Post Game Quotes
5/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 30, 2003
MISSOURI HEAD COACH Tim Jamieson
Opening Statements ...
"Obviously it was a tough game to lose, but we battled. They made great plays defensively. If those balls fall in, we win the game. I thought both teams played well."
On the play made by the center fielder ...
"It was such a crucial time because both teams were struggling to score runs. If that ball gets in the gap, maybe two runs score and we have a big inning. I think it would have been difficult for them to come back."
On tomorrow's starting pitcher ...
"We're not sure who we'll start tomorrow. We're going to wait and see who wins the next game (Mississippi State vs. Middle Tennessee). It depends on who we're playing. We don't know much about either team. We'll know before 10 a.m. tomorrow."
MISSOURI JUNIOR PITCHER Andy Shipman
On getting the best hitter out with bases loaded in the tenth inning ...
"I threw a first-pitch curve. Then we tried to go with a fastball away, but we didn't get the call. I came back with a curveball to get him."
MISSOURI SENIOR CENTER FIELDER Jayce Tingler
On appreciating the play made by the center fielder ...
"Definitely. He came up big twice. I saw the guy leave his feet and thought we were going to score two. All of sudden he came up with it. That was a momentum killer."
NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH MIKE FOX
Opening Statement ...
"That was obviously a great college baseball game. I feel real fortunate to win. I thought Justin James pitched outstanding for them. We just couldn't generate anything. We missed an opportunity there in the bottom of the 10th. Give credit to our relief pitchers for coming in and doing a nice job. Daniel (Moore) was equally as good starting for us and got us into the seventh inning. He has done that in the last few starts. It was a great pitching duel there for a while, and we feel very fortunate to have won. To show you how this game was, Ryan (Blake) hit the daylights out of that ball in the bottom of the 10th that could have won the game, then he hits one off the knob and wins the game. That's the nature of baseball. It was a fun game. I am sure it was a great game to watch. I thought Missouri had an outstanding team. It's tough that anybody had to lose that one."
On outfield play of centerfielder Blair Waggett ...
"Blair can really run. He is out there because of his speed. He is probably one of the fastest players that I have had an opportunity to coach. He's young, but he has gotten better defensively. Those were big plays. There were some huge plays in that game from both teams. He saved us, no question. He's been a little tentative out there. He has a senior on one side and a junior on the other and I think he felt like he has to go catch everything he can. You have to be aggressive in this league and in this tournament against these kind of teams. You have to make plays or you are going to be going home."
On pitching ...
"We really got great pitching and we needed it. When you're not doing anything offensively, you better hope that you are holding them down. We took a little bit of a gamble by putting (Zack) Zuercher in because he had not pitched in a while, but we have confidence in him. He has got a good curveball and we wanted to match him up with those two lefthanded hitters in that inning."
On length of game ...
"This was our fifth extra-inning game in the last seven. I didn't realize that. I was down there thinking that we ought to be used to these, but I didn't know it was five out of seven."
On Missouri's home run in the eighth ...
"I dropped my head. I didn't see it. I heard it, but I just didn't want to look. I knew it was hit a long way. We all know that sound. Scott (Senatore) came back after that. Give him credit. That's what experience does for you. I think that he got the next two guys out. I think that is experience and playing in big games with him not getting rattled after that. Give him credit."
NORTH CAROLINA SENIOR INFIELDER/OUTFIELDER RYAN BLAKE
On game-winning hit ...
"(The pitch) was a curveball thrown away. At first, I knew I had to get up there and try to get Sammy (Hewitt) to third. I popped up that first one and I thought that maybe I had blew it, but then I knew I had to keep fighting. It is my goal at the end of the year to try not to strike out. I was just trying to put the ball in play and, luckily, I hit something that got into the outfield and Sammy scored."
