April 22, 2007

Recap | Box Score

Head Coach Steve Smith

On today's pitching:

"It was a very gutsy performance by Kendal (Volz). They got in the red zone early in the game and didn't punch it in; that wound up being pretty important. He pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the first inning and left a couple more on after that. I just thought he gutted it out. He found his slider and he was able to get some pretty key strikeouts with the slider. They didn't swing and miss a lot all weekend. They did it so rarely that every time they did it you noticed. He did a great job, and we were able to scratch and claw and get the game tied. He ate up five innings in the process. At that point it was time to see if Nick (Cassavechia) could piece together four innings, and he did a great job doing it."

On pitching Nick Cassavechia for four innings:

"It's asking a lot of him. But obviously the way this weekend had gone, if we had a chance to pitch him while we were still in the game, then we needed to do it. I would've loved for Kendal to have gotten through the sixth, but I wasn't going to let him have to pitch out of stuff again. Once he walked the leadoff guy that made the decision pretty easy."

On the team's performance:

"We competed extremely well. We've been ready to play all weekend, and we've competed all weekend. We just had a couple of bad outings by starters. We gave up a nine-spot yesterday, which is tremendously difficult to come back from but we almost did. We've talked about the youth of this team quite a bit, but we've never played a team this young in this league. These guys are playing a very high level of baseball, a very competitive level of baseball, and although we only won one game out of this series it was a significant win. It was a very competitive game right up to the very end when Raynor (Campbell) makes a tremendous play to end the game. (Missouri) played almost flawlessly, so this is a very high level of competition for our guys."

Baylor junior relief pitcher Nick Cassavechia

On pitching four innings:

"Not having to pitch for a week really helped. Normally it's a good thing if people get a week off, but I like to throw a lot to stay sharp. Today my slider was a little bit off, and I think that's just because I haven't been throwing it for a week."

On Raynor Campbell's game-ending catch:

"I threw that pitch and the guy leaned out there and I couldn't believe he made contact with it. Raynor's been busting his butt this entire year making great plays. I was happy but not shocked because he's been doing that all year."

On Missouri's lineup:

"Sitting there for two games and watching those guys hit around our two best starters is tough, but you also learn a lot. For example with (Jacob) Priday: I knew that he'd be chasing those sliders off the plate, so that's what I threw him. That's the only positive thing about watching that is that you see what pitches they can't hit."

On post-season hopes:

"It gets tough when we lose the first two. Coach Smith told us right before Oklahoma that we need to go 12-6 in the next 18 games. It helps us a lot that we didn't get swept and we were able to sneak one in there. Now we have to really go at it and go 7-2 the rest of the year."

Baylor freshman infielder Shaver Hansen

On having three of the team's seven RBI:

"I just happened to come up to the plate when people were on base, so the people who have to bat to get on base are just as important as I am. The hits are coming. I feel really good right now."

On his struggles earlier in the year:

"I don't know what it was, and I can't explain it. I was just finding my way and finding my groove. The coaches still believed in me, and I believe in myself. I knew I could do it ... it was just a matter of time, and it's starting to show now."

On improved hitting by younger players on the team:

"I don't know if we've done anything different in practice or not, but we're just coming around. The longer you go into the season, the more relaxed, prepared and focused you are when you go up to bat."

On post-season chances:

"We need to keep playing like we are with hitting and pitching. We had a rough one the first two days, but we know that our pitchers are better. If we can just play our game, we know that we'll be there."

Baylor sophomore shortstop Beamer Weems

On closing out the series with a win:

"We had two tough games that we lost Friday and Saturday, but coming back on Sunday and salvaging one game is a lot better than going home with a sweep."

On his RBI single that gave the Bears the lead:

"It was a fastball, and I was just looking for a fastball to hit. It found a hole so I was just happy about that. I had been struggling earlier in the weekend, and I just felt it was time for me to get the big hit. I'm just glad I got the opportunity."

On post-season chances:

"If we would've lost today it would've been really hard to get back. With the win today I don't think it'll be as hard as it would've, so it's good to get the win."

On Kendal Volz's performance:

"He struggled the first couple of innings, but after that he was just lights out. It seemed like he figured out what he was doing wrong and he got really tough out there. It was good to see that late in the year, and I think he'll definitely finish out there year like that."