit today —
COACH MINGIONE: They didn’t? Hold on. Let me check. (Laughter).
Q. (Indiscernible) you guys taken that part of the game what’s the mood in the dugout when (indiscernible)?
HUNTER GILLIAM: So we actually changed our BP up a little bit before the second game today. And we worked on some HBPs. And it’s part of our game. And we feed off of it.
There’s grown men up in that locker room who aren’t afraid — you could throw it 150 miles an hour and we’ve got dudes, I promise you, who will stand in there. It doesn’t faze us. It fires up the boys and we love it.
NOLAN MCCARTHY: Kendall rolled some of the best BP out there. It was our last round. And we said, one guy up and he’s throwing it at our legs and we’re turning into it, gonna let it hit us. It’s a free base. Why not take whatever they give us.
COACH MINGIONE: Is this not incredible, the unselfishness? They asked me about that this on air. Was that this your idea?
NOLAN MCCARTHY: That was Chase Stanke.
COACH MINGIONE: This is player driven. They’re going to stand in there and in batting practice they’re just going to get hit. Real baseballs or —
NOLAN MCCARTHY: Real baseballs.
COACH MINGIONE: Come on. This is not normal. This is not normal. Like, I’ve told you, these guys are very unselfishness.
Q. Just to follow up on Josh’s question earlier, you kind of shared right field this year with your roommate. So what’s that been like on supporting each other? And then coming into the tournament, did you feel like you being part of this (indiscernible)?
NOLAN MCCARTHY: James and I, we’re really good friends. I mean, we’re both pulling on the same strings. Whoever is out there, we just trust in each other that we’re going to get the job done. Doesn’t matter who it is. Because at the end of the day we’re going to get the job done and we just have full faith in each other.
Q. Is there a technique to this practice of getting hit? Protecting your hands and —
HUNTER GILLIAM: Practice, there is a technique. We ask the BP thrower to just throw it at us and then there’s about 10 guys behind the net fired up when one dude would wear one. It was pretty interesting. It’s cool.
I’ve never been part of something like that. It was fun. We’ll do it tomorrow.
NOLAN MCCARTHY: If anyone was tired before that second game, they were after they got hit. We’re ready to go.
HUNTER GILLIAM: I love my team.
Q. Getting guys like Pat Herrera and everyone getting ABs, getting (indiscernible) bench. What’s that like for you guys, in such a high-tense game tonight?
HUNTER GILLIAM: Those guys worked so hard. Man, it’s unbelievable how many guys are on this team that just put in so much time. And some dudes don’t get the at-bats, as many at-bats as they probably think they deserve.
And it’s hard when you have 15 to 18 dogs out there. Their time is coming. See what Pat does when he gets out there. Everyone’s just waiting for their turn. And Pat’s a guy who — he’s in the cages an hour before practice every day working.
And it’s a locker room full of guys like that. It’s not shocking when they go out there and they get their hit. But it’s awesome for us to see. We love it.
NOLAN MCCARTHY: If you could have seen Pat earlier this week, we did some live at-bats in inner-squads and he was putting balls in the gap every at-bat. I don’t think he gave away an at-bat.
He really earned it and other guys like Ryder takes infield every day and this is might the first time he played shortstop. He takes infield every day. And he’s played infield before, and he is just a dog. We’ve got a bunch of dogs.
Q. Hunter, seems like you’ve become a hard luck guy a little bit, like line drives right at people and warning track shots. How did it feel to kind of break through again?
HUNTER GILLIAM: We won. So that’s all that matters. The luck and all that stuff, it doesn’t really matter. I could line out a hundred times in a row. If the Cats win, that’s all I’m looking for.
COACH MINGIONE: That answer don’t get any better.
Q. You’ve been in this situation before here. You referenced you draw from that experience a little bit. How much did you draw on 2017 talking to these guys coming into today?
COACH MINGIONE: That was the message after the game. It was good news and bad news. The bad news was that we lost the game. And the good news is I have been here before and there’s been guys before them that have worn our jersey and were able to get it done.
And sometimes — I remember my coaches telling me something very similar in college and it just gave me peace to know, like, okay, my coach has got it. Ultimately they’re the ones that have to make the plays. They’re the ones that have to make the pitches.
But you guys, I gave them three things today. And this team’s amazing. They could recite it back. I told them this morning that, number one, we had to have a never-ending pursuit just to win one pitch at a time. It would be really easy to look ahead and to think we have 18 innings. And this team is so special at that all year. But I told them that was number one.
Number two, we need today have a team and a dugout full of people that had a desire to win that dominated.
Number three, we had to empty the tank.
I told them that before the game. I told them after the first game. Told them that before the second game and after the second game. And proud of them. They did exactly that. They did exactly that.
Q. How easy was it for you to (indiscernible) just say go — it’s been a while since this team has done that for 18 innings offensively.
COACH MINGIONE: Against two really good teams. Obviously you heard the praise I gave for West Virginia. And Indiana is the same way. They’re a great team. It’s not easy to do it against that team.
I don’t want to take that for granted because so many times you put up zeros. So I’ve just — one thing I was proud of the guys, I just felt like every inning there was pressure. There was opportunity there. And, I want to do it more tomorrow.
Q. This is a less thought about thing but going through the losers’ bracket you got to be home — road tonight, home tomorrow you can’t be walked-off your home field. Back in 2014 because I think (indiscernible) the winners’ bracket, they lost the first game and then got walked off because of the switching. Like you never want to go through the losers’ bracket. Is there a silver lining knowing final game you get home field and you can’t be walked off on your home field? And do you think the NCAA should change the home field rule for the host?
COACH MINGIONE: You bring up a good point. And I hadn’t thought about that. But when you have an opportunity, when you’re down and you get a chance to score, that’s a good feeling because you feel like you still have a chance. I hadn’t thought about the NCAA but I’ll give that some thought.
Q. After a tough loss yesterday, the days are bleak — Hunter sat up here and said it just means I get to play more baseball with my guys. What did that tell you when he said that?
COACH MINGIONE: I wasn’t surprised. We did a really interesting deal with our team later in the year. There were talks late in the season about should we play games, should we not play games. And we just did a little exercise with our team, and we just asked them, should we play this game, should we not play this game?
It was neat to hear what the guys said. Our team, we say that we’re a family. And Hunter stood up in front of our team and I thought he made one of the most impactful comments. And he said, guys, he said, I don’t know how much baseball I have in my life. And there’s no team and there’s no group of men that I want to be around more than you guys. So I want to play as many games as we can. As many games.
And guys said that after yesterday’s loss. They just said, guys, this just means we get to play more games together. And we’re going to do this. And that’s what they said. That’s what they said.
And that’s not created overnight. There’s been a lot of guys that have helped our culture over the years. But this has taken time to get to this spot. I often say creating your team is a lot like a good meal in a recipe. You have to have a bunch of different ingredients to really make your team be one.
And to bring guys in from all over the country with all-over backgrounds, baseball backgrounds. But this team, they’ve just worked from day one. They’ve crushed it in the classroom. They’ve crushed it in the community. And they just really enjoy being around each other.
That’s how you’re able to do some of the things that we’ve done, but if they don’t have a love and a care for each other, it does and it will not work. And they do. They do.
Q. What’s your take on the — seems like there were emotional exchanges between the coaching staffs last night and what’s your take and how do you balance the emotion going into tomorrow?
COACH MINGIONE: Guys, there’s a lot at stake here. We’re all playing for a lot of really important things. And when you have a group of competitive coaches, players, that happens.
So I give the umpires a lot of credit. I think they’ve done a great job handling and managing everything. So kudos to the umpires, you know. I think they’ve done a great job.
Q. You mentioned one of your messages to your team before this game was you have to empty the tank. Obviously hunter sat up here tonight and said that tonight’s win expires at midnight going into tomorrow what’s in the tank for you guys?
COACH MINGIONE: One of you guys asked a really good question about, hey, you have your back against the wall, could there be some advantages to having been there, done that. And our guys have. And I reminded them today before the first game that every team is going to be in this situation at one point or another.
The only team that wouldn’t, you could potentially just maybe cruise through the Regional, Super Regional and into Omaha win your first game in the championship series and never have your potential back against the wall.
But at some point more than likely every team is going to go through this. And this is what they signed up for. This is what they signed up for.
And they’ve just done a lot of really good things. And they didn’t back down today. They didn’t back down today. And it will take the same thing tomorrow against a really good Indiana team.
Q. Seems like you’ve spurred your pitching well a little bit. Where do you stand for tomorrow’s game?
COACH MINGIONE: To win a Regional, especially coming out of the losers’ bracket you have to have depth. And I think that showed again today that we were able to roll through those games, to use the amount of arms.
And tomorrow will be all-hands-on deck. We’ll have just about every guy. Hags will not be available tomorrow. But I think other than that, we’ll have a lot of guys ready to go and toe the rubber back again. I feel good about where it’s at. Sleep on it tonight. And see what we’re going to do tomorrow.
Q. Tonight looked a lot more like the midseason we saw the first part of the year. Getting him innings what makes it a big deal for the last few weeks SEC play and how big is that for him?
COACH MINGIONE: He’s one of those guys, where you can give him the ball and he can go one, two, three — did he get four and two-thirds today? He’s that good and he’s that talented.
So it was good to get him back out there and just let him go and just pitch. Sometimes he’s been in a lot of different roles. But sometimes when we got him that lead and it was just good for him to just be able to go.
Q. Hunter and Nolan talked about being hit nine times that they were excited, kind of amped up. How do you control your players from going from excited to frustrated when it keeps happening over and over again?
COACH MINGIONE: You know, I think everybody’s different there. And just like everybody, you know, handles things differently. Some of them get fired up. Some of them get mad. They all kind of handle it a little differently.
But I think they did a good job today. But if one guy goes too much the other way, we’ll kind of coach him up. But I thought they did good today.
Q. There’s been a lot of talk tonight about momentum. But there’s also a baseball adage that momentum is as good as your next starting pitcher. You’ve been around this game a long time. Where are you on the theory of momentum of baseball?
COACH MINGIONE: I’m going to play the neutral card on that. I think you could say today you probably felt like we had momentum. I read Lou Holtz’s book one day, it’s called “Winning Every Day.”
He gave the analogy, if my team is winning 21-7 and right before halftime the other team scores to make it 21-14, who has the momentum? You would say the other team. He’s like, but what if it was a tie game and right before halftime I scored and we went in 21-14. Why do we have the momentum? It’s the same score. It’s the same score. Right? So I could play that one.
I thought our crowd was awesome today. Was it not? I mean, our people, the way they cheered for the strikeouts, just compliment the Big Blue Nation. And this is my plea to them to show up tomorrow. I would love to set a new record for attendance because it matters. It matters. And I believe we can do that.
One person that’s not here tonight is (UK Athletics employee) Tim (Letcher). I wanted to let Tim know that my thoughts and prayers are with him and Traci. A lot of you guys in this room know Tim and he’s not here. But Tim, I’ll be praying for you and Miss Traci so please know that.
Indiana Hoosiers
Coach Jeff Mercer
Phillip Glasser
Postgame Press Conference
Kentucky – 16, Indiana – 6
COACH MERCER: Obviously every game is important. Sometimes games go sideways. Today was one of those games. You just pick up and move on. You’ve got two to win one and go back and play tomorrow. Just gotta move on.
Q. You guys have talked all year about it being a player-led team. What’s your message to the guys in the locker room?
PHILLIP GLASSER: The message is it might hurt tonight but tomorrow we’ve got a game. We have an opportunity to win a Regional and that’s why we came here. I know our guys, we’ve done it all year, to regroup and refocus and focus, go on to tomorrow.
Q. Are you guys — I know you don’t feel like you’re playing with house money, obviously, because you want to win the Regional. In some ways you’ve achieved everything and more than many would think outside of the locker room, probably, you’re in a Regional championship tomorrow night in a winner-take-all. Do you feel this season is a success regardless? And how nice is it you’re playing this late in the season for your season for the first time all the way in the Regional championship and not early where your season ended?
PHILLIP GLASSER: The only voices we listen to are the ones inside the locker room. This team believes we can go as far as we want to. So I wouldn’t say so far right now it’s a success. I think it’s just we have a game tomorrow, we’ve got to go out and win it.
Q. (Indiscernible) beaten by double-digit runs, so it’s not anything you haven’t done before. How do you put yourself and the team into that mindset of just that kind of bounce-back mode and kind of ignore the momentum of what Kentucky built today?
PHILLIP GLASSER: Yeah, I mean, that’s why baseball is an incredible sport because you’ve got a game tomorrow. It’s not like football where it’s once a week. So as you said, we’ve been in that position before. And a lot of times we’ve bounced back. So mentally our guys will be ready for tomorrow.
Q. You were playing right beside Evan Goforth making his first start in a while (indiscernible) and pretty good game today offensively and defensively. What was that like?
PHILLIP GLASSER: I was super proud of Evan. He works every day throughout the whole season. We knew once Cerny was out that he was going to step in and do his job because of the work he’s been putting in. I’m super proud of him.
Q. You had a lot of hit batters today. That was a big problem last year. It’s come way down this year. For this Regional it seemed to returned. Is there something different in the pitching that caused you to hit more batters?
COACH MERCER: Not necessarily. They did a good job. They were on the plate today. It was obviously a part of their plan, which is fine. That’s what teams do. You make an adjustment and you (indiscernible) on play a little bit. We lost some balls, too.
We threw some guys today that haven’t thrown a ton. Those things happen. It’s not a deal. It’s not an issue. We threw some guys today that haven’t thrown a ton. And some of them haven’t been leaned on in, like, premium innings on weekends and whatnot. Sometimes those things happen. You just pick up and move on.
Q. In the seventh inning when Adrian hit Church, you went out to the umpire, had a conversation there. What kind of was going on there?
COACH MERCER: Both teams got a warning. So we obviously, I think we hit six guys. So it was a trend, not a one-off. It wasn’t because the guy hit a home run. I don’t know.
They were upset that he got hit. We didn’t want to hit him. I wouldn’t want to get hit. I would be tired of getting hit too. They were saying some stuff. Pete is going to stick up for the guy. Pete says something back. Then they give both teams a warning.
He’s trying to do his job. The umpire is trying to do his job. He’s trying to keep everybody de-escalated. It’s heated. It’s a big moment. Guys are frustrated. They’re tired of getting hit in the back. I’m tired of watching them get hit in the back. I’m sure it was a little bit of both.
And both teams got a warning. We weren’t throwing at them. Kids were chirping. They chirp back and forth, and that happens. So I understand.
Q. Tensions seem to have been running high the last two games between you guys and Kentucky, altercations after the games between coaches. How do you calm the players and coaches, everybody around, for tomorrow’s game knowing you have to play them a third time through this?
COACH MERCER: We just have to have a conversation about it. And we have to understand that there’s a lot of things behind the scenes. There’s a lot of things going on. There’s a lot of moving pieces. I don’t want to get into it. But there’s just a lot.
We just have to have a discussion about keeping it on the field and being professionals. And we’ve done a really good job of that this year. We’ve been professionals and we’ve been gentlemen. And that’s something that’s really important to me and I’m very proud of that.
And we need to continue to be that. We need to continue to represent Indiana the correct way. Represent the department, the program with class and dignity, and make sure we continue that. We have all year and we will continue to do that. So we just have to have a discussion and make sure we stay where we’ve always been.
Q. Is there anything to be said for the fact that this wasn’t a game decided by a walk-off home run or anything? Does it make it easier to wash it away in that sense, to kind of wash it off? And also where are you at pitching wise tomorrow?
COACH MERCER: So the reality is this: When Luke Sinnard got hurt, we essentially had to use three starters to get to the first game. But if you don’t win the first game you don’t get here. And so you have a decision to make at that point. You try to win that game, which you have to.
And then realizing at some point the loss of innings is going to catch back up. And so now we’re in a position today where, if I bring all those guys back, you talk about Kraft and Bothwell and Foley. If I bring those guys back today, one, we’re increasing risk of injury which you can’t do. The guys don’t deserve that.
The second thing is you’re risking them one injury, but two, not being nearly good enough to be able to win the game.
So you’re going to have to rely on somebody else to cover the loss of those innings. And so when you draw it up, you give yourself a chance to run through it once — and Ben’s done that before where he’s given us a chance to run through the lineup once — and you read where the game is at make a decision from there.
We have two games to win one. The worst thing I can do is run out and bring guys back on too short of rest and their stuff is not good or they get hurt. If we have a chance we run through it once and they’ll obviously have to throw their arms because if they lose they’re done. So they have to go their prime arms first.
We read the game, decide where it goes. And then if we don’t have a window, then we push to tomorrow and we go and try to win the Regional.
And that’s the way the game’s played. You have to be able to, if you get into a position where you have to take it on the chin, you have to take it on the chin, because as a coach your job is to give your team and the boys the best opportunity to win their Regional.
That’s my job. And so you know what, we did that today. And so we have to go out tomorrow and now those guys are going to have as much rest as they possibly can and have a chance to win that game.
And that’s what I told our team, that’s what I’ll tell you now. I’ve always been open and honest and always very forthcoming. And that’s the reality. So the guys that have thrown the majority of the innings for the year, they’ve been taxed this weekend early. And today we couldn’t do that today to them.
Now we’ll line up tomorrow see if we can make a run at it go win it. The guys that threw today they competed for the most part. It didn’t go their way. Some of those guys haven’t thrown in a while. But they did their job and we’ll push through it.
Q. You mentioned yesterday this is a relatively new position for your team to be in, playing for a Regional championship. How did you feel about the emotions of your team heading into this game?
COACH MERCER: I thought we were in a good spot. I still think we’re in a good spot. The great thing about baseball, as Phil alluded to, it’s an everyday sport. It’s an everyday game. Sometimes you’re on top of the hill. Sometimes you’re on the bottom of the hill.
You just — you can’t ride the waves. You’re not the best team in the world when you win or you’re not the worst team when you lose, even when you get your butt kicked.
We’ve been through the battles and things. And the team is in a fine spot. I talked to them afterwards. They’re great. They understand. They’ll move on and let’s go play tomorrow.
By the time — if you’ve been good enough, if you won enough games to get to this point in the season, then you’ve had to persevere through obstacles throughout the course of the year.
We’ll be ready to play tomorrow. Win or lose, we’ll be ready to play. And you go out and you do the best you can. So I don’t worry about their mindset or mentality or anything like that.
Q. I imagine at some point in your career you’ve been in that scenario that UK was in today, having to play (indiscernible) innings. It’s viewed as a tough spot to be in. Any advantages that can be — going out there and getting the cuts (indiscernible)?
COACH MERCER: Sure, you hit the nail on the head there. Especially as a hitting guy. As an offensive guy, as a hitting guy, you go out and all of a sudden you kind of get your legs underneath you a little bit. You get your swings going.
And the team you’re playing you’re in that third or fourth game. So now their pitching has been utilized, so now maybe all of a sudden you get a fastball you haven’t gotten all weekend and you get a homer, hit it off the wall. Get your confidence going, feeling good.
And you go into the next game carrying it forward. I would say absolutely you can slice it both ways. You can say you played 18 innings and we’re worn down, or you can say played 18 innings and, man, got a bunch of good swings in and we feel good going into it.
Life is about your perspective, typically, and so have your slice — I’m sure they sliced it with a — Kentucky won 10-0 the first game? Hey, man, we’re cooking, we scored 10 runs, we got it all, got the bats rolling, whatever it is. And they mixed them up and did all that stuff, and we’re ready to go into this game. I’m sure they took that mentality and were ready to play.
Q. You scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Do you think that will benefit you moving into tomorrow, ending the game on a lighter note?
COACH MERCER: Sure. You ask your guys to continue to compete. I know that’s a hard thing to always do. You’re frustrated and I just told the guys you just have to keep playing, just keep playing, keep competing. You don’t get to mail it in or you don’t get to wear “Indiana” across your chest or cash in your chips because you’re frustrated or the score is out of hand.
That’s the standard and that’s the expectation. That’s how it’s always been. That’s how it’s always going to be. And you just go play.
My feelings don’t matter. My feelings don’t matter. We don’t have the luxury of having feelings when you’re playing at this level. You have to get over it and you have to move on and just go compete. It’s life. It’s life.
People get up and go to work every day. You have to get up and go to work whether you are sick, whether you feel good, whether you don’t, whether you make a bunch of money or no money. You have to keep going back to work, and the ninth inning is your job. And you go play at the best of your abilities.
Q. How much do you think your pitching staff can benefit from the situation like this where you’re playing Kentucky two days in a row you get them tomorrow and maybe you learn some of their tendencies, et cetera?
COACH MERCER: A ton, especially for your pitching coach. He’s going to be calling 70, 80 percent of those pitches — catchers, Pete is a really smart catcher, he’s really good at helping us facilitate and manage the game and pitch calling and whatnot.
That stuff helps a ton. And then having, you can look at it two ways, the pitchers probably throw tomorrow, most of the guys have thrown. And now you look at it, you say these guys have seen, these guys before.
And on the other hand that’s a good thing for the pitcher to know some weaknesses and tendencies, and also can be a good thing for the hitter now that I’ve seen the guy before, too.
It can go both ways but definitely the more information you can have, if you can execute pitches the better off it is for the staff, yes.
Q. Last week in Big Ten tournament you had some defensive issues where some tough throws were made that really went bad. Looks like they were doing a better job keeping it in the pocket in tough situations it wasn’t intentional?
COACH MERCER: We talked about that quite a bit this past week and ran through those scenarios. And we got a chance to practice and run through those. I talked about it a ton. I said listen I know the mistakes we’ve made were in earnest, we’re trying to do the best we can, we’re trying to make a play.
Sometimes the ball bounces — the chopper to Josh Pyne today where it’s a high bouncer. There’s no play. Don’t force a throw now they throw up the line. We did. Just force somebody to hit, force somebody to not hit into a double play. We have first and second, nobody out in the first inning. Get a double play ball and a soft line to center, you’re out of the inning.
Those things — keep the double play in order and force them to go station to station as much as possible.
We went through that stuff a ton. And mental fatigue leads to physical fatigue, or vice versa, however you want to cut it up. Sometimes you don’t make good decisions. We made errors but we didn’t kick routine plays. We weren’t dropping fly balls or missing reaching ground balls, to your point.
We weren’t making good decisions in those balls those plays where if it’s a 50/50 play, go make that play. Get to 90-10 in a different direction, if you have to make a Brooks Robinson play or you have to make some impossible play to get an out, then put it in our pocket and move on to the next one and trust our guy to get a weak contact and get out of it.
But we spent a lot of time working on it. And the guys have done a good job at it. Done a good job.
