Mike on the crowd:
" It felt like Swayze Field because of how many Ole Miss -- because how partisan maybe it was, but man, it felt like a football game out there. On the field it was that loud. Swayze has been pretty loud. I don't know if Swayze has ever been that loud.
When they played "Sweet Caroline" whatever inning it was, I have never heard anything like that. Just impressive. Thankful. I think as a coach, it's really neat to sit back. And you don't do it too much in the game, but it was so loud that a couple of times you did. You look up and go, wow, all these people showed up here.
It's not an easy place to get to. It's not a cheap place to get to. A lot of people, it meant the world for them to be here this weekend. They're passionate, aren't they?"
OU's Blake Barnett on the crowd:
"Well, we've been doing it all post-season. Took care of Florida down in Florida, and went to V-Tech at their place and took care of business. I really don't think a home crowd for them really does anything. I think we actually enjoy shutting up the crowd. I just don't think it impacts us."
Mike on Nichols in the sixth:
"I thought it was a little early for Mallitz. At that point you're looking for outs and how do we get to the end? Again, if I knew it was bases loaded and it was 4-1, then maybe I would have done it differently, but sometimes it doesn't work that way. It doesn't work as perfectly as that.
We don't field the bunt, and then he walks a guy. The guy that had a no-hitter perfect game going, and he was awesome. All of a sudden we misplay a bunt. A couple of base hits, which is obviously part of the game, but then we don't field the bunt and don't get an out. Then he walks a guy. Mason was the guy that was up at that time and hot and ready to go. Mallitz wasn't ready. Originally going from the 6th inning on, there's a lot of game left. There's 12 outs left."
Mike on trying to balance Mallitz and/or Johnson in the late innings.
"It's a tough one. We had Gaddis down there in case he was available to pitch, but he really didn't want to throw him today, coming off about 75 pitches a couple of days. But he was available, wanted to throw, wanted the ball. Normally he would be a great option in that situation because he pounds the strike zone with the lead. You got a lot of left-handers in that lineup, but that's probably not the best place for him at whatever it was at the time, 8-2, 8-3.
Yeah, it was a coin flip. You've seen me enough. We get to that point, the guy has already thrown, he is hot. Let him finish it and let's win the game and move on rather than trying to dissect it. Then we went out and scored a couple in the 9th. The lead got bigger. We ran Derek down there because he is another strike thrower, but we didn't need to use him."
Mike on why Dougherty was the option:
"I think a couple of things. One, looking -- their approach at the plate, they're patient. They're a very patient team. They walk a lot. And felt that we needed somebody that was going to fill up the strike zone. Of the guys that were available, I thought he was the best guy to do that. I thought he could deliver and land some sliders early. But, again, you didn't know he was going to walk out there and throw five perfect innings like that.
I was asked earlier, hey, what was your expectation? I try not to box him in. Try not to put that kind of pressure on him. There's a guy that's been in a bullpen, as you mentioned, probably the last 60% of the season, and he has been really successful at that, and you want him to have that approach and to go attack the zone and make pitches early."
Skip Johnson on the eighth-inning home runs:
"We got some balls in their hot zone, and they deposited them. They're good players, and I mean, I think the hardest ball hit all night was a line drive off of Carter Campbell. I don't know what the TrackMan says. I'm sure you guys probably do, but, I mean, it was pretty scary to me."
OU's Blake Robertson on the Sooner offense:
"Yeah, they were all making good pitches, and they were executing. I think earlier in the game against Dougherty we weren't being as aggressive as we could be. I think we were taking -- getting down 0-1 and 0-2 too much. The relievers that came in, they did their jobs too. I'm glad this happened. We're going to learn from our lesson. Slow everything down and get back and ready to play tomorrow.
It's a three-game series for a reason, so ..."
" It felt like Swayze Field because of how many Ole Miss -- because how partisan maybe it was, but man, it felt like a football game out there. On the field it was that loud. Swayze has been pretty loud. I don't know if Swayze has ever been that loud.
When they played "Sweet Caroline" whatever inning it was, I have never heard anything like that. Just impressive. Thankful. I think as a coach, it's really neat to sit back. And you don't do it too much in the game, but it was so loud that a couple of times you did. You look up and go, wow, all these people showed up here.
It's not an easy place to get to. It's not a cheap place to get to. A lot of people, it meant the world for them to be here this weekend. They're passionate, aren't they?"
OU's Blake Barnett on the crowd:
"Well, we've been doing it all post-season. Took care of Florida down in Florida, and went to V-Tech at their place and took care of business. I really don't think a home crowd for them really does anything. I think we actually enjoy shutting up the crowd. I just don't think it impacts us."
Mike on Nichols in the sixth:
"I thought it was a little early for Mallitz. At that point you're looking for outs and how do we get to the end? Again, if I knew it was bases loaded and it was 4-1, then maybe I would have done it differently, but sometimes it doesn't work that way. It doesn't work as perfectly as that.
We don't field the bunt, and then he walks a guy. The guy that had a no-hitter perfect game going, and he was awesome. All of a sudden we misplay a bunt. A couple of base hits, which is obviously part of the game, but then we don't field the bunt and don't get an out. Then he walks a guy. Mason was the guy that was up at that time and hot and ready to go. Mallitz wasn't ready. Originally going from the 6th inning on, there's a lot of game left. There's 12 outs left."
Mike on trying to balance Mallitz and/or Johnson in the late innings.
"It's a tough one. We had Gaddis down there in case he was available to pitch, but he really didn't want to throw him today, coming off about 75 pitches a couple of days. But he was available, wanted to throw, wanted the ball. Normally he would be a great option in that situation because he pounds the strike zone with the lead. You got a lot of left-handers in that lineup, but that's probably not the best place for him at whatever it was at the time, 8-2, 8-3.
Yeah, it was a coin flip. You've seen me enough. We get to that point, the guy has already thrown, he is hot. Let him finish it and let's win the game and move on rather than trying to dissect it. Then we went out and scored a couple in the 9th. The lead got bigger. We ran Derek down there because he is another strike thrower, but we didn't need to use him."
Mike on why Dougherty was the option:
"I think a couple of things. One, looking -- their approach at the plate, they're patient. They're a very patient team. They walk a lot. And felt that we needed somebody that was going to fill up the strike zone. Of the guys that were available, I thought he was the best guy to do that. I thought he could deliver and land some sliders early. But, again, you didn't know he was going to walk out there and throw five perfect innings like that.
I was asked earlier, hey, what was your expectation? I try not to box him in. Try not to put that kind of pressure on him. There's a guy that's been in a bullpen, as you mentioned, probably the last 60% of the season, and he has been really successful at that, and you want him to have that approach and to go attack the zone and make pitches early."
Skip Johnson on the eighth-inning home runs:
"We got some balls in their hot zone, and they deposited them. They're good players, and I mean, I think the hardest ball hit all night was a line drive off of Carter Campbell. I don't know what the TrackMan says. I'm sure you guys probably do, but, I mean, it was pretty scary to me."
OU's Blake Robertson on the Sooner offense:
"Yeah, they were all making good pitches, and they were executing. I think earlier in the game against Dougherty we weren't being as aggressive as we could be. I think we were taking -- getting down 0-1 and 0-2 too much. The relievers that came in, they did their jobs too. I'm glad this happened. We're going to learn from our lesson. Slow everything down and get back and ready to play tomorrow.
It's a three-game series for a reason, so ..."
