John's were joined by coach Penders. Tough loss for the Huskies here, Coach, you can't six nothing lead things looking good. But Zaber just kept scrapping away. They got seventeen hits and they end up getting the key hits and the late innings to win this thing.
Yeah, they looked like the better hitting team tonight. Statistically they're not, but they were fining holes all over the place. They hit some balls hard. You know, they made Pud look for human and it was time to go to Cook.
I thought Cook did a solid job. And then we you know, we had to extend Brady there and his fastball was electric, but they got to it, you know, they got to it in the in the tenth there we making O two mistake and that winds up, you know, that winds up hurting us there obviously hoping we could bail him out. He's bailed us out all year and done such a good job, and but we couldn't scratch anything in the tenth and credit to Xavier, they just kept coming. They were you know, and we know that
they play in a ballpark it's offensive. We know they they're not going to back down from anybody. They schedule up and and do it the way you're supposed to do it.
And credit to them, they they were the better team tonight. Yeah.
I thought that home run in the eighth inning was helpful for them to lead off homer from a guy that had one home run all year. Luke Hamon hits it out of here and that got him a little closer, and then I think they felt like, you know, we can maybe win this game.
Yeah, oh yeah, No, they're never out of it. They they're well coached. They you know, they believe. We believe too. I just it just got away from us there, and you know, it's I feel bad for Brady.
He's putting so much on his shoulders there.
We're asking so much of him there and he wasn't coming out so we were gonna win it or lose it with him on the mound, and unfortunately, you know, we just couldn't couldn't scratch anything to.
Bail him out in the tenth inning.
I liked our chances with what we had coming up, and you know, Brian Petty is we can't strike out looking there to start the inning off and set a bad tone.
And he's he's done an awful lot over his career and swinging it bad there, so frustrating.
I certainly you know, we didn't have we had opportunities to to to extend the lead.
We don't get a sacrifice bunt down.
We gave him amentum back, you know, then we go walk balk walk, and you get the momentum back with the double play, and just can't can't hang on into it.
So, yeah, tough night. Got to rebound quickly. You gotta have a short memory and get back.
Here and and uh, you know, Saint John's is gonna be loaded for bear. We were able to take three from them at their place, and uh, we got to try to find a way to get a fourth tomorrow. We gotta do that by going one.
And know, yeah, baseball's a crazy game, right Clay Burdett strikes out three times in a row, hits into a double plays, oh for four.
You're feeling like this is not my day. But he gets a base hit in.
The eighth, he hits a home run in the tenth or ninth, he gets a base hit home run. I mean, you got a critic guys sometimes for getting off the mat, all right, I mean that's what he did.
Right, Yeah, he got a good swing.
You know, he had a good swing that we talked, are we gonna We're gonna put michean and pitch to Burdet because the statistics could say, well, he hasn't had a great night, but he had a really good swing and on the previous at bat against Brady, and it's just so Josh went out and talked to him, and you know, I can't I can't second guess that we were facing two of the better hitters in the conference,
and you know, it happens, it happens. It's it's Brady was the fastball is really coming out of the hand and we haven't gone that fastball heavy in a long time with him.
But I thought it merited it, you know, the way that it.
Was coming out of his hand. And hey, they got to a couple of good pitches, you know, and and uh, I thought, the one pitch that I'd like that back is that O two to start off the ninth inning, you know, or the tenth inning.
I'm sorry, the O two pitch that went off the wall.
We had enough top spin on it to keep it in the ballpark and and almost get out of it.
But that's a mistake that you really want.
Back, all right, final question emotions like you say, you gotta flush it. You've got to get back. You're here in an afternoon game tomorrow. How do you start that or what do you do with the with the team in terms of getting them away from what just happened. Let's start, you know, page one tomorrow.
Yeah, you just want to get back to the hotel as quickly as possible. We had a long day here, we got you know, we left the hotel around three uh whatever, it was three something and think, and so you want to get them tucked into bed as quickly as possible. Adrenaline is still gonna be going. They're not gonna fall asleep right away. But you got to get up,
get a good breakfast, and get after it tomorrow. It's it's just they have to I got a lot of respect for this group and the and the ability to turn the page.
And attack the next day like nothing happened.
You have to have a short memory in baseball, and and that's what we're gonna have to have tomorrow and stay alive with it with just by going one and oh.
All right, what you've said, this is a resilient bunch. It's gonna be put to a test tomorrow.
We're gonna find out, you know, we're gonna find out. But it's been every resilient bunch no matter what happens tomorrow. But I like our chances against anybody, you know, with our backs up against the wall.
They've been up against the wall for a long time.
So uh, let's let's just go one Ton tomorrow and stay alive play for play on Friday.
All right, good idea. I like it, all right, thanks coach. All right, Stu Penders