Feb. 23, 2008

Recap | Box Score

Baylor head coach Steve Smith:

On tonight's game:

"On a day like today, being down early is not as concerning as when we got down the second time. We got behind two with only three innings to play, and they've got some pretty good arms left down there. That was more concerning than being down five early. I feel like we're going to hit, and there's a lot of game left to play, but somebody's got to hold it down. Mace (Thurman) did a nice job coming in, particularly for his first time ever here. He was really, really good. We didn't play defense behind (Tim) Matthews, and we gave up the lead because of that, but then we got a couple of really good innings out of Nick (Cassavechia). I was hopeful that we would get from Erik (Forestiere) what we did. It's really encouraging to see him go out and pitch because he had to go through the best guys they've got."

On Mace Thurman's performance:

"We wound up getting an ugly win, but that's better than an ugly loss. He (Mace Thurman) gave us some quality innings, as did the rest of the guys."

On Shaver Hansen's performance:

"(He came back) after punching out three times yesterday. That's the way this game is; what you did yesterday is yesterday. Every day is a new day, and that's why we play so many games."

On Shawn Tolleson's performance:

"Hopefully the next time Shawn (Tolleson) goes out he'll be a little sharper. I've seen him throw about eight times in intrasquads games, and I've never seen him that out of sorts with his fastball. Today was not a very forgiving day. The wind's blowing out, which is usually doesn't do in February, and it hurt him some. As much as I was looking forward to him throwing today, I think I'm even more looking forward to him throwing the next time."

Baylor sophomore IF Shaver Hansen:

On coming back from striking out three times yesterday to hit a grand slam:

"You've got to leave it at the field afterward, especially after the first game. You can't get too over-excited or over-anxious about what you do."

On retaking the lead after falling behind twice:

"That just kind of shows our team. We have all the talent in the world on this team to go far, kind of show what we can do, never give up. Especially after going back and forth and switching leads. We saw several arms, but we still adjusted well, and that's a good sign for our team."