Feb. 27, 2007

Recap |  Final Stats

TULANE HEAD COACH Rick Jones

On the overall importance of this game
"I thought we really played well tonight. We got a good starting performance from Matt Goebel, who hasn't been on the field in a starting role in over two years. Preston Claiborne, our freshman, really gave him a lift, and then Daniel (Latham) was good in relief.

"We also had some timely hits. You know, we play in such a big ballpark in Metairie that we don't really know whether we have power or not because it's so cavernous. Tonight, we showed some pop, put some crooked numbers up and played well defensively."

On what he takes from this win
"We're just trying to play and find out something more about our lineup. Tonight, I think one of the big things we got out of this was Claiborne pitching in that kind of role and Goebel looking like he could help us in the middle of the week as a starter. Nate Simon had such a good night for us. He's been a role player, so that was a big, big lift. But we lost this game up here about the same time last year and wound up having a pretty good year. I don't think it indicates you're going to have a great year or a poor year, but it's good to get a win up here as it always is, but it's still February."

On the way his team responded after last weekend
"After getting off a red-eye flight yesterday morning and having so many kids under the weather, you never know how you're going to respond. We were a little flat opening night in Los Angeles at USC on Friday night, but tonight, I thought we responded well."

On the performance of Nate Simon
"He's a young man from the Seattle area, and he's just now starting to get his feel for the game - especially Division I baseball in the south. But he's been a role player for us, but he's starting to swing the bat better in practice and he has a lot of backspin so the ball carries. Tonight, he sure gave us a lift."

SENIOR RIGHT-HANDER Matt Goebel

On his performance against LSU
"I felt good early on with my pitches. My sinker was staying down, I was getting a lot of ground balls and a lot of quick outs. That's good because we knew we had a tough opponent with Coleman on the mound. I felt like I gave us a chance early on so we could get the bats going. I was just trying to keep us in the game."

On what the team can take from the win
"This is a huge confidence builder. Early on in the season, you look for wins like this to start building on. Having had a couple of tough weeks, I think this is good for us as we start moving along in the season and getting closer to conference play."

SOPHOMORE DESIGNATED HITTER Nate Simon

On his performance against LSU
"I was just seeing the ball real well tonight. The ball travels well here. I started off slow (this season), but I'm always trying to get better. I just try to get out to the cages early and get extra swings whenever I can."

On getting his first career home run
"It was great. It's really cool to have it here, especially in front of all these fans.