What Miami (OH) coach Brian Smiley said on Knoxville Regional loss to Tennessee

Miami (OH) skipper Brian Smiley met with members of the media on Friday night following his club’s loss to top-seeded Tennessee to begin the Knoxville Regional. Below is video and a written transcript from the Miami (OH) postgame press conference.

Up Next: Tennessee advances on in the winner bracket of the Knoxville Regional to take on No. 3 seed Cincinnati on Saturday evening at 6 o’clock. The winner of that ballgame has a chance to claim the regional championship on Sunday and punch thier ticket to supers.

Opening Statement…
“We kind of knew what we were walking into, facing Mr. [Liam] Doyle and he’s a load. When he
started landing that off-speed, he honestly started pitching kind of backwards to our guys. It’s
tough to handle. As the innings went, he kind of started finding that fastball in the zone. When
he’s got all those pitches working, plus an upper-90s fastball, it’s hard to handle, which I think
you’ve seen all year and throughout his career. So, you have to tip your cap to him because he
pitched a heck of a game and kept our guys off-balance. We couldn’t sit on any pitches. I
thought early we came out really trying to strip him of his fastball and then he adjusted and
they adjusted and they started landing that off speed early in the count to keep us from really
cheating to that fastball. That’s kind of what settled him in.”

On if he was able to watch any of the Wake Forest game and the quick turnaround to
tomorrow’s elimination game…
“We saw a little bit. I thought Cincinnati did a good job playing their type of game against Wake
and kind of speeding the game up on them a little bit. Cincinnati had that balanced approach of
trying to play the short-game style, trying to steal some bases and then, obviously, had some
big hits with the home run. For us, tomorrow against Wake, we’re just going to have to kind of
do what we’ve done all year and stick to what—at least try to stick to what has worked for us.
And that’s being patient and disciplined and not missing our pitches wherever we go.”

On what he did to get his guys ready to face the spin and velocity Liam Doyle brings on the
mound…
“We tried everything. We’ve got the technology to plug him into spin ball like everybody else.
Once you’re out there live—I’m speaking for these guys, they can comment on it, as well—but
it’s a little different. Again, it’s when he started landing that that off-speed early in the count,
it’s kind of what—I wasn’t in the box, these guys were—but that’s kind of the separator. You’re
going to see the kid pitching the big leagues here before long and that’s why, because he can
land different pitches at any given time. Then when you get that high spin from velocity, that’s
a load.”

On what he saw from Tennessee’s offense to get to Cooper Katskee in the fourth inning…
“Yeah, we knew that that Cooper [Katskee] was kind of on fumes and he certainly gave us
everything he had. He’s coming off a 125-pitch complete game on short rest this week and they
were getting him in the air early. He was getting elevated early in the game. They had some
loud outs early in the game with not a whole lot to show for it, but Cooper made some pitches.
And credit to him, he wasn’t giving in. He was still trying to mix pitches. When he was behind in
the count, he was fairly successful. Then we had a couple plays that I think we wish we could
have back that really kind of opened it up for him or for them. They’re a physical, physical
offense and they have bat speed up and down their lineup. And you’ve seen them, they’ve
done damage in the SEC. They’ve done damage for a couple years with this offense. So, you
have to tip your cap to them. They didn’t miss some pitches whenever they got it.”

On the experience of playing in an NCAA tournament game…
“This team has come such a long way and we’re so proud as a coaching staff, certainly [I am] as
the head coach. [I am] just very proud of where they are now compared to where this team was
two years ago, whenever we kind of set out on this adventure and quest of getting to the NCAA
postseason. These guys beside me, [Dillon Baker and David Novak], were part of the team that
finished towards the bottom of the MAC. Just being able to crawl out of that and end up here in
Knoxville with 8,000 people screaming and for them to experience that is really cool and
rewarding. They have earned it. They deserve it. I go with that they are saying and appreciate it.
They are happy to be here, but we are trying to win the dang games. So, we are going to leave
tonight not necessarily happy.”