May 31, 2002
Louisville head coach Lelo Prado
“In the last three games, we have only scored two runs. You are not going to win many games in tournaments when you are not swinging the bat. We have about 12 hours to figure it out.”
“He (Matt Woods) did a hell of a job pitching balls and strikes and we kept trying to pull the ball. You got to make adjustments and I give him credit. He made us look pretty silly.”
“You have to give them credit, that’s what wins the tournament. You got to step up and the guy you don’t think about will step up and hit a two run homer. That is the reason they are in the winners bracket and we have to play at 11a.m. We just got to get it done. We don’t have any excuses.”
Louisville pitcher Zach Jackson
“My job is to go out there and give my team a chance to win. Before the game I did feel very good and I had to go out there and throw strikes and give my team the best chance to win.”
Louisville right fielder Mark Jurich
“I think we need to think about what we did today. We need to swing the bats like we have been doing all year. I think if we do that than we will have a better chance tomorrow than today.”
Georgia head coach David Perno
“We got great starting pitching by Matt (Woods), quality defense, two-out hits . . . We did all the things we were doing a month ago and that gave us a great opportunity to win.
[Decision to play Josh Smith at SS]: I knew that would be the first question. Coming in to the year, I felt like shortstop is almost like your quarterback. Down the stretch we’ve been getting outplayed at short. No matter who we’ve played, they’ve outplayed us at that position. I felt like we needed to be proactive and try to get a jump start. Josh made it easy with his work ethic and the way he’s practiced all year. Every time we’ve asked him to come in, he’s done a great job, so it wasn’t a big secret. We knew he could do it, it was just a matter of when we were going to get him in there.
[On starting Matt Woods] “We knew it was going to be him or Mickey (Westphal), but when you look at the numbers down the stretch, Matt’s been our best guy, without question. He matches up with a left-handed lineup because of great run on his fastball, good sink on his two-seamer and a great changeup. The was he’s performed down the stretch, we felt like he was our best guy and needed to get the ball first.
[Tomorrow’s starter] “Game two is as far as we’ve decided and it’s Mickey Westphal.
“The key is win and survive. Adam’s two-out double was the key. I think if Adam doesn’t deliver that blow, we were going to use [Jeffery] Carswell at that time. We had them both ready, and when Adam hit it in the alley, that allowed us to shut Jeff down and go with Scott [Lawson].”
Georgia shortstop Josh Smith
“I was just hoping we’d win. It’s just a dream come true right now, and I having fun with it. [On his first at-bat] At first I was just trying to put a bat on the ball, hard and clean. I was expecting a fast ball because [Chad] Lytle is a .400 hitter. I was just expecting fast ball. He did it and I hit it.
“I got a feeling [that he would start] about two or three days ago. He (Perno) kept telling me he had all the confidence in the world in me, over and over and over.
Georgia pitcher Matt Woods
“I got three runs early and I was excited because I thought I was pitching well and could hold these guys down. Coming out of the seventh inning, I told the coaches I was tired, but if I had known we were going to score four runs, I would have kept in there. I felt good, and the guys behind me were great.
“I just love coming in to big games. It makes me perform better when I know there’s something on the line.”
