March 26, 2009

Recap | Box Score

Coach Steve Smith

On the game

"The pitching was exactly what I hoped for. We scripted out the first six innings of the game. Willie (Kempf) knew going in he was only going to throw two, (Jon) Ringenberg knew he was going to throw two, (Craig) Fritsch was going to throw one, (Trent) Blank was going to throw one. I wanted to throw Joey (Hainsfurther) today and really appreciated having the runs to do that with. That was his first time out and I wasn't sure. I knew he would throw it hard; I just wasn't sure where it would go. It was nice not to have to run him out there in a two run game for his first time."

On the use of his pitching staff

"We used the arms. These are the arms that are going to have to go this weekend. I would have thrown Willie and Ringenberg a little more but one of them is going to have to start on Sunday. I am trying to resurrect Craig Fritsch and get his feet back under him again. I thought he threw good. Trent Blank needed kind of them same thing. He has had a rough couple outings the last couple of times he has been out there. So it was good to see Willie and Jon and Craig and Trent especially be as effective as they were. That gives me a better feeling going into the weekend.

On the last time his team played so well overall

"I don't know. I know it has been a long time since we scripted out a game like this pitching wise and it's been 15 years since we played on a Thursday. It is a unique situation going into a three game series. We got a big series here with K-State. We both needed to play, so we both agreed to go ahead and play it tonight. And I knew I was going to have to script out the pitching to do it, cause I didn't want to burn anybody up. Nobody who pitched tonight is burned up for the weekend."

On the Kansas State series

"We got to pitch. You win this game by not losing it. You don't lose it if you pitch and play defense. We got a lot of guys that are swinging it pretty good right now, but that is going to be hit-miss. You know TCU hit a bunch of balls pretty good tonight. How many times did they line out? It wouldn't have made a difference in the total outcome, but you don't really know how that changes some of the game. Hitting is very unpredictable, so you better make sure you are pitching it and playing defense. That is why I felt good about tonight. We get some of those guys like Willie and Craig back throwing strikes and confident. That is a real big thing, particularly on a weekend when Shawn Tolleson is not available. We are riding Kendal Volz and Logan Verrett pretty hard right now on the weekend. We depend on them a lot."

Senior Ben Booker

On Baylor's nine run sixth

"I think that was our biggest inning of the year. We really hadn't put together any big innings like that. Everybody was putting the ball in play. We had runners at first and third and two strikes, people just putting the ball in play that is what you got to do. You got to let that next guy get up there. I am glad to see our team play both ways good tonight. We pitched and hit finally at the same time. It is pretty exciting when we can do that all in one game."

On a big inning taking the pressure off

"You get to relax a while. Usually you run out and then come back in real fast and everybody gets tired. It's good for our pitching staff to be able to go out there and pitch with the lead. It gives them more confidence. The hitters have been doing well. The pitching staff is there. I am ready to play for the weekend. I am ready for those Kansas State Wildcats."

On playing four days in a row

"I was wondering why we played today. I mean that is Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, but I mean if you go in hitting good and pitching good like that, you just roll through it. It might be a little different if we struggled tonight, but we played a great game. Everybody is ready to play tomorrow. It was like a little tune-up game, but everybody played really well."

About Kansas State

"I know they have a lot of stolen bases. They like to put pressure on people. We are going to have to hold the runners pretty good and just hit. Pitchers have to hold runners and we have to hit. I guess it is kind of cliché, but that is what you got to do against them. They like to run and put pressure, that is what we got to do: contain them base running wise."

Junior Shaver Hansen

On his homerun

"We knew they were a good team and the guy that actually started for them had a pretty live arm. He pumped it up there to 94, so getting some runs on the board early knowing we were going to use a lot of pitchers was definitely helpful."

On what pitch he was looking for on his homerun

"Fastball. I was up in the count and I knew the umpire had a pretty big zone today, so I was going to try to jump on anything close to the zone on a fastball. I was sitting on it and I was able to hit it.

On knowing Baylor would use a lot of pitchers tonight

"The pitchers are fresh every time, so we want to try and tell them to fill up the zone, throw strikes cause if they can work ahead it is a lot easier for them. It gets them in a rhythm cause they don't get to pitch a lot of innings, so they are all in a closer roll, which maybe new for some of them. For us to score early and give them the chance to shut them down one inning makes them feel really good.

On Baylor's big inning

"That was a break through inning for us and it kind of broke their backs. It gave us a little room to get the new pitchers like Joey (Hainsfurther) in there, who hasn't pitched all, who did pretty well. We needed that coming from this weekend when we lost Sunday and we had a lot of days off between Sunday and today to come out and swing the bats like we did is pretty good."

On Baylor playing six games in seven days

"It is going to be physically tough always, but the biggest thing is if we can manage our pitching. That is what we tried to do today. When you have six games in seven days it is tough to spread the arms apart. A day to rest everybody's arm and have a bullpen session in the game kind of helps out our pitchers. We will be ready."