Virginia baseball head coach Brian O'Connor previews the Greenville Regional.
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00:00 But listen, I'll just start off by saying we're very, very grateful for being here.
00:07 Certainly, very aware of the hospitality in Greenville.
00:12 We've been down here a handful of times before, and
00:16 people in this community are great.
00:19 Obviously, Coach Godwin has built a great baseball program here,
00:24 and the years prior to him as the coach here were tremendous as well.
00:29 We're just fortunate to be in the NCAA tournament and excited to be here in
00:33 Greenville and looking forward to getting started tomorrow night against
00:38 a very good Coastal Carolina club.
00:40 Certainly, they have a lot of history, a lot of history of success,
00:45 and they're having a great year as well.
00:48 So, it should be a fun weekend, and we're grateful to be here.
00:53 >> Sabino tomorrow.
00:54 >> Yeah. >> What have you seen from Sabino last
00:56 year, and what are some of the things that you think set him up for a good-
00:59 >> Yeah, I mean, Sabino's pitched in
01:01 a lot of big games for us.
01:02 Sabino pitched in Omaha last year.
01:05 He pitched some big games throughout the year last year.
01:08 And so, listen, we knew coming into the year,
01:11 Nate Sabino had the most experience on our pitching staff of anybody we had.
01:16 So, when you're playing a terrific opponent like Coastal and
01:20 you're in the NCAA tournament,
01:22 you wanna go with a guy that's had a tremendous amount of experience.
01:25 So, he's certainly very, very talented, and
01:30 we're looking for him to come out and get us off to a great start.
01:33 Listen, to win at this time of the year and to advance out of a regional,
01:37 you gotta get quality starts.
01:39 I'm not saying every guy's gotta pitch into the seventh and eighth inning, but
01:42 they gotta keep you competitive in the first half of the game.
01:44 And we just felt like he gave us the great chance to do that on Friday night.
01:48 >> Last few weeks you've been playing familiar opponents,
01:51 well, last few months you've been playing familiar opponents.
01:53 How's it different coming here?
01:54 You don't know which of the three teams you're gonna see with the exception of
01:56 Coastal and- >> Yeah.
01:58 >> Scouting guys you don't have as much film on.
01:59 >> Yeah, I mean, certainly when you've had history in the NCAA tournament,
02:03 there's a lot of experience at doing this.
02:05 And so, certainly our focus is absolutely 100% on Coastal Carolina.
02:09 But we have a number of staff members that are looking at the other teams as well.
02:14 And I can tell you that I have and
02:16 our staff has followed the East Carolina program very closely.
02:20 And so, you just do the best you can.
02:23 You prepare for the opponent that's in front of you.
02:26 And typically you have anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to prepare for
02:30 the next one, that's postseason baseball.
02:32 And I think this time of the year, to have success,
02:37 I'll say this, you have to do what makes your team successful.
02:41 Certainly you gotta evaluate the opponent and
02:44 that's a component of having success.
02:47 But it comes down to, do you do what it takes for your team to be successful?
02:52 >> I've seen you guys play some postseason basketball away from Charlottesville.
02:55 >> Right. >> You guys have great traveling fans.
02:56 How many Cavs fans do you expect to see?
02:59 >> I don't know.
03:00 I hope we use all of our ticket allotment.
03:03 I hope that there's a great following down here.
03:06 There has been in the past for us.
03:08 So, listen, I know this is one of the great environments in college baseball.
03:12 And our fans that will be here will look forward to being here in Greenville and
03:18 being in this great facility.
03:20 >> When you look at this Coastal lineup in the late season run they've been able
03:22 to have, what stands out the most, both at the plate and also on the mound as well?
03:25 >> Well, I'll tell you, they're very good on the mound.
03:28 They can run a couple of different starters out at you that can
03:32 control the game early.
03:33 They've got some very good arms.
03:35 And Coastal Carolina has always been multi-dimensional offensively, right?
03:39 They can handle the bat, they can run and steal bases,
03:42 they can hit the ball in the ballpark.
03:43 And those are always dangerous offensive clubs to face
03:46 that can beat you in a number of different ways.
03:49 So they're having a terrific season and
03:50 certainly we're gonna have to play our best baseball.
03:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]