Antone is a great kid. He can hit. He can run, so he's got a chance. At that level, it's all about how much you hit. |
First of all, as you can see they (Troy) are a heck of a lot better than we are. There's no question about that. Coach (Bobby) Pierce and his staff do a great job ... I thought the first few days we swung the bats well enough to have a chance to win. We didn't pitch well enough, especially out of the bullpen. |
I knew Dr. Selig very well from our days in Virginia. |
I thought we pitched much better. Especially with our guys in the middle of the game. (Senior pitcher) J.C. Faircloth in particular, with six strikeouts in two innings ... We put up 14 hits, and with nine runs again, so our guys continue to do a good job offensively. |
I thought we threw the ball much better. |
I've got nothing but respect for (Vanderbilt), Coach (Tim) Corbin and his staff. That's an outstanding baseball club over there that we beat tonight. I thought our guys played very well, and having (senior pitcher) Bryan Rider back, obviously it was big to have a guy like that you can throw at the end of games. |
It's going to be a living-type memorial. The plans will focus on honoring him that way ... It's gonna be a beautiful tribute to him. |
The pitching was really good for the most part. South Alabama's (junior) pitcher P.J. Walters was great for them. Friday night's game was more of a pitchers' duel. Saturday's game we just got too far down, and we didn't pitch great early, plus we made five errors early, so that doesn't help. |
We didn't pitch good enough, which has been a theme this year, unfortunately. I'm not trying to bury those kids, because they're good kids, but we just gotta get tougher and find a way to win. |
We had a couple of guys who weren't going to throw in that game. We started (freshman pitcher) Ben Paxton, a kid who has been a solid kid for us, and he just had a bad night. We got down early, and they can really pitch. |
We're awful glad to have Bryan. We needed another left-handed pitcher, and he's been a little inconsistent, but he's had some good outings ... We're just trying to get him more consistent. But he's a great kid, and a good student. |
We've got to play very well to beat anyone. We'll need some timely hitting, and we'll have a chance. This time of the year, no one is gonna throw a ton of pitches. All of the guys have to get it done. |