There's a much higher risk factor. You better work hard to be the best, so you can survive. |
They dominated on both sides, both offensively and defensively. They really showed why they're the third-ranked team in the country. |
They were aggressive inside the strike zone and forced us to hit routine fly balls. It was aggressive, quality pitching. |
They're really a quality a team and it isn't that easy to break them. What you saw was a championship-type performance on their part. That (fifth) inning was a great inning for them. Sustaining that inning for as long as they did takes a lot of talent. |
Timely hitting was the only thing that separated these two teams. I guess beside that, I'm a happy little Easter bunny. |
Timing and rhythm are things we have to work on. These kids aren't machines. They have feelings; they have emotions. This isn't a game played by robots. |
We all knew coming in that this was a team of experience. But it's one thing to have experience and it's another thing to use it, to make it enrich your performance. That's what these players did. |
We did feel that there was a good chance he would have to be replaced. It was completely unexpected that he would be able to finish the game. It's one of those wonderful surprises that, every once in while, comes along. |
We didn't like it very much. It has to be acceptable, because it happened. All we can do is move on from here. |
We don't have any expectations. Other people see us as No. 1 or whatever, and that's their opinion. The question is: Will the players fall victim to trying to live up to it? We have the same right to fail as any other team, regardless of the past. We're going to play to have fun and play with energy. The fun comes out when you develop expectations. |
We have a lot of new players that have a chance to make important contributions, and I think they're going to have to make contributions for us to reach our full potential. |
We have a lot of new players that have a chance to make important contributions. We're just getting ready to take the journey. |
We have to move forward. We have to put an infield together and find a short reliever. |
We look at fall practice as an introduction to the personalities on our team and a way to get to know the people involved. We are also not trying to defend the National Championship, but instead going out and playing the game, which is a lot easier said than done. We are talking to the players about the importance of enjoying the process without feeling the external pressures of trying to live up to something. |
We need to stabilize the infield. We're trying to establish a system that will give us consistency. |