Louisville Super Regional Quotes Game 3 | June 8, 2025
June 08, 2025 | Baseball
Louisville Super Regional
Louisville 3, Miami 2
Louisville 3, Miami 2
Louisville, Kentucky | June 8, 2025 | Jim Patterson Stadium
Press Conference Transcription
Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell
Opening Statement
"I first have to congratulate Miami. I ran back over there to hug Coach (Chris) Dominguez and his wife Shannon and his mom. I see J.D. (Arteaga) in the dugout. It hurts. I have been there. Ooof. It is so emotional. You can't win every regional and you can't win every super regional, so to be that close and not go to Omaha. I have been a part of that. My heart does goes out to J.D. and the players and staff. They were so close. You saw how tough they were. Coach (Roger) Williams and I were talking in the dugout briefly after the game and said 'gosh, they don't swing out of the zone. They use the whole field. They are really good with two strikes and I thought that was the difference both yesterday and today, whoever was going to come out on top was going to be a two-out, two-strike hit. I want to congratulate them. I am proud to be in the same conference as them, the ACC, and like I said, I have a lot of respect for them. They have a lot of history in that program and how tough those kids are. I got to play against them when I was in college. I got to coach against them when I was at Ole Miss. Wouldn't you know that my first year on the job, I have to go to Missouri and I had to play Miami twice. I just can't avoid them and especially being in the same league. I wanted to take the time to congratulate that staff, those players, their administration and I am sorry for the pain they are going through because I have been there. But we learn that there is something special about being in the arena. There is something special about being between those lines and in the dugout. You just know somebody is going to be crushed when it is over. I can't say enough about our players. It is a combination of feelings I had coming in here with all the juniors and seniors with (Tucker) Biven, (Patrick) Forbes, (Justin) West, (Matt) Klein, (Wyatt) Danilowicz and Eddie King and let those guys come in and stand behind me because they have been through it. They have been through some tough times. They stuck with me, this coaching staff, this university and stuck with the process. To the freshman and sophomores and transfer portal guys, they knew what they were getting into. They knew where we were with the program and we said, 'look you could be walking into a program that just won a national championship but I am telling you that it doesn't guarantee success the next year. I have great friends who went through struggles after winning a national championship and that isn't a bad line to be in because you won a national championship. But you are not immune to tough times. I kept pouring into these kids that you are coming into a program that is really darn close. I thought we should have been in the postseason last year. But if I am being straight our conference doesn't get the respect that other conferences get. We don't have people in the room that are able to bully their way into putting us in but that is a whole other story. So, we don't get in last year. Yes, there was a chip on my shoulder. There were chips on my players' shoulders. There was a chip on this program's shoulder. Justin West spoke to this team before Nashville and we released a video before this past week about what he said. He was right. We were disrespected. Let's call it what it is. We were disrespected as a program. Players, coaches and even commitments backing out and dropping out and dropping like flies as if we weren't the program they signed up for here. Yeah, so you wake up in the morning ready to compete. We start stacking days and winning days and I give our coaches credit as they worked their tails off this summer. I give all those older players credit, and I apologize if I missed somebody, and the new kids and anyone who believed in what we were doing. They are the reason we did something special to this point. This is a journey for us. I haven't even mentioned the word of where we are going. We haven't talked about it. I don't think I have said it in weeks, maybe months. It is not about that. It is about these guys doing their best. Being 1-0 today and today we were 1-0. So, I am super proud of those guys."
(You've been talking about dogpiling for a while now, how special is this moment for you and your team?)
"You said it, it's for them (the team). It feels somewhat awkward, but I'm just trying to do my diligence. This is about the players. We won our first regional in 2007 and we went on stage. We had like nine seniors. I wanted to take all the seniors because the older players were just on my heart. They have to come in this room like every day. They run out to practice every day and they see it. And if you if you see it, you can believe it. But that also comes with pressure, right? That puts pressure on you. This is not a place to come for the weak of heart. You want to put it all on the line. I'm just so happy for these players. I've enjoyed them all year. Even if we had faded in the regionals, I still would say I love this group. The journey is so much fun. This postseason has been really exciting."
(What does it mean for Eddie King Jr. to have the games he did this weekend as a senior?)
Is that not awesome? He got a warning yesterday for the bat flip. Those that are around the program would tell you; Eddie might be the sweetest kid on the team. He is really loved. He's such a good person. The talent is off the chart; he's a really good outfielder. We tried to play him in center field last year, and with our history of center fielders, he got so big and physical, and then he had some knee issues and a hamstring. He's a corner outfielder, but he's a darn good corner outfielder. As we talked about (Patrick) Forbes yesterday, and what organization is going to get him, I don't know how you're an organization not fighting for Eddie King. You tell me you can't see that guy in a big-league uniform playing left or right field? I shared this with Eddie on the field, and I said it going into the postseason, and some are going to remember this. He got robbed of that home run at Georgia Tech. It just ripped our hearts out and that was the number one play on SportsCenter. He got robbed of a home run at Clemson. We lost; it was a one-run game. He hit two balls at Notre Dame that I thought were gone with the bases loaded. He had another ball at Clemson; it was to right center. I thought it was gone, caught. I just remember when the postseason started, I said, if you stick to the process and you believe, it's going to even out, some balls are going to drop for us. If you go back to the championship game down in Nashville, some balls dropped for us. Today, when that kid dove, it had a darn good beat on it, and I know he's sick that he didn't catch it, and the wind kind of pushed it to him, I don't know if he overran it, but he was about to make a great catch. When it hit off his glove and it landed, I just kind of looked down, I smiled, and I thought, that was the break we needed. It's got to even out. If you do things right, you stick to the process, it's not always going to go your way, but I do believe things will even out like that. It couldn't have happened to a nicer kid."
(About the team dynamic of young and old players)
Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell
Opening Statement
"I first have to congratulate Miami. I ran back over there to hug Coach (Chris) Dominguez and his wife Shannon and his mom. I see J.D. (Arteaga) in the dugout. It hurts. I have been there. Ooof. It is so emotional. You can't win every regional and you can't win every super regional, so to be that close and not go to Omaha. I have been a part of that. My heart does goes out to J.D. and the players and staff. They were so close. You saw how tough they were. Coach (Roger) Williams and I were talking in the dugout briefly after the game and said 'gosh, they don't swing out of the zone. They use the whole field. They are really good with two strikes and I thought that was the difference both yesterday and today, whoever was going to come out on top was going to be a two-out, two-strike hit. I want to congratulate them. I am proud to be in the same conference as them, the ACC, and like I said, I have a lot of respect for them. They have a lot of history in that program and how tough those kids are. I got to play against them when I was in college. I got to coach against them when I was at Ole Miss. Wouldn't you know that my first year on the job, I have to go to Missouri and I had to play Miami twice. I just can't avoid them and especially being in the same league. I wanted to take the time to congratulate that staff, those players, their administration and I am sorry for the pain they are going through because I have been there. But we learn that there is something special about being in the arena. There is something special about being between those lines and in the dugout. You just know somebody is going to be crushed when it is over. I can't say enough about our players. It is a combination of feelings I had coming in here with all the juniors and seniors with (Tucker) Biven, (Patrick) Forbes, (Justin) West, (Matt) Klein, (Wyatt) Danilowicz and Eddie King and let those guys come in and stand behind me because they have been through it. They have been through some tough times. They stuck with me, this coaching staff, this university and stuck with the process. To the freshman and sophomores and transfer portal guys, they knew what they were getting into. They knew where we were with the program and we said, 'look you could be walking into a program that just won a national championship but I am telling you that it doesn't guarantee success the next year. I have great friends who went through struggles after winning a national championship and that isn't a bad line to be in because you won a national championship. But you are not immune to tough times. I kept pouring into these kids that you are coming into a program that is really darn close. I thought we should have been in the postseason last year. But if I am being straight our conference doesn't get the respect that other conferences get. We don't have people in the room that are able to bully their way into putting us in but that is a whole other story. So, we don't get in last year. Yes, there was a chip on my shoulder. There were chips on my players' shoulders. There was a chip on this program's shoulder. Justin West spoke to this team before Nashville and we released a video before this past week about what he said. He was right. We were disrespected. Let's call it what it is. We were disrespected as a program. Players, coaches and even commitments backing out and dropping out and dropping like flies as if we weren't the program they signed up for here. Yeah, so you wake up in the morning ready to compete. We start stacking days and winning days and I give our coaches credit as they worked their tails off this summer. I give all those older players credit, and I apologize if I missed somebody, and the new kids and anyone who believed in what we were doing. They are the reason we did something special to this point. This is a journey for us. I haven't even mentioned the word of where we are going. We haven't talked about it. I don't think I have said it in weeks, maybe months. It is not about that. It is about these guys doing their best. Being 1-0 today and today we were 1-0. So, I am super proud of those guys."
(You've been talking about dogpiling for a while now, how special is this moment for you and your team?)
"You said it, it's for them (the team). It feels somewhat awkward, but I'm just trying to do my diligence. This is about the players. We won our first regional in 2007 and we went on stage. We had like nine seniors. I wanted to take all the seniors because the older players were just on my heart. They have to come in this room like every day. They run out to practice every day and they see it. And if you if you see it, you can believe it. But that also comes with pressure, right? That puts pressure on you. This is not a place to come for the weak of heart. You want to put it all on the line. I'm just so happy for these players. I've enjoyed them all year. Even if we had faded in the regionals, I still would say I love this group. The journey is so much fun. This postseason has been really exciting."
(What does it mean for Eddie King Jr. to have the games he did this weekend as a senior?)
Is that not awesome? He got a warning yesterday for the bat flip. Those that are around the program would tell you; Eddie might be the sweetest kid on the team. He is really loved. He's such a good person. The talent is off the chart; he's a really good outfielder. We tried to play him in center field last year, and with our history of center fielders, he got so big and physical, and then he had some knee issues and a hamstring. He's a corner outfielder, but he's a darn good corner outfielder. As we talked about (Patrick) Forbes yesterday, and what organization is going to get him, I don't know how you're an organization not fighting for Eddie King. You tell me you can't see that guy in a big-league uniform playing left or right field? I shared this with Eddie on the field, and I said it going into the postseason, and some are going to remember this. He got robbed of that home run at Georgia Tech. It just ripped our hearts out and that was the number one play on SportsCenter. He got robbed of a home run at Clemson. We lost; it was a one-run game. He hit two balls at Notre Dame that I thought were gone with the bases loaded. He had another ball at Clemson; it was to right center. I thought it was gone, caught. I just remember when the postseason started, I said, if you stick to the process and you believe, it's going to even out, some balls are going to drop for us. If you go back to the championship game down in Nashville, some balls dropped for us. Today, when that kid dove, it had a darn good beat on it, and I know he's sick that he didn't catch it, and the wind kind of pushed it to him, I don't know if he overran it, but he was about to make a great catch. When it hit off his glove and it landed, I just kind of looked down, I smiled, and I thought, that was the break we needed. It's got to even out. If you do things right, you stick to the process, it's not always going to go your way, but I do believe things will even out like that. It couldn't have happened to a nicer kid."
(About the team dynamic of young and old players)
Eddie King Jr., Sr., OF "We definitely, I think we have, like Coach said a lot of depth. For the offensive side, I think we have one of the scariest lineups in the country, up and down, people on the bench that can come off. Nate Earley, he's scary in the box. So, I think we have a bunch of really good hitters, but the pitchers, especially the freshmen, this is the best group of freshmen pitchers I've ever played with. It's a really special group, and we knew they could help us from day one. It's just what they're they've been doing. Ethan (Eberle) stepped up, Jake (Schweitzer) stepped up. All the freshmen, Jack Brown, every one of them."
(On going through their heads as Eddie King Jr.'s go ahead rbi double dropped)
(On going through their heads as Eddie King Jr.'s go ahead rbi double dropped)
Eddie King Jr., Sr., OF "I was just hoping for it to drop. Honestly, I thought he was going to get there, but I'm so happy he didn't. I'm so glad that ball fell!"
Ethan Eberle, Fr., LHP "I was in the bullpen down there, and I thought he caught it, and my heart sank. Then when I saw him get up and the ball is on the ground, I started going crazy, that had me scared for a second. But it was awesome just to see that happen."
Jake Schweitzer, Fr., RHP "I was in the game at that point, so I was sitting on our bench, and I had a good little view of it, but as soon as it went up, I just put my head down, just waited to hear which side of the fans would react. And once I heard the good guys react, I knew that something good had happened."
(On the message from Coach in the postgame huddle)
(On the message from Coach in the postgame huddle)
Eddie King Jr., Sr., OF "We're going to Omaha to win it all. We're not just going there to play just because we're in Omaha, but we're going there trying to win it all. We are trying to get a national championship for this program."
(On what does it mean to be a part of a team that makes it Omaha, after the last couple of seasons ended disappointingly? )
(On what does it mean to be a part of a team that makes it Omaha, after the last couple of seasons ended disappointingly? )
Eddie King Jr., Sr., OF "I think it just makes it even more special. The previous years, the past two years, and seeing all the ups and downs that we've been through, ups and downs that we've been through, and having a year like this one, I think it just makes the journey a lot more special for me. And now we get to go to Omaha, get to play on the big stage. So yeah, it's a dream come true, and I'm so glad I stuck it out."
(On what was on the mind when Eddie King Jr choked up then hit the ball through center field and if he choked up)
Eddie King, Jr."I was just trying to hit the ball, honestly, just move it, put the barrel on it, let it go somewhere, hopefully it falls, and I get a hit. But it was just my mindset. I didn't want to
strike out or try to do too much. So, if I just move the ball, I have a chance of getting a run in. Yeah, I always choke up with two strikes. That's just my two-strike approach"
(On how special it is to finally reach the goal of going to Omaha)
Ethan Eberle: "For me and [Jake] Schweitzer, I bet you can say, coming in, we were always told that our goal is to help this program get back to that winning standard in the postseason, the Super Regional. I think it's something I'll never forget, even though people might, may have gotten hurt in it, but I think it was really fun. But it's just incredible. It's unexplainable, the feeling of dogpiling on that mound."
Eddie King, Jr.: "For me, it's just really special. Just being here all four years, seeing it grow, it means everything to me. So just all the guys who didn't stick around, I know I'm the only senior still left in my class that actually came in as a freshman. So it's a really special moment for me, and I'm really glad to be a part of something like this."
Jake Schweitzer: "Yeah, I would say, like Ethan [Eberle] said, getting a little baseball back to the winning standard. But I think it's honestly more than that. It's, yeah, we're going to Omaha, but I also get to play with guys like Eddie [King Jr] and [Garret] Pike and [Brennyn] Cutts for another week. So, I think it's almost bigger than Omaha."
(On mentality from the end of regular season to now, as well as going into the College World Series)
Eddie King, Jr.: "I think we're fighting to advance, and then we know what we have to do to win, so I think we're playing with the bigger chip on our shoulder. So, I think that helps us out. I think we play our best baseball under more pressure I feel like, so I think in these moments, these games, it's just what we what we do, it's what we practice all the time."
Jake Schweitzer: "Yeah, I would say, just continue to roll with the punches. I think we've had our fair share of adversary this year, games we should have won that we lost, or injuries or something like that. But, yeah, I think just continue to roll with the punches like we have all year."
(On coming in after Ethan Eberle left and keeping the game where it was)
Jake Schweitzer: "Yeah. I mean, I think my job becomes easier when guys like Ethan [Eberle] go out there and set the tone early. Six innings of hard-nosed pitching is it's pretty easy to come in behind and keep it like that. But yeah, I think it's all the credits to the guys that go before me, makes my job a lot easier to go there and do my thing."
(On the crowd chanting Eddie's name)
Eddie King, Jr. "I've never experienced anything like that, so it's definitely cool and special for me. But I try to stay cool in those moments, try not to worry about all of that, but it's definitely something I can remember for the rest of my life. I've never gone through anything like that, and I don't know if I'm ever going to go through anything like that again. So, it's just, it's really cool."
Ethan Eberle: "The crowd was nuts and hearing them chant Eddie's [King Jr] name sent chills down my spine, it was just crazy. Just hearing all of them cheer, all the Cards chants, it's wonderful, having such a great fan base, and just coming out here and playing in front of them in the Super Regional, there's nothing like it."
Jake Schweitzer: "Yeah, I would say, as a local kid growing up, I got to see Jim Patterson packed at its finest, and to be able to experience that is something that, it's honestly a dream come true, and something that I didn't think I would ever be able to experience. So, it's awesome to see it back like that"
(On what it would mean for the guys to get there, and confidence level going into Omaha)
Jake Schweitzer "Yeah. I mean, I would say a big saying in the program is, 'why not us?'. There's a first time for everything, so why not us and be the first team to make it to that?"
(On what was on the mind when Eddie King Jr choked up then hit the ball through center field and if he choked up)
Eddie King, Jr."I was just trying to hit the ball, honestly, just move it, put the barrel on it, let it go somewhere, hopefully it falls, and I get a hit. But it was just my mindset. I didn't want to
strike out or try to do too much. So, if I just move the ball, I have a chance of getting a run in. Yeah, I always choke up with two strikes. That's just my two-strike approach"
(On how special it is to finally reach the goal of going to Omaha)
Ethan Eberle: "For me and [Jake] Schweitzer, I bet you can say, coming in, we were always told that our goal is to help this program get back to that winning standard in the postseason, the Super Regional. I think it's something I'll never forget, even though people might, may have gotten hurt in it, but I think it was really fun. But it's just incredible. It's unexplainable, the feeling of dogpiling on that mound."
Eddie King, Jr.: "For me, it's just really special. Just being here all four years, seeing it grow, it means everything to me. So just all the guys who didn't stick around, I know I'm the only senior still left in my class that actually came in as a freshman. So it's a really special moment for me, and I'm really glad to be a part of something like this."
Jake Schweitzer: "Yeah, I would say, like Ethan [Eberle] said, getting a little baseball back to the winning standard. But I think it's honestly more than that. It's, yeah, we're going to Omaha, but I also get to play with guys like Eddie [King Jr] and [Garret] Pike and [Brennyn] Cutts for another week. So, I think it's almost bigger than Omaha."
(On mentality from the end of regular season to now, as well as going into the College World Series)
Eddie King, Jr.: "I think we're fighting to advance, and then we know what we have to do to win, so I think we're playing with the bigger chip on our shoulder. So, I think that helps us out. I think we play our best baseball under more pressure I feel like, so I think in these moments, these games, it's just what we what we do, it's what we practice all the time."
Jake Schweitzer: "Yeah, I would say, just continue to roll with the punches. I think we've had our fair share of adversary this year, games we should have won that we lost, or injuries or something like that. But, yeah, I think just continue to roll with the punches like we have all year."
(On coming in after Ethan Eberle left and keeping the game where it was)
Jake Schweitzer: "Yeah. I mean, I think my job becomes easier when guys like Ethan [Eberle] go out there and set the tone early. Six innings of hard-nosed pitching is it's pretty easy to come in behind and keep it like that. But yeah, I think it's all the credits to the guys that go before me, makes my job a lot easier to go there and do my thing."
(On the crowd chanting Eddie's name)
Eddie King, Jr. "I've never experienced anything like that, so it's definitely cool and special for me. But I try to stay cool in those moments, try not to worry about all of that, but it's definitely something I can remember for the rest of my life. I've never gone through anything like that, and I don't know if I'm ever going to go through anything like that again. So, it's just, it's really cool."
Ethan Eberle: "The crowd was nuts and hearing them chant Eddie's [King Jr] name sent chills down my spine, it was just crazy. Just hearing all of them cheer, all the Cards chants, it's wonderful, having such a great fan base, and just coming out here and playing in front of them in the Super Regional, there's nothing like it."
Jake Schweitzer: "Yeah, I would say, as a local kid growing up, I got to see Jim Patterson packed at its finest, and to be able to experience that is something that, it's honestly a dream come true, and something that I didn't think I would ever be able to experience. So, it's awesome to see it back like that"
(On what it would mean for the guys to get there, and confidence level going into Omaha)
Jake Schweitzer "Yeah. I mean, I would say a big saying in the program is, 'why not us?'. There's a first time for everything, so why not us and be the first team to make it to that?"
Players Mentioned
RHP
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1B
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LHP
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OF
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RHP
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LHP
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