May 26, 2008
NCAA BASEBALL SELECTION COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN LARRY TEMPLETON
On the committee's discussions on Tulane earning a postseason bid
"They were certainly on our board for a good while, but they were not in the last group of teams that went in. We looked at them with their conference play, and we looked at them as another team that went out and scheduled some teams across the country to improve their strength of schedule, and they got rewarded for that."
TULANE HEAD COACH Rick Jones
On getting back into the Regional field after missing the postseason in 2007
"It's just really good to be back in the NCAA tournament. Last year, missing out for the first time in 10 years, that's a depressing thing. To get back in and have a chance to go to a real good seed - now we are going to a national seed in Florida State and playing a great Florida team - but just to be back in is where we need to be and where we are used to being. It's good to be back.
"They key is to get into the NCAA tournament. We play every year to get into the NCAA, your goal then is to play your best baseball when you get in."
On the roller coaster of emotions stemming from making the Regionals in 2006 and 2008 and not earning a bid in 2007
"After the storm, getting in there with that group was exciting and getting to a regional final. But then last year with the lull we had, going into this year with all the expectations and the new stadium if we had not gotten into the tournament would have been a disappointment going into the next year.
"Now we have as much of a chance as anyone to get to Omaha. It also with this young team gives you NCAA experience, so it bodes well for the future. It's relieving, it's exciting."
On playing Florida in the first round
"They were a team at one point I thought might host and certainly they are going to be a challenge for us. Being in Tallahassee I would imagine we are going to have a lot of fans who are going to be pulling for us. If you are going to play Florida on the road, probably the best place to play them would be Tallahassee."
On if he was confident Tulane would get an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals
"Unless we had an upset, where a UAB or a Marshall had won our tournament, which is a team that wasn't expected to get an at-large bid then I felt confident. Now if Marshall had won yesterday, I think we would have still been in. But I think we would have been a little bit more on the bubble. We were solid in. But at the same time you still don't know when they get in the room."
TULANE JUNIOR PITCHER Shooter Hunt
On how he felt while watching the NCAA Selection Show
"You really don't know how great that feeling is until you sit there and you see your name come up. You watch all the basketball guys a lot who are the bubble teams, and we were a bubble team. It feels really good right now, but right now, it's time to get back to business. Florida has a great squad. They're an SEC team. We're going to go out there starting today practicing hard to get ready for Friday."
On Tulane earning a bid after not making the Regionals last year
"Last year, it stunk going home and watching other guys playing on TV and knowing that we had a great team that easily could have been our there with them. Now, we have a chance this year and we have to show everybody what we can do."
TULANE JUNIOR INFIELDER/OUTFIELDER Anthony Scelfo
On the team's state of mind while watching the NCAA Selection Show
"We were all kind of sitting on pins and needles, and now, we're in. That's all we wanted. We wanted a shot to get in, a shot to win it and we got it. Now we got it."
On what would have happened if Marshall had won the C-USA Tournament
"If they would have won, that wouldn't have been good for us at all. But that's behind us and I really don't care about the conference tournament or the regular season or anything else, really. Now we get to move on and play for a national championship."
On being back in the postseason after missing the Regionals in 2007
"I was there my freshman year when we went to Ole Miss. I was just kind of watching and wasn't a big part. Last year, being left out, that's something that doesn't happen here. Now, we're back in it and that's all you can ask for."
TULANE JUNIOR CATCHER Jared Dyer
On Tulane returning to the postseason after a one-year hiatus
"It's a great feeling to attain that goal of getting there, but we're not going to celebrate it. Today is going to be the most exciting practice of the year. We're just going to get ready for it. We're definitely not going to celebrate it. We're going to take it and run with this as far as we can."
On getting new life with the Regional bid
"This is a new season right here. We have one of the top pitchers in the nation going for us on the hill in that first game. I feel pretty good about it and I like our odds."
