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Baton Rouge, LA (AP) - Texas A&M head baseball coach Mark Johnson would like to thank his former boss for teaching him how to go down hard in a big game.
Johnson was an assistant to Mississippi State head coach Ron Polk from 1977-82, and claims that experience taught him how to properly utilize pitchers in crucial situations. "I learned from the best," Johnson said after Sunday's ninth inning loss to LSU.
After a brilliant 2-hit shutout of the hard-hitting Tigers through 8 innings, TAMU starter Zach Johnson unraveled to give up 4 runs in the top of the ninth, sealing the loss for the Aggies. "I wanted to come out. I looked over at Coach in the dugout, begging him to make it stop, but he wouldn't pull me," said Zach Johnson.
The Aggie pitcher gave up two hits and a walk to load the bases with no outs in the ninth inning of a scoreless game. But Coach Johnson, like his mentor Ron Polk, had not seen enough. "The damage wasn't done yet. Why pull a guy who's still 90 feet away from losing the game for us?" the unapologetic coach asked.
Ron Polk, at home in Starkville after a second consecutive sub-regional defeat, defends his former assistant's decision to stick with his starter, "I couldn't have done it any better myself. You can't just pull your starter because he starts giving up a few runs. It's not his fault your batters can't outscore their opponent. There's no reason to bring in a reliever until after the lead has been blown. After all, those guys can play next year."
A sac fly and a pop-up later, one run had scored and runners were on second and third with two outs. The Aggies seemed to be out of the woods, but then Zach Johnson served up the meat that the LSU hitters had been looking for all day. Will Harris took advantage by belting a 3-run homer to left, propelling the Tigers to a 4-0 win over the Aggies.
Zach Johnson was promptly yanked after giving up the home run. Reliever Kevin Whelan struck out the only batter he faced, leaving many TAMU fans wondering why he wasn't brought in earlier.
Coach Mark Johnson fondly remembers Polk's tutelage: "He always told me to leave a pitcher in one batter longer than the other team expects you to. Gotta keep the element of surprise."
Aggie fans will have to enjoy that surprise from College Station rather than Omaha this year.
Johnson was an assistant to Mississippi State head coach Ron Polk from 1977-82, and claims that experience taught him how to properly utilize pitchers in crucial situations. "I learned from the best," Johnson said after Sunday's ninth inning loss to LSU.
After a brilliant 2-hit shutout of the hard-hitting Tigers through 8 innings, TAMU starter Zach Johnson unraveled to give up 4 runs in the top of the ninth, sealing the loss for the Aggies. "I wanted to come out. I looked over at Coach in the dugout, begging him to make it stop, but he wouldn't pull me," said Zach Johnson.
The Aggie pitcher gave up two hits and a walk to load the bases with no outs in the ninth inning of a scoreless game. But Coach Johnson, like his mentor Ron Polk, had not seen enough. "The damage wasn't done yet. Why pull a guy who's still 90 feet away from losing the game for us?" the unapologetic coach asked.
Ron Polk, at home in Starkville after a second consecutive sub-regional defeat, defends his former assistant's decision to stick with his starter, "I couldn't have done it any better myself. You can't just pull your starter because he starts giving up a few runs. It's not his fault your batters can't outscore their opponent. There's no reason to bring in a reliever until after the lead has been blown. After all, those guys can play next year."
A sac fly and a pop-up later, one run had scored and runners were on second and third with two outs. The Aggies seemed to be out of the woods, but then Zach Johnson served up the meat that the LSU hitters had been looking for all day. Will Harris took advantage by belting a 3-run homer to left, propelling the Tigers to a 4-0 win over the Aggies.
Zach Johnson was promptly yanked after giving up the home run. Reliever Kevin Whelan struck out the only batter he faced, leaving many TAMU fans wondering why he wasn't brought in earlier.
Coach Mark Johnson fondly remembers Polk's tutelage: "He always told me to leave a pitcher in one batter longer than the other team expects you to. Gotta keep the element of surprise."
Aggie fans will have to enjoy that surprise from College Station rather than Omaha this year.
