Postgame Quotes
5/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 18, 2007
Head Coach Steve Smith
On Randall Linebaugh's performance: "He was the key to the game. You can't have a great season in one night, but you can have a great game. We needed him to be at his best tonight, and he was. Clearly that gave us a chance."
On coming back from down 6-0: "This game was so reminiscent of that Texas A&M game a couple of years ago when we were down eight, but we scored three (in the bottom of the same inning) and we came back to win that one. The key to it all is that you've got to have somebody to pitch. Jeff (Mandel) didn't have it tonight and you turn to Randall, who you just took out of the rotation, and he gives you six innings. The biggest outs he got were the first two because they still had a chance to extend the (first) inning."
On what Linebaugh was doing differently: "He was throwing the ball downhill with some angle, not so flat, and he was able to be successful doing it."
On Beamer Weems's game-winning RBI single: "It was a competitive at bat. He got it in play when we were moving on it, and he hit it where they weren't. It's really about timely hits, and that was very timely."
On Nick Cassavechia getting out of an eighth inning jam: "It is very difficult to get out of a bases loaded, nobody out situation. You don't think it's going to happen when the guy pretty much single-handedly creates it. The big thing was getting (Byron) Wiley to not hit it deep enough to score that runner from third."
On tonight's game: "These kinds of games, for a team like this, are huge. These guys haven't experienced something like this before. Until you've done it one time, you can't do it twice. These guys are not quitting. They've had their backs against the wall, but they don't want to miss out on the conference tournament. We're not playing badly; we're actually playing pretty well. We've just got to get pitching. Jeff (Mandel) struggled tonight, but we were good enough offensively to overcome it. That isn't going to be the case a lot, but it had to be the case tonight or we weren't going to have a chance."
On tomorrow's game: "We're trying to play every game one at a time, and this was a great win. Now we'll try to move on and see what we can do tomorrow."
Baylor sophomore SS Beamer Weems
On falling behind 6-0: "We still had nine at bats left, so I don't think anybody panicked. Being down that much, you've just got to try to chip away as soon as you can. We came back with a three spot in the first, so that really helped."
On his game-winning RBI single: "I was just looking for something I could get through a hole to get that run in. I got a pitch that I could deal with, and I was glad I could do that for the team."
On what a win like this means: "Tomorrow we've got to come out here the first inning and do a little bit better than we did today. We'll think about it a little tonight and then come out here ready to play tomorrow, because tomorrow, today doesn't mean anything."
Baylor junior RHP Randall Linebaugh
On how he felt coming into the game: "I felt a little calm knowing that all the guys needed from me was to just go out there, throw strikes and eat up some innings to give us a chance to come back and win. The guys did great. They knew from the first inning when that was happening that the game wasn't over yet. We had life in the dugout from the first inning until the ninth. The guys just played their hearts out tonight."
On being taken out of the rotation: "It stings a little bit when something like that happens. It slaps you in the face and reality sets in a little bit, and it's a humbling thing. Baseball will always find a way to humble you some way or another, and that's exactly what it did. I had to sit back and look at some things and realize that the team needs me in this role now. Luckily I had a good outing."
On the team's performance: "We were pumped up from the first inning until the ninth. We knew that every run was going to count. We have a great bullpen and a great team. The guys were seeing the ball well tonight, and that was huge. We got some guys on and we got the big hit when we needed to."
On how he handled being taken out of the rotation: "Most of all I think it was a fire lit inside of me. I went into coach Smith's office yesterday and told him not to give up on me, and that I'm not going to give up on myself. I can do it, I've done it before, and the next time you give me a shot, I'm going to get it done. That's what it was; it was just a motivator. The big difference in the outcome was me being able to locate with the fastball. That's been lacking in the last couple of outings, and it showed. Tonight I came out here able to locate on both sides of the plate, and it was good for me to be able to get ahead of some batters."
Baylor junior RHP Nick Cassavechia
On getting into a bases loaded jam in the eighth inning: "My big problem at the start was my arm angle. I was having a lot of trouble finding my arm angle and repeating it, and balls were going all over the place. I can't tell you how hard I was trying to throw a strike, but it just wasn't happening. When the bases are loaded like that I'm forced to focus at a whole other level, and I was fortunate to get out of it."
On Beamer Weems's game-winning RBI single: "I get really happy when things like that happen, but I didn't want to get too excited because I've still got to go out there and get three more outs. I was happy, but I was just trying to keep it inside and save it until after we won the game."
On retiring Byron Wiley on a fly ball with the bases loaded and no outs in the eighth inning: "Off the bat I thought it might have been deep enough. Chase (Gerdes) was right under it and ready to throw, he put a good throw on it. That was a huge pitch and a huge play, and I was able to strikeout the next guy."
On the team's character: "We've shown this whole year, despite our struggles, we really battle and compete. Down 6-0, we could've easily just given up. The way they battled and chipped away slowly, that just shows how good our character is. Randall (Linebaugh) is another example of a guy who wasn't doing well recently, but he was able to still come out and battle, and he was able to help us win this game."
