Postgame Quotes
4/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 29, 2007
Head Coach Steve Smith
On today's performance:
"I'm just very proud of them. Both teams played very hard and both teams wanted the game very badly. Fortunately we were able to come up with some very timely hits, some opportunistic hits, and Nick (Cassavechia) was able to keep gutting it out and get three outs before they could get anything going."
On the ninth-inning rally:
"It takes the life out of any club when you're that close to nailing one. The game gets tied and you know that you've got to keep playing. It's why the game of baseball is such a mental game. You have to get the last out; you can't just hold the ball and run the clock out. Sometimes it's very difficult to restart a rally like that. A home run can be as much of a rally killer as anything else, but it didn't happen and we were able to get some more guys up. Raynor (Campbell) got the bunt (single), they struck (Chase) Gerdes out, and then Beamer (Weems) tries to bunt. I was so glad that ball went foul because I didn't want him bunting right there with a lefty on the mound. He hits kind of a ground ball double down the left field line and we got it going again."
On how the team responded to losing a 9-4 lead:
"I don't know how much of a roller coaster ride they were on. They hung in there really well, and I think if they had been on too much of one, then we wouldn't have been able to correct ourselves and come back and win the game. Cassavechia showed a whole lot; he obviously didn't have his best stuff today."
On errors and walks:
"If we lose the game, that's how we lost it. We would've lost it by walks and untimely errors. We may in fact have won that way too. We got some hits, we swung the bat ok and our guys competed. We didn't win the series; we just won the game, and we didn't win the series because we weren't the better club."
Baylor sophomore shortstop Beamer Weems
On team's performance:
"I said it before that this team never gives up. Win or lose, we always go out with a bang. It's just good that the whole team either goes down hard or wins hard."
On recovering from losing the lead and starting a ninth inning rally:
"They definitely turned it around and got some runs on the board, but I don't think we panicked at all. (Ben) Booker put a great swing on a pitch and got us back in the game, and then we felt like we could win the game again. That definitely put us on top with the momentum, and we just finished out the game hard."
On his game-winning RBI double:
"I was just trying to get something started with (the failed bunt attempt). Luckily I was able to turn on a pitch and it found a hole and got that run in."
On building off of a win like this:
"Every game like this puts some spirits in us, and I think we'll be able to keep on going from this. We'll just play our hardest every day and see what happens."
Baylor sophomore outfielder Ben Booker
On his 3-run homerun in the ninth inning:
"The whole year when they've been bringing in lefties to face me, they've been coming with breaking balls. The first pitch I was sitting breaking ball and it was a fastball right down the middle. I was thinking to myself that I shouldn't have let that one go. Then (Jason Meyer) left the ball up a little bit and I was able to put a good swing on it, and it left the ballpark. We competed hard all weekend, and luckily we got this win that can help us make the tournament."
"I was looking for a ball up that I could drive to hopefully get some runs. I guess I got lucky to put a good swing on it, and it went out of the ballpark. I don't hit many home runs, so I was just trying to drive the ball and move the runners. I actually thought about bunting, but I'm glad I didn't."
On building off of a win like this:
"We're going to need a pretty good lift. We've got to win out, or at least win the next two series to hopefully make the tournament. All we can do is to keep playing hard. Coach told us before the game to just keep playing hard and things will work out our way. It worked out today."
Baylor junior relief pitcher Nick Cassavechia
On the team's performance:
"I've never been so proud of our team as I have today. Right off the bat we were swinging the bat really well. All day long we had great at bats, were executing and we just finished it off strongly. They picked me up today."
On his performance:
"That was one of the toughest three innings I've thrown since I've been here. Those guys were really battling up there. I give a lot of credit to their team for great at bats and seeing my pitches, going with them and putting them in play."
On finishing the series with a win:
"We don't play Nebraska for another two weeks. Two weeks coming out with a win is a lot better than coming out with a loss, so their spirits will be up."
On how the team felt down 12-9 going to the ninth inning:
"The guys were really energetic. I wasn't too energetic; I was pretty upset. I went into the locker room for a little bit and then came back out and started trying to cheer on the team. They did a great job starting a rally by getting runners on, and Booker came through."
