Michael Barash discusses his walk-off bomb to beat Texas

Key quotes from Michael Barash interview

“I didn't sleep much last night, I kept replaying the home run in my head. It’s something that I’ll never forget and I’m just so happy that I got to share that moment with my teammates.”

“I have seen the pictures with me and John Byington side-by-side. I saw it on Twitter this morning and I don’t know where mine compares to his, his was absolutely incredible. That moment last night was so much fun. That was a helluva night we got to experience, the atmosphere at the field was awesome. It was postseason baseball.”

“I think, right now, that swing just meant a win for our ball-club. I think it’ll mean more as I get older and am out of baseball, but right now it just means we got a big midweek win against a good, solid team. That was a lot of fun. I was just fortunate enough to be in a good position to hit that baseball.”

“I was lead-off hitter in the ninth and just wanted to see a few pitches, I didn't want to make a quick early out. We just needed a baserunner, so coach Bolt gave me a few take signs. We had a 1-1 count and then I hit the foul ball that somehow fell, I was fortunate enough for that to happen. Then I worked the count to 2-2, fouled off another pitch, took a good pitcher’s pitch inside to make it 3-2. At that point I was just trying to protect, honestly. It was a two-strike count, so I just tried to put a good swing on it and trust the preparation up to that point. I think I got all of it. I hit it really well and I think the wind had changed in the top of the ninth. Berrerra hit a ball for Texas that I think is gone on any other day. I was fortunate enough to keep it low, cut through the wind. What a team win we had.”

“Any momentum we can get going into SEC play is huge. The SEC is a gauntlet with ten weeks of hard baseball and you just have to take each day as it is. Each day is the most important day and that one yesterday was awesome. Now we’ll have a good practice today, get on a plane tomorrow and head out to Auburn. Now our focus is on Auburn.”

“Olsen Field has been awesome. We love playing here and it’s such a great place, we have all the advantages here. It’s hard for opposing teams to breathe when they step into our stadium, but it’s our comfort zone. It’s something we love and we love to play in. We cannot thank our fans enough for what they’ve done for us so far this season.”

“I’m sure somebody got that ball last night. Coach Johnson told me that he was going to run somebody out there. So I hope someone has it, but more importantly, we got the win. That’s a great team win that we’ll be able to draw back on. We did give up the lead in the ninth but we have enough guts and we’re fearless, relentless, we’re not going to let up.”

“We don’t really talk too much about Omaha because it is way down the line, there’s still a ton of baseball left, but that is obviously what we all dream about. For Boomer and I to have experienced it, it’s something we can draw back on and something we can explain to the guys about what it’ll be like when we do get there, because we are going to make it. We just have to take it day by day, but when we do get there, that’s when Boomer and I will explain what to expect.”

“Anything less than an Omaha trip is a disappointment in my mind, that's just the way the program is built. We’re built for success at Texas A&M and we pride ourselves on taking each day as a championship day, that way when the day comes that we’re playing for a championship, it’s just another day.”

“Auburn this weekend is big time. We need to get started on the right note in SEC play and they’re a good team. They're going to come at us strong and give us their best shot. We have a big game Friday, so we’ll just take it one game at a time.”