May 31, 2009
– GEORGIA TECH POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Danny Hall
Opening Statement:
“First and foremost I would like to thank the fans that did show up today. I hope they will go home and tell their friends what great play they saw out of the Yellow Jackets today. Maybe tomorrow night we will have more fans rooting for Georgia Tech than Southern Miss had rooting for their team since we are hosting the regional.”
“My team played an excellent game and it was good we got out early. Murton hit a home run in the first inning, Jay Dantzler’s home run was big, Andrew Robinson pitched outstanding and Thomas Nichols backed it up with four innings of great pitching. I thought we played extremely well and got contributions from guys throughout the day. Cole Leonida starts really for the first time in post-season play and had a great game. I am proud of my guys, the job is not done and we have now a chance tomorrow to play for the regional championship.”
Having to stay focused for 9 to 10 hours today against elimination:
“I think we did a pretty good job of doing it. My guys competed from the first pitch to the last pitch. I told them after the game that is the kind of effort it is going to continue playing and will need that effort again tomorrow.
Is Deck McGuire starting tomorrow?
“He is”
What was your thought process of picking Robinson to start the game?
“When the first game was over, they were trying to hustle me into the press conference and Coach Kinkelaar and I were really trying to figure out who we were going to start. The two candidates were Robinson and Jed Bradley. I just felt like Robinson is more experienced and right-handed which I think, not that they don’t have good left-handed hitters in that line-up, but they are more right-handed than they are left-handed and felt a right-handed was better. So, I sent Coach Kinkelaar into the locker room to find him and let’s get him out here and ask him what he thinks about it. He said, “I want the baseball.” That is what you want to hear, that someone one tells you they want the ball.”
How big was it that you did not have to use Kevin Jacob and Zach Brewster:
“It was big. We have those two guys ready to go. I am sure there are other guys that want the ball tomorrow. We are in good shape, doesn’t mean we are going to win it, but we are in good shape.
How much do you think McGuire has in him tomorrow?
“He will give us everything he’s got and that is all we can ask. If it is 25 pitches it is 25 pitches. Someone told me that Texas pitcher threw nearly 200 pitches over 12 innings of no hit ball in that 25 inning game- it’s post season play and you do anything you can to move on.”
#34 Luke Murton, RF
Expand on the fan situation at today’s games?
“As Coach Hall said, first I want to thank the fans that were here, they did a great job tonight and they did a good job cheering and supporting us for the first two games. Really, I came out the first game and we were stretching and we pay attention to the crowd. We had a great crowd the first night, I said to House (Chris) I said man, I’m just shocked that nobody is out here. We are like 1-1, and we are a good team, and we have played well all year, and obviously we are a host. But I was just pretty shocked and just thought back to last year when we were at a different regional across town, and we were 2-0. We were coming to play the night game and the game before us, Georgia was 1-1 and their stadium was packed. I was just thinking about that I just wish we had a little more support today. Once again I would like to thank the fans that were here and they did a great job.”
Personal accomplishment of 20 homeruns and 200 RBIs:
“It has been a great year for me personally and for the team. To be able to do what I have done and make the strides I have made I have been very happy with the adjustments I have made. 200 RBIs in a career is not just a season thing and RBIs are one of those things you also have to take in account is when you play on a good team guys are going to be on base to be able to knock them in. I have had a lot of opportunities my teammates around me have done a great job and I have been able to knock in a lot of runs. It is something I am very proud of.”
#27 Andrew Robinson, P
Thoughts on starting the game tonight?
“I was actually pretty excited because it was my second start and the first time in a long time. I was really excited to try and go out there and throw strikes.”
SOUTHERN MISS POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Corky Palmer
Opening Statement:
“I thought Georgia Tech played a complete game. They pitched well, they fielded outstanding and they hit home runs. We didn’t play that well, but I don’t think that would have mattered. They played a complete game. They deserved to win. They beat us in every aspect tonight, but tomorrow is a new day, and we’ll both go at it for the championship.”
On Southern Miss’ starting pitcher for Monday night:
“We are going to have to go with (Scott) Copeland. I know his numbers don’t look that good, but he is the best fit for us. (J.R.) Ballinger is out – can’t go. (Todd) McInnis, maybe. We are going to have to get some help from some people who hadn’t pitched very well for us to win this thing tomorrow. But, we’re capable. We got some rest for (Collin) Cargill and (Cody) Schlagel tonight. There is definitely no tomorrow. At least our main relievers are rested.”
On how Georgia Tech pitched:
“They pitched well. They threw a lot of breaking balls and sliders, and I thought they threw well. I thought we were getting to their starter. Their reliever was very good. Other than that one pitch (Kyle) Maxie hit, he was really good tonight. We didn’t pitch it very well. Georgia Tech is a matchup problem now. With all of those left-handed hitters, four, or most of the time, five, they’re problems. The last two games, when I brought in a left-hander in to get a guy out and go forward, we don’t do it. That really is a problem if we can’t do that. I imagine they have been a matchup problem all year, because of those left-handed hitters.”
On the game:
“We hit a lot of balls on the nose. Georgia Tech fielded well. The shortstop made a great 6-4-3, and the ball could have easily got in for a hit. The game turned when we hit the eight-hole hitter (Jason Garofalo in the sixth inning). They are giving us an out with their nine-hole hitter, and we don’t make the play at first base. We make the error, and just like what happened to Georgia Tech last night with errors – in college baseball – nothing good will usually come of it. And it snowballed from there.”
On USM’s pitching situation for Monday:
“(Todd) McInnis said he had a couple of innings in him. I don’t know what that means. We need our team, and I’m so proud of what Michael Ewing has done the last two weeks, we need a pitcher to step up like he was really having a bad year. We need a pitcher in our core other than our big two to step up. If we do, we’ll win it. If we don’t, we are going to have a hard time winning.
#28 James Ewing, 2B
On how Southern Miss can bounce back on Monday:
“We’ve been playing our best baseball that we’ve played all season in the past couple of weeks. This is just a little bump in the road. The game was similar to the one yesterday, except the tables were turned. We kicked the ball around a little bit, and I thought we hit the ball really well tonight, but we just couldn’t come up with the big hit with people in scoring position. They made some good plays that we didn’t make on the defensive end, and that was the difference in the game.”
On Georgia Tech’s approach on the mound:
“To be honest, they executed their pitches really well. They really didn’t miss many pitches. We were trying to get that starter (Andrew Robinson) out of there. He threw really well, but the guy they brought in (Thomas Nichols) did just as well, if not better. There wasn’t any slack when they brought that reliever in. He threw really well, and he executed his pitches, except for the one to (Kyle) Maxie.”
