May 16, 2008
Recap |
Final Stats
TULANE HEAD COACH Rick Jones
Overall thoughts on the games
"They just played so well. When they had to make a pitch, they made it. And they stretched the lead late in both games. In the first game, I really felt like we had a chance to win the ballgame but we just couldn't hold them late. They had some really good at-bats and we couldn't hold them at bay. In the second game, the first inning was really tough for us. Giving up a four spot to those guys with the pitching they've got and their bullpen was tough. As soon as we got back in the ballgame, they came right back and stretched it.
"That's the sign of a good club and that's why they have 42 wins and why they're one of the best teams in the country. It's disappointing still, to get swept and it's disappointing when you know we both have a lot riding on the line. They really did a good job of executing."
On Rice getting down several bunts on Friday
"They hadn't shown much short game. In our scouting report, we didn't have much on their short game. Even though we were playing in, they put down three perfect bunts. They were safe because they were perfect bunts."
On the overall play of the Green Wave over the weekend
"With the exceptions of a couple of miscues, I thought we played well defensively all three games. We just couldn't hold them at bay. We scored six runs in 27 innings, and that's tough when you're going against a club like Rice."
On what Tulane has to do to get ready for the C-USA Tournament
"We talked about having some rough, tough practices on Sunday where we really concentrate on execution and making pitches. At the same time, I don't want us go out there and all of the sudden think that we have zero confidence because we just lost three games. Last week at this time, we were riding pretty high because we had just won three games on the road against an outstanding, nationally ranked team. It was just a bad weekend against a great team. But that does not mean we can't be successful in the conference tournament."
On what Tulane takes from this weekend
"You just have to keep your head down and keep playing, not get to excited or to down. We understand that we have to play better, but we also understand that Rice has a very good club."
On looking ahead to the C-USA Tournament
"We have to look ahead to Marshall because that's who we're playing. When we played them here, we won one, we lost one and we tied one. That's pretty even. We need to be representative in the tournament.
On the performance of Tulane's starting pitchers
"Matt Petiton pitched very well after the first inning. It wasn't all balls being barreled in the first inning. They got a bunt down and a walk. I thought both starting pitchers gave us good enough efforts to get it done. But we didn't score enough in the second game, and in the first game, we just couldn't hold them at bay late. They got in our bullpen and did a pretty good job."
RICE HEAD COACH WAYNE GRAHAM
On the weekend overall
"I thought we had a good weekend. Our pitchers made pitches when they had to make them and we had timely hitting. It was one of those series where everything went pretty well for us."
On the game-one win after trailing 4-2
"You get the two long balls, and that's what sparked us."
On how this weekend affects Rice's national seeding
"That's the reason we were doing everything within reason to win. Obviously, we caught the other kid in game one today, but we're doing everything within reason to win because that affects national seeding."
