[Cooper] has been phenomenal. If he's not the player of the year in the conference, I don't know who is. He's just been fantastic -- great defense at first base, hitting in the clutch, getting us going, hitting home runs, doing all the things that he needs to do. |
By some people's standards, they might see that as struggling, but I see it as just him settling down. A lesser person might give up after struggling early, but that's not Jeff. He just keeps battling. |
First of all, anytime you go on the road, it is tough in-conference. Second of all, Georgetown got our attention last year by beating us here. I think they're going to be tough games, and hopefully we'll play well in all our phases and get off to a good start. |
He really made quite an impression on me. I was always struck by how articulate he was and how conscientious he was about things. |
He wasn't laboring. It was an easy 99 pitches. He'll be fine for Sunday. |
He's a little sore still. But we're hoping everything we'll come out okay after the tests. |
He's been a great lead-off hitter for us, just like I envisioned he would be. |
He's been so reliable for us coming in, throwing strikes, changing speeds. And he's been like that all year for us. |
He's got a good arm and a good curve ball. We've got a great challenge against him. |
He's no Joe DiMaggio, and he's no Superman. [Cooper is] a consummate team player and I'm sure he's just happy we won and isn't worried about it. |
I have to kind of see how it goes. Depending upon if it's a struggle or if it's easy for him determines [how long Thornton will pitch]. |
I kept telling people not to panic early in the season, because the more we play, the better we play. We always play our best baseball in April and May. |
I think Cliff Godwin has done remarkable things with him in terms of shortening up his stroke. Even though he had great years the last couple years, sometimes his swing got a little bit long and there were certain kinds of pitchers that could get him out. I don't think there's any kind of pitchers that can get him out now. |
I thought in the second inning we had some really big hits and that kind of set the tone for the game. It was great to see some guys come through with some clutch hitting. I think we showed that we're capable of being a good offensive team when everybody's clicking and swinging the bats the way that they can. |
I'm hoping that it's going to be a great crowd just like we had this weekend. Obviously, playing on national TV is a great opportunity, and I think everybody's excited. |