Missouri-Texas A&M Quotes
5/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 20, 2009
2009 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship
Game 3 -- May 20, 2009
AT&T Bricktown Ballpark
Postgame Quotes
Missouri Head Coach Tim Jamieson
Opening Statement:
"I'm just happy we came away with a win. There was kind of a strange feel to the game. I thought we did some things real well offensively early. Kyle (Gibson) did not have his best stuff, but he competed and fortunately we had a couple of relievers come in and had some good batters faced. It was kind of a weird feel, and I'm glad we came away with a win and look forward to Friday."
On using Nick Tepesch in relief:
"I thought we had to go to somebody and we had that option down there. He didn't throw very much on the weekend and weren't for sure which day he was gone throw. We needed the win today before we worried about Friday and Saturday."
On Texas A&M hitting into double plays:
"Obviously there were good pitches because the balls weren't hit hard and our infielders did a good job of finishing plays off. It came at the right time. Earlier in the year, we weren't getting balls at the right time and now we are."
Missouri junior pitcher Kyle Gibson
On defense:
"It is always good when you can throw them groundballs and get hard hit balls caught. The double plays that we had were the biggest point of the day. With the double plays I was able to get myself out of trouble."
On throwing off-speed pitches today:
"When you don't have your best fastball, that is what you have to do. I was letting my fastball line and sink a little bit and then I would use my off-speed to make my fastball look a little bit better. Late in the year I was trying to throw them for a loop a little bit and trying to make it look a little bit different and mix them up."
Missouri senior first baseman Steve Gray
On his homerun:
"It was a fastball away. I was just sitting on something hard then (Kyle) Thebeau threw me his changeup inside throwing 85 still. I was just trying to sit on his speed and try to time it. I hit it good, but I thought I got under it too much. It just got in the wind and carried out."
Texas A&M Head Coach Rob Childress
On Missouri pitcher Kyle Gibson:
"He wasn't overpowering the way he was the first time around. Everybody is tired this time of year. His fastball wasn't overpowering, but he what did is he pitched. He threw strikes, and kept it down in the zone. He was able to throw three pitches for a strike. He did a great job. A lot of guys can go out and compete well when they've got their A stuff. Great pitchers are those who, when they have their B stuff and they're not 100 percent, go out and find a way to get it done, and Kyle Gibson is definitely a great one."
On Missouri having a non-conference weekend:
"We knew what we were up against, but I felt like (Clayton) Ehlert's stuff was really good. We weren't able to get out of the first inning without giving up a run. Leadoff walks usually score, and two of the three did today. Missouri did enough offensively early to basically put the game away. We made it interesting in the ninth but it was never really close."
On what positives he can take from today:
"Our plan is to win this tournament. We're going to come out against Oklahoma and give them everything we've got, and hopefully come out on the winning end, and do the same with Texas Tech. But we came here to win the tournament, and we're not done yet."
Texas A&M senior outfielder Kyle Colligan
On Kyle Gibson:
"He located really well, and like Coach (Childress) said, he pitched. Right-on-right changeups, you have to have a lot of confidence and control and command over your stuff. He's a great one just like coach said. He wasn't overpowering us today, but he kept the ball down. When he left it up we got a couple hits on him, but he kept it down the whole time. He commanded the game and just did a really good job of pitching."
On leaving runners on base:
"You can't do anything about what's already happened. You have to get better and work on what you're not doing right. It can only get better. You can't be negative. At this point in time, we have a limited time together, and we have to do what we have to do in order to succeed, and that's not being negative. We have to step up, myself included. I didn't get it done in the first inning. I think if I would have gotten it done, the game would have changed for the better. I didn't get it done there and I'm one of the guys that needs to do that. Everybody has to step up and do what they have to do."
