April 6, 2007

Recap | Box Score

Head Coach Steve Smith:

On Kendal Volz's performance:

"It was a great, great outing for him at a really opportune time. (Oklahoma has) a good club and they pitched well. Kendal went out there as a freshman and took another step forward. He gave us five innings two weeks ago against Texas Tech and then got roughed up like everybody last weekend against Oklahoma State. This was his opportunity to bounce back, and I think he bounced back very well."

On how the freshman played:

"Clearly today was a pitchers' day with the wind blowing in everybody's face. I thought their guys threw well, and I really think they've got the best arms in the pen that we've seen in our league so far. But our guys were pretty good. The thing I'm most proud of is our defense. I really can't say enough about how Shaver (Hansen) played at shortstop. Obviously he had his struggles at the plate, but he came up with one really timely hit and just played lights out at shortstop. To see those two young guys (Hansen and second baseman Raynor Campbell) out there in the middle of your field, and to see a freshman on the mound -- to be able to walk away from the game with a win is a pretty significant accomplishment."

On winning the series:

"We're only as good as we pitch. We got 14 hits and won two games out of a series, so you have to not just pitch, but also play really well defensively to be able to do that. We did it with arguably the best shortstop (Beamer Weems) -- not just in this league but in this country -- sitting over here on the bench. That is remarkable. I couldn't be more proud of the way our guys held up and the way they competed."

On getting the series completed on Friday:

"Now we get two days off, and it couldn't have turned out any better. I don't think our guys are going to be totally healed, but you don't get two days off in a baseball season. We'll come back on Monday and have a light workout, and we'll tee it back up with TCU on Tuesday. It's a great opportunity for our guys to get fresh. I certainly didn't want to go into two days off with two losses because that would've been a tough thing to sit around with. This win will make the whole weekend much more restful."

Baylor freshman starting pitcher Kendal Volz:

On bouncing back from being swept last weekend:

"We just needed to settle down and get back to doing what we've been doing. We didn't really change anything; we went out there and played how we can, and we ended up winning the series."

On his performance:

"I just know that we won, and we won the series, so I just feel blessed that I had a chance to help us win. I just tried to settle down and let our defense play. They were playing great, and we were hitting great, so I just didn't want to try to do too much."

On winning two of three from a ranked opponent:

"I think we're playing really well right now; as a team we know that. It's kind of building our confidence in knowing that when we play how we're capable of playing, we can get wins like this."

Baylor freshman infielder Shaver Hansen:

On filling in at shortstop while Beamer Weems is out:

"We want Beamer back as soon as we can because he's definitely a great player and a leader on our team. Since he's down they gave me an opportunity to play short, and I love playing shortstop because that's what I've played my whole life. But Beamer's a very good shortstop, and as soon as he's healthy he's going to be back there. I'm just trying to fill in while he's gone."

On this weekend's performance:

"I think it switched around this weekend. Last weekend we had a lot of hits against Oklahoma State, but the pitching wasn't quite there. This week the pitching was there, and we got the timely hits, which is what we needed. The defense really did well; we didn't commit many errors, and we were really solid both out in the field and at a plate."