DUGOUT REPORT: Avent, Johnston, Brown on win over Alabama
NC State baseball got off to a perfect start in the Ruston Regional Friday, beating Alabama 8-1 thanks to eight strong innings from Reid Johnston and five home runs, including two from Devonte Brown.
Brown, Johnston and Elliott Avent spoke to the media after the win, here’s a full breakdown of everything they had to say:
Elliott Avent
Reid Johnston was really effective for you guys today and pitched into the ninth. He’s done that for you all year, but how big was it for him to do it in game one of the regional and conserve the bullpen?
It was unbelievable. For last last, I keep saying two months but it keeps being longer so over two months, our starting pitching has been unbelievable. We’ve got a thin bullpen. We know that and they know that. But it’s not that easy to just go out and do it against the people you’re playing now. When you get down to the place you’re at now, now that our schedule is ever easy in the ACC or our nonconference schedule, but to keep doing this has been amazing. Reid’s just had an unbelievable career here for NC State, but it was very important that he got us into the ninth today.
Coming off that 1-0 loss against duke on Sunday, how important was it for them to get some hits on the board early and build some confidence?
I think even though you understand why things happen, like in that 1-0 game which we were really disappointed in, and we went back and watched the game, [Cooper Stinson] and [Jimmy Loper], Loper and [Marcus Johnson] did what they did all year, Stinson may have pitched the game of his life, which happens in sports. So even though you understand what happened in that game, you got shut out and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. So I think to get those two runs early from [Luca Tresh] and [Devonte Brown] especially Torres got picked at second, I think that was huge for this ball club, and we kind of rolled from there.
What did you think of the ballpark? Did you expect all these home runs?
It depends on the weather here. They said if the wind’s blowing the least little bit from the North, so that flag’s blowing any way at all out, that the ball’s going to fly here pretty good. But I thought the flag was dead still today but it carried pretty good. But some of those home runs that we hit, it doesn’t matter what ballpark you’re talking about. The ones Tresh hit and Devonte hit, it doesn’t matter what ballpark you’re talking about. But it’s a beautiful ballpark, it’s a beautiful city, and the people here are as friendly and welcoming as you can be.
Who will pitch the next game?
[Sam Highfill] will probably go tomorrow.
How are you going to approach tonight?
We’ll watch the game. Everything’s on synergy and film. You can watch any baseball game you want to. [Chris Hart], [Clint Chrysler] and [Joey Holcomb have watched film all week long, along with myself. We’ll continue to do that tonight and may go out to the ballpark as well.
Devonte Brown
How important was it for you guys to get to the pitching early and get some confidence back after the loss to Duke last Sunday?
After that ACC championship game, I think we all were a little down. I think none of us took our eyes off of what was next and the big picture. We were all ready to go all week. We were excited. We were having fun at practice. Today was a very important day. We came out ready to go, swinging the bat. The pitching was amazing. Today was a fun day.
How does having such a strong all-around performance help set up the rest of the weekend?
I think it helps us a lot. I think we all feel pretty good about where we stand and how we played and how we will continue to play. I think this weekend will be very good, and we’re just ready to play baseball and just keep everything going.
What were your thoughts on the conditions of the wet turf?
During BP when it was raining pretty hard it was kind of slick, balls were skipping really hard. But as the game went on, it kind of dried up. It wasn’t bad. I don’t think we were worried too much about it.
What is the plan for the rest of the evening? Will you watch the Louisiana Tech vs. Rider game?
Yeah, I think we’ll eventually watch the game later. Some guys might go eat with their families and stuff. We have a lot of parents and girlfriends and parents in town. I think we’ll just enjoy the rest of the day and get to bed early and be ready for tomorrow.
Reid Johnston
What has been working so well for you lately?
I think it’s just a combination of a bunch of things. I’ve been able to throw strikes and consistently get ahead. The guys behind me have just been making play after play. Our bats have been rolling. That kind of makes it easier, when you know you have guys behind you that can make plays. You’re not scared. It’s easier to pitch. You’re not scared of giving up hits that you shouldn’t give up. You just kind of throw it down the plate and hope they hit it and hope guys make plays behind you.
What is your mindset to try and pitch deep into games and set the team up, especially in the first game of a regional?
That’s my mindset every game, just to go as deep as I can. I know we’ve got guys in the bullpen that I can trust if I happen to come out after five or six innings. But I know if I go seven or eight innings with our offense and the bullpen behind us that we’re gonna be in a good chance to win. Every game I look to go seven or eight innings, or nine if possible. Just taking that mindset of going seven or eight and letting the guys behind me do the work.
Was it the game plan to limit the pitch count early?
I think it just worked out like that. I wasn’t expecting them to come out swinging like they did. We had a game plan, me and the pitching coach, coming into the game. I don’t think we covered them coming out and swinging the bat on the first pitch, but that’s something that we noticed and kind of helped us out as we faced them through the second or third time through the lineup. We knew when guys were swinging at the first pitch, so we threw something else in there to get them off that first pitch. It worked out good.
Does it give you a sense of calm on the mound when the offense scores early or is the mindset the same?
I would say my mindset is the same. Obviously when you get up big you can kind of lose your focus because you’re like ‘we’ve got a five or six run lead.’ That sometimes can help you lose focus. My mindset just stays the same. Just attack every inning, get three outs, get back to the dugout and let it roll into the next inning no matter what the score is.