May 23, 2008
Recap |
Final Stats
TULANE QUOTES
HEAD COACH Rick Jones
Overall thoughts on the game
"I thought we were in good shape coming into the tournament, but this definitely didn't hurt. When you finish third in a league as tough as ours, you get the three seed and you've got 36 wins coming in, that's a pretty good case to begin with. But today, we certainly made a step in the positive direction. Thirty-seven wins now, playing the schedule we do, our RPI is pretty solid. I just felt like this was a game that really did some positive things for us as far as putting us over the edge. At the same time, tomorrow would help even more, and would help in seeding, I would imagine."
On the performance of starting pitcher Matt Petiton
"Matt Petiton settled in and gave us a great performance. No earned runs. When Matt Petiton is on at the top of his game, he does what he did today - hit both sides of the plate with his fastball and then mix his change. The other thing he did was he dropped a breaker in there when he needed to. And we played well defensively, for the most part, behind him."
On Rob Segedin's day
"This was Seggy's first time on the mound since he had a little inflammation. We had Nick Pepitone warming up most of the day because you're in such a tight ballgame and you don't want somebody to get caught ill-prepared to come in. When we got to that situation in the seventh, with their big guy up - their No. 3 hitter - I told (pitching) Coach (Chad) Sutter, `Just see if Seggy feels like he's loose enough,' because it doesn't take him much. He's been throwing around the infield. He's the guy who can beat that bat, and that's what he did. He beat that bat and got a pop-up in the infield."
On Tulane turning four double plays today
"Then the next two innings, to turn a double play with the runner on, those were huge. (In the ninth, he) walked that guy and you're at 3-1, then all the sudden you've got two outs. One swing and that's a huge play for us. Then in the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead and nobody out runner on first base, and on the first pitch we get a double-play ball. Both of those, I thought Seth (Henry) and Josh (Prince) did a real good job of staying under control and doing the things we talked about in practice - playing at game speed and playing under control. Those kind of things happen when you play enough games. They were really big plays for us, and Seggy was just really good. Of course, you've got an outstanding defensive player to make the final play of the game, coming back to the mound."
On Important of Seth Henry's Ninth Inning Home Run
"It sure gave us a lot more of a cushion when you've got Seth's two-run homer, because if he doesn't have a two-run homer, I'm pretty sure in they're going to bunt in the ninth, and then you change the game completely."
FRESHMAN UTILITY ATHLETE Rob Segedin
On coming into the game with two out in the seventh
"Matt got in a little trouble, and coach came out and asked if I was ready to go. I usually don't need warm-up pitches. I was fine with coming in and getting that big out."
On pressure of elimination game and its influence on NCAA Tournament Selection
"Today was big, we needed this win. We knew coming in we had to give our all in order to win. Everything was on the line, so we had to play hard."
JUNIOR SECOND BASEMAN Seth Henry
On pressure of elimination game and its influence on NCAA Tournament Selection
"We're not thinking about that while we're out there playing. We're not playing not to lose, we're playing to try and win. And we're trying to go out there and win every ballgame. We're not going out there with any fear, thinking about how this might be our last game. We just go out there and do what we have to do."
On his home run
"It was definitely a big hit for us, putting us up by three runs rather than going into the ninth with one. I was pretty upset because [earlier] I messed up really bad and didn't get a bunt down with runners at first and second and nobody out. So it was a big hit and took a little pressure off me."
UCF QUOTES
INTERIM HEAD COACH CRAIG COZART
Opening statement
"Great game. The pitchers battled hard for the better part of seven innings. It's just all about opportunities. If you want to look at our situation, we haven't taken advantage of opportunities, really over the last three or four weeks of the season, unfortunately. It caught up with us today. Some walks became a factor. They got the hits when they needed to, and I think we grounded into four double plays. So that's kind of it in a nutshell, just taking advantage of opportunities. Tulane did that. Southern Miss did that (Wednesday), and we haven't been doing for a while. So, that's why we find ourselves finished with the season."
On the effect of sitting out at the ballpark for most of the day Thursday without playing
"Honestly, I don't think it did at all. I think it would have affected us last night if we had played. Being at the ballpark for 10 or 11 hours then tried to play, I think it would have been a factor. But I think that both teams handled it pretty well. I don't think that it was a factor this morning at all. Both teams had a lot of energy. That was a really hard-played, and for the most part really well-played baseball game."
On the pitching performance of Mitch Herold
"He cruised through five and then walks three guys. A lot of people probably thought I should have yanked him by then, but I thought he deserved the opportunity to work his way out of that. Then he gives up the base hit and two runs, and by that time it was time to make a move. We wiggled our way out of that and kept ourselves in the game. We had guys who played at the right times, but we just didn't get the hit today."
On the impact of the two-run home run in the ninth inning
"That makes it very difficult in the ninth inning, versus one run. Then the leadoff walk makes things a lot tighter in that situation. But, hats off - a 3-2 breaking ball and he didn't miss it."
THIRD BASEMAN SHANE BROWN
On his two-run homer in the fourth
"I just worked the count to my favor - 3-1 - and got a fastball right down the middle put a good swing on it."
On the energy level of the teams in the game
"We came out today and we were ready, and yesterday didn't affect us today."
