NC State head coach Elliott Avent, RHP Jacob Dudan, and OF Ty Head met with the media to discuss the series win against Notre Dame.

NOTE: Click the videos above to watch each press conference!

HC Elliott Avent

On the team getting a walk-off win...

The team gives up five and then stops that beating, but still comes back and finds a way. One thing it says is we have to figure this bullpen out. And part of that's my fault, but it's been my fault my whole career. We didn't go to the World Series in—oh God, what year was that?

We didn't go to the World Series because I wouldn't bring Joey Devine in at Miami with a 10-4 lead in the sixth inning. After all, the trainer says his arm was barking a little bit, and Joey was screaming at me to put him in, right? And I did a road dog in Florida in a regional down there after a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay. I think he struck out like eight of the first nine. I wouldn't send him back out; I thought he was going to fight me.

And tonight—today—Coop wanted to go, you know, back-to-back days. It's so early, and I wouldn't do it. And I know Nash was questionable, but he said he wanted to go. So I sent him out there, and he hadn't had enough rest with the 40 pitches he threw two days ago. So we've got to figure out the bullpen a little bit. Some guys have got to step up in the bullpen because we're a little thin there.

But to your question, what it says about giving up a lead like that—that it stayed there since the first inning. And we squandered so many opportunities. I think we had a leadoff guy on four or five innings in a row. Couldn't get a bunt down, couldn't execute a hit-and-run, and first and third with no outs. So Mikey Ryan's home run ended up being huge.

But the big thing for me, to answer your question finally, is you come into the ninth at the top of your order and Rett Johnson hits an absolute rocket. That guy makes an incredible play in center field. That should have been it right there. That should have done it.

Luke Nixon battled like he always does. He's such a winner; he's such a battler. And he got the base hit with two strikes. McHugh gets two strikes and hits the ball down the right-field line. And then Ty Head, with two strikes, just keeps battling. So, to answer your question finally, it says an awful lot. And it shows what two days of winning and probably some things we talked about a few days ago are coming into play.

I was going to say, did this team do this last weekend? Kind of the situation, if this were to happen? If we had practiced the way we practiced this week, they would have. We've taken a different mentality. And that mentality has led to some better results. And those results have led to winning. And winning leads to confidence.

Can a win like this get you guys going? I think we're going right now. I mean, I actually—you have the same talk to your team every day. And the talk today was "go party and see who the media wants to talk to." Go to a brand-new locker room and party. And I'll be in about 30 minutes to tell you what the plans are and wish you a happy Easter.

But win or lose that game, I think we're on the right path to getting better. I don't think this loss would have devastated us as much as this win is good. But it's just going to let us know if we keep doing things this way, we'll have a chance. This league is so tough. Really tough. I can't say it enough.

You mentioned that Cooper wanted to go, and obviously didn't want to put it out there. What was kind of the approach to the ninth inning?

Well, Danny comes in with a big strikeout. Danny Heintz comes in with a big strikeout in the eighth. And good stuff—had a good slider, good fastball. And gets the first guy to 3-2, and the guy gets one out to left field. Good hitter, good player. And then he walks the guy. And then we kind of try to get it going.

I thought Luke Hemric threw really well. Maybe I should have just stuck with him. Thought about Sam Harris—he's been doing so well for us. And so maybe I could have made some better decisions there in the ninth inning as well.

What was it like for you to go out there and watch Jacob do what he did today?

I can't tell you how proud I am. I've said it all year. I mentioned Mike Caldwell—probably people think about Carlos Rodon, but before Carlos Rodon, it was Mike Caldwell. When you think about pitching at NC State, that's the one you think about. The text he sent about Jacob Dudan the other day rings so true to me.

And he's such a winner. And he's so dedicated and disciplined and an unbelievable person and wants to win for his ball club. And he was unbelievable because, as I said, we squandered so many chances there in the third through the seventh—maybe sixth or something like that—that we could have built for him. So Jacob was unbelievable, and he's been unbelievable all year.

RHP Jacob Dudan

For you, obviously, sitting there in the ninth and just watching, everything unfold before you.

I mean, I'm not really thinking too much about it. I've got confidence in every single one of the guys that came in. But, even when we gave up the lead, I had a feeling that we were going to walk it off because our hitters have been so great this weekend. And, I just had a lot of confidence that we were going to walk it off.

You went into this game—the relief was that, had you been used in the past two games, they needed a deep effort out of you.

Did you have that mindset going in—I got to get this to the back end of this game?

Yeah, that's always in the back of my mind. I always want to go deep. I just started to tire out there towards the latter part of the eighth. And, as I said, I have a lot of confidence in whoever comes in behind me, and I had a feeling—like, I just felt like it was time to give it to the next person.

Have you sensed the mentality shift this week, from last weekend to this weekend, just on the team in general?

Yeah, I feel like we're definitely a lot more confident. We've got bats looking a lot better. Everyone's fighting at the plate. Even the pitchers are coming in, and, like, all of us pitchers have texted each other every day, like, "go in there and pound the zone and just see what happens." So, you know, I've definitely seen that start to turn over, and I feel like the pitchers and hitters have both been so great this week.

Of course, you started—you were in the bullpen when you got here. I guess this is what you wanted, to be a guy midweek; either you're going to come in and help the team win a series, or you're going to stop it and get it even, and then, of course, go deep in games. Just how is this working out? Is it what you envisioned?

Yeah, like, progressing through freshman and sophomore year being the reliever, it was definitely a goal of mine to be a starter coming into my junior year. And, I just put so much effort in the fall and early preseason just trying to build a pitch count, make a new pitch repertoire, add pitches to it, and, seeing it all work out, it's great to see.

Was there an at-bat or—?

Honestly, I felt like, towards the later part of the outing, or early in the outing, I didn't have the pitch location that I wanted to. I wasn't used to it being around 95. Well, I think I went back out for the fifth inning, and that's when, like, I saw the velo start to jump—98, 99. So I feel like the fifth inning is kind of when I saw that shift, and I felt a lot better about the outing.

Who do you attribute here that's given you the ability to have that depth to go late in the game?

Of course, Clint Chrysler. He's been great for me ever since I stepped foot on campus as a freshman. He spent so much time working with me, and I definitely want to attribute that to him.

OF Ty Head

Ty, what do you have to say about this team?

Obviously, watch your guys' lead go away at the top of the ninth, but still stick with it and find a way to win. Just shows you how tough we are. It's awesome just to see us compete like this. We've always known that we're ready for any type of situation.

What was it like with the ball going to the outfield as you hit it? What's your feeling as you're heading towards first base?

It felt so good just to help the team win. I mean, this is all we want to do, and it's all we care about, so just doing that for the team really helped.

Yeah, drawing in the infield—sometimes that can make it difficult. Just speak to that. How do you zone out and not focus on those types of things?

Yeah, just pitch by pitch, trying to get what I want. I swung at a changeup low, and I knew that probably wasn't the pitch, but just clearing it and getting to the next pitch and then just doing the job.

I think I asked you yesterday about the home run versus the catch. Now you've got a game-winner. Now we've got another—which is best?

Actually, I don't think I've ever hit a walk-off, so I mean that was a good feeling. Everyone jumping with you—so I mean that's up there, but I'm still sticking with the catch.

Fair enough. How much growth have you seen, especially you guys as hitters, over the past week?

Obviously, last week didn't go well, but this week you guys can really respond. Yeah, I feel like we've always had it. Sometimes we get unlucky, sometimes you just can't help it, but just trying to hit the barrel every time. But I'm really proud of this team and how we can compete.