March 20, 2009

Recap | Box Score

Head Coach Steve Smith

On Kendal Volz:

"That was clearly the least dominating stuff that he has had since he has been here. I asked him when I went out to get him, 'When's the last time that you pitched with as little stuff as you had tonight.' He responded, 'seventh grade.' That is the way pitching is. You are not going to have it all of the time and he clearly didn't have it tonight."

On Aaron Miller coming out of the pen:

"He dodged some bullets. He didn't give up any hits but he walked them enough. He competed. He created some of his own situations but he made the pitches that he needed to in order to get out of it. You have to give him credit."

"He is done for tomorrow. He definitely wants it. I think one time when I went out there he thought I might have been coming to get him and he pulled a (Ryan) LaMotta on me and started waving me back into the dugout. It is one thing to have the heart-and that is what you have to have. It is another to back it up. That is why I think he is a position now to do what he couldn't do a year ago. Last year he hadn't pitched enough. Now he has enough innings as a starter that when he is in a situation like this, he has a chance to get out of it."

On Raynor Campbell's triple:

"Raynor needs that kind of an at-bat and that kind of result. That can do a lot for his confidence. Honestly, that is all it is with him."

On the Baylor defensive effort:

"(As a team) that is as sloppy as we have played all year in terms of awareness of a situation. The two guys that are playing well on defense are on third and behind the plate. The outfield has been OK, but we have to get a little more confident in the infield."

On Shawn Tolleson and the Sunday starter:

"Tolleson is not going to pitch this weekend, so we have to wait and see what we have left when we get to (Sunday). Logan Verrett is going to pitch tomorrow. (Brooks Pinckard) pitched three plus innings in that football game in San Marcos. I didn't even ask him if he was okay today, I just didn't want to do it. He should be okay tomorrow. Maybe Aaron after a day off will be alright the next day. I have been throwing Joey Hainsfurther in the bullpen. I am not so sure that before things are all over with that we are going to see several position players throw from the rubber."

DH/LHP Aaron Miller

On the relief appearance:

"I felt good (pitching tonight), but I need to quit making it so hard on myself. I just have to work on attacking hitters because I fell like my stuff is good enough to get guys out. I have to be able to make people put balls in play when I'm coming out of the pen like that. To be somebody that we can depend on I have to get strikes. That is something that I am constantly working on."

On the team giving Kendal Volz some run support:

"Sometimes I feel bad for him so it was good to get some runs out there for him. He came out and threw well. He was getting strikes and working both sides of the plate. We just have to come out and do the same thing tomorrow."

On Cory Large shutting down the Baylor bats:

"There are some days that will happen. We have been swinging the bats really well but you can't always come out and put up eight to ten runs and crush the ball like we have been. For our arms to throw like they did, I will take (what our bats did tonight) any day."

On the timely hitting:

"That is the thing that we have to be really good at this season, capitalizing on other peoples mistakes. We are doing a pretty good job of that. When we get guys on base we are finding ways to get them in. As long as we keep doing that I think we will be alright."

RHP Kendal Volz

On his performance:

"I kind of felt dead on the mound and it was a struggle. I guess I kind of pitched it out. I tried to go as many innings as I could. You are going to have those days, but luckily for us our hitters did well. They are hitting the ball well right now and it has allowed our pitchers to focus on just throwing strikes."

On Aaron Miller:

"It is great having a guy to go to like that. He is throwing the ball real well right now. I think the best thing is that the whole team has confidence in him when he goes out there. He has always been a pitcher growing up so it's not like it is a new experience."

2B Raynor Campbell

On his three-run triple in the third inning:

"With the bases loaded and two outs-I had been seeing the ball well all night-I got a pitch up that I could handle. I put a good swing on it and luckily the sky was a little bit in my favor because I don't think the centerfielder knew where it was. It felt good to get that hit."

On his confidence at the plate:

"Baseball, you never know what can happen. When you put the bat on the ball there is a chance that you can get a hit whether or not you hit it hard. It just felt good tonight. My swing felt great. I was seeing the ball real well."

On providing Kendal Volz with run support:

"It is the first time that we have really given him some runs to work with. He had trouble with his stuff tonight and it wasn't all there but he battled up there on the mound. He got out of some tough situations."

On the fielding error that allowed two runs to score in the third inning:

"I made a two-run error but you have to expect that the ball is going to come back at you on the very next play. That is the way that you have to go at it when you make an error like that. That was a brutal error and something that a little leaguer can make. You just have to put it behind you and keep playing the game."