Ole Miss suffered its first loss of the postseason Friday night, falling 6-2 to North Carolina in the opening game of the College World Series.
Afterwards, coach Mike Bianco, pitcher Taylor Rabe and third baseman Judd Utermark talked to reporters about the game, what went wrong and how the Rebels can respond to keep their season alive. Here’s everything they said.
Taylor Rabe, Pitcher
On own pitching performance…
It was all right. Not my best stuff, I would say. I was a little out of sync with the four walks, and that’s something you can’t do against this team. They do a really good job of taking advantage of free bases. I was able to battle and get us a little bit of length. I would have liked to finish out the sixth and have Huddy come in with a fresh inning. But overall, it was all right.
On North Carolina’s plan of attack at the plate…
I thought they weren’t an overly aggressive team. They did a good job of making me get into deep counts and elevating my pitch count early. I felt like I was getting to two strikes, and with two strikes, I was making some good pitches, but they were fouling them off. I think that’s one of their strengths as a team and part of their offensive approach. They did a really good job of that.
On playing in College World Series…
It was cool to see all the Ole Miss fans in the hotel today. Playing in front of 24,000 people like that, I don’t know if you get that until you get to the major leagues. It’s been a really great experience so far.
On playing in games with season on the line…
I think we’ve played in a bunch of series this year where the Sunday game was a rubber match, so it’s a similar feel to that. You don’t really need to do anything differently. You just play your game, make pitches and things like that. If you try to do something more, I don’t think you’re going to get the result you want in the end.
Judd Utermark, Third Baseman
On how to leave fewer runners on base…
Get more hits, I think, is the obvious answer. I thought a lot of our at-bats were good, even with runners on base, even though we left them stranded. We worked counts, but ultimately, they played better than us today. It’s frustrating to have to admit that, but that’s the beauty of Omaha. You get to play another one.
On North Carolina pitcher Jason DeCaro…
DeCaro’s numbers are obviously really good, but he locates it very well. His stuff is great, but that’s not necessarily what gets guys in trouble. It’s not just the strikeouts, even though we had quite a few tonight. It was more the weak contact he produces. We rolled into a double play in that last inning. He gets a lot of ground balls and a lot of weak popups, and that’s what he plays off of.
On playing in College World Series…
It’s an unbelievable experience. The NCAA has treated us like royalty here. It’s been awesome to meet certain people and have certain experiences. But ultimately, we’re here to play baseball. This is the pinnacle of college baseball, so we’re blessed to be here. Our journey’s not over. I can tell you that.
On playing in games with season on the line…
Human nature may be to tighten up or stress in situations like that. I think our team is in a good position because we’re kind of a lighthearted group of guys. I think it plays to our advantage. It puts a little fire under our butt and gets us ready to go.
Mike Bianco, Head Coach
Opening statement…
Obviously, it’s disappointing. We weren’t able to finish, and that doesn’t happen much to us. But credit to a really good North Carolina team. I thought DeCaro was tremendous tonight, and Glauber, the reliever, was just as good. We knew that going in. We knew DeCaro was a true ace and Glauber was an All-American closer. But we had the lead and we couldn’t finish. I thought Taylor pitched his guts out today, and of course, Judd had the big hit. We just came up a little short, and it happens. Again, it’s frustrating and disappointing for us. But North Carolina did more to win it than we did.
On Judd Utermark’s go-ahead RBI single in a 3-0 count…
In critical situations, sometimes that is the best pitch. Obviously, Judd is one of our better players, but I don’t know if it’s necessarily just your best players. Sometimes the eight-hole guy can benefit from that. In those opportunities, to be able to drive in a run and get a good pitch, I think the risk-reward is lopsided toward the success of it.
On being on the losing end of a close postseason game…
That’s what I mentioned earlier in the opening statement. Usually, we were able to finish it. Sometimes you don’t. It’s a bitter taste in all our mouths. There’s enough blame to go around for what could have happened. But at the end of the day, we didn’t do enough to win the baseball game. Sometimes, you have to credit them as well. They executed. They got big, timely hits. Somebody asked earlier about runners being left on. I don’t think we had very many opportunities, but the opportunities we did have, we seemed to cash in. Maybe we were a double away from extending the lead, but at the end of the day, we lost 6-2. More credit should go to them. I think Taylor said it best. Their at-bats, even though he kept putting zeros up, were great at-bats with two strikes. They fouled pitches off and ran his pitch count up. It was one of those nights where I think it was more about what North Carolina did and less about what we didn’t do.
On own mentality during close games…
I don’t think anybody really cares about my mental state in the middle of the game. But I’m fortunate that I’ve got a great staff, and I lean on those guys. I really do. The decisions that are made are usually collective decisions with the pitching coach or the hitting coach. Plus, I’ve done it for a long time. So, yeah, I don’t think anybody’s worried about me.
On mental toughness after disappointing loss…
That’s a great question, and that really was the message afterward. We really lean into that phrase, “We handle hard.” Now we’ve put ourselves in a difficult, hard situation. When you lose in the College World Series, obviously it’s emotional and disappointing. But as Judd or Taylor mentioned, you’re still in it. You’ve got 24 hours to reset, get a good practice tomorrow, and then another 24 hours to come out and play better baseball. That’s the plan. That’s how you flip the script. That’s how you do this thing — get back and play a better baseball game. Somebody else asked, “What do you do?” You don’t do anything different. You play better. That’s the hope for practice tomorrow and then getting back out here on Sunday.
On Hudson Calhoun and Walker Hooks…
You can’t give them free baserunners. I looked down, and I think what Taylor was talking about was that we walked six batters and hit one. We gave them seven free baserunners. You can’t do that when the game is on the line. We’ve got to attack more. But some of that was their doing, being able to foul balls off and grind out at-bats. They lengthened the at-bat until they ended up winning a final 3-2 pitch. Again, we have to be better than that. We’ve got to make them hit the ball somewhere. On this field, when it’s blowing in, you’ve got to make them hit the ball.
