March 9, 2008
Recap | Box Score
Baylor head coach Steve Smith:
On winning his 500th game at Baylor:
"It's amazing. I hadn't really thought about it a lot. We've had a lot of really good clubs here, and a lot of good players have played a lot of baseball games. You've got to lose a bunch to win 500 too, so we've played a lot of games, but I'm proud of it. I'm proud for Hoot (Steve Johnigan) and Mitch (Thompson) who've been here. Hoot has been here for 475 of them, and Mitch has been here for all 500, so it's a team project, and it's been a team effort all the way through."
On winning No. 500 in Starkville, Miss.:
"It's just special to be here. I don't want to make too big of a deal out of it, but this is a special place for me. It's always going to be a special place no matter what the Lord does with me the rest of my life."
On if he would've liked for No. 500 to come in a better-pitched game:
"The walks are excruciating. I imagine it's just awful to watch, awful to listen to, and the walk total had to be incredibly high. I'd like to think the hitters are that intimidating, but I really don't think that's what it is. We'll get better. I know they're not doing it on purpose, so we've just got to get better at throwing in the strike zone."
Baylor junior LF Ben Booker:
On driving in a career-high five runs in the second game:
"The first game my swing was just long, and they were throwing me (inside), so I was just beating balls into the ground. Coach told me to try to make an adjustment and go up the middle. With runners on I just shortened my stroke and tried to put it up the middle."
On being a part of Coach Smith's 500th victory:
"It's a pretty historical mark for a coach, and I'm just glad that we were able to be here to be a part of it."
Baylor junior SS Beamer Weems:
On today's offense performance:
"We got some good pitches to hit and we took advantage of them. It seemed like we were really patient up there, so we came out on top tonight."
On his three-run home run in the second game:
"I've been kind of chasing some stuff lately, and today I was a little bit more patient. I got a good pitch and put a good swing on it, and luckily it got some air under it and went out."
On Coach Smith getting career win No. 500:
"It's awesome. He's been around the game for so long and done a lot of great things, and being a part of this is really special for all of us."
