Tulane Head Coach Rick Jones Quotes About 2005 NCAA Regionals
May 30, 2005 | Baseball
May 30, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, La. -
On Tulane earning the No. 1 national seed:
It's a credit to our kids. They performed all year, had preseason accolades and its not easy to go out every day when you know you're going to get the `A' game of every other team you play. We've talked about it earlier in the season, there's a reason you get ranked high. One is because of your talent level, but certainly your experience has a lot to do with that. And I think our experience really played a factor in that. Our kids handled it very well all year long, and we've pitched and played defense almost every day. If you can do that, you have a chance to stay in a lot of ballgames. I thought our work ethic was good. You cant' get the No. 1 seed in the country unless you do a lot of things right.
Thoughts while watching the selection show:
We knew we were going to be a national seed. But you're still trying to find out who you're gong to wind up playing, so there's some uncertainty there. You're anxious to find those things out so that you can go to work and prepare. The postseason is whole different deal. You start over again. We've put ourselves in a great situation by what we've done during the regular season, but you've got to play the games in the postseason as everybody knows.
Thoughts on the other teams in the New Orleans Regional:
Alabama is an outstanding program, as is UL-Lafayette. Both of those teams had great years, and Southern has always been so tough. They won their league again, they can always swings the bats and keep pressure on you. To be in the field of 64 means you have a real good club. You're not going to have a regional without a lot of challenges, and this is one of them.
On playing Southern in the first round:
They're very good. We opened the Regional with them in 01 and played them again in the regional in 02, so we know a little bit about them. The one thing I know about (Southern head) Coach (Roger) Cador, he's always going to have a lot of talent on the field and they're going to put pressure on you. Offensively, they're a tough team to deal with. If they get a hot hand on the mound, you've got a tough matchup there, and one we certainly have to be ready to play.
On keeping the bullpen fresh for postseason play:
It's not easy to do, especially not having games to play. We've got to simulate games and have intrasquads. We would like to have played yesterday (in the 2005 Conference USA Championship game, which was cancelled due to inclement weather) and use that time to not only try to win a ballgame, but also get a lot of guys in and get some innings. But we didn't have that opportunity so we're going to have to simulate that today. It's a balancing act and one we're going to have to pull off.
On ESPN analyst Kyle Peterson picking the Green Wave to win the CWS title:
That's a very veteran club and that's one person's opinion and I appreciate it. Kyle took an official visit the first weekend we visited kids when I got here in the fall of 93. He knows our program pretty well and he saw us play earlier this season. That's very nice of him to say that, but we all know that you have to do that on the field.
On being matched up with the Baton Rouge Regional:
We've got to win our Regional first. You've got to bracketed with somebody, so that didn't really surprise me. We have to win our Regional, and that is way down the road
