University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Stave Off Elimination in Conway Regional
6/2/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
UCONN POST GAME COMMENTS
Coach Penders on the win over LIU Brooklyn. . .
"They hit us in the mouth and we did our own self inflicting of wounds, but from the fourth inning on it was a different ball game for us. Credit these guys (Tim Cate and Christian Fedko) in changing the tone of the game, especially Tim. Chase Gardner was not Chase Gardner today, he did not have it, it was not good and it was not his kind of performance. Fortunately, Tim came in and stopped the bleeding.
"Christian Fedko, all year, we joke as a staff that he is going to get us one knock and it is going to be big one. Today he two big knocks. He did a super nice job as he had two of the biggest hits of the game. One with two strikes. He fought off a pitch and found some grass. We talked before the game about having more swagger to our at-bats and Christian is never lacking in swagger and for a freshman he plays with a lot of confidence and believes in himself and that was impetus for the rest of our hitters to jump on."
Tim Cate on his long outing. . .
"I felt good, the command was pretty good, my body was a little tired because it was a little hot out there, but I was trying to grind it out. I thought my fastball command was good and my curveball was pretty good early. I was just trying to throw strikes and I was trying to get the offense back in the dugout as fast as I can and give them some momentum."
Christian Fedko on the team mood after LIU scored the first runs of the game. . .
"Early on in the game, I felt like there was a scared vibe in the dugout and were trying not to lose and not playing to win. I felt like we were not confident enough in ourselves as were playing all season. I told the guys to be confident in what you're doing and believe in yourself and each other and everything will turn around real quick. Tim (Cate) came in the game and shut it down for us."
Fedko on Cate's performance. . .
"It was huge for us, he's been a leader all season on and off the field. He is mentoring the younger guys really well and to see a talent like come out of the bullpen, selfless or however you want to put it, it was a boost for our team."
Cate on his team's effort in the win. . .
"It shows that the style of play that were being more completive. Prato stretched a single into a double in the first inning and that is the type of energy we should always be playing with. In the second and third inning we lost some of that, but we figured it out along the way and it was amazing to see."
Coach Penders on Cate's performance and tomorrow's potential starter. . .
"Who knows about tomorrow, we were just trying to survive today. We needed a tone changer (today). I did not want to go to Cate but he came to me before the game and said I can give you 70-80 pitches. I feel great. I can start, relieve or do whatever. That was great for us. It felt good for me for us to know that. We kept asking him every inning and kept saying he was good. In the last inning we didn't have to ask him, "I'm good, I'm good". That was his last batter, the second to last guy cost him a bunch of pitches and he saw the lefty deck and he wanted to go one more. He did a good job."
