Quotes From Baseball's 5-4 Win Over Louisiana-Lafayette
Apr 11, 2007 | Baseball
April 11, 2007
TULANE HEAD COACH Rick Jones
Thoughts on the game
"I thought tonight was one of the more complete games we played, and probably one of the tougher games we've played. UL-Lafayette is one of the best clubs we've seen. They've got an outstanding club and their record bears that out."
On coming back from a 4-0 deficit in the second inning
"We're down 4-0 and to stop them right there and put up seven innings of goose eggs and wind up having more hits, that's really good at-bats. We had some good two-out, two-strike at-bats and we were really solid. You see what happens when guys like McFadden and Emaus get going."
On the overall pitching effort against the Cajuns
"Matt Goebel really gave us a good outing. He was dominant in the first inning and then he pitched extremely well from the third inning on. Preston Claiborne had electric stuff tonight and Daniel showed you why he's one of the premier closers in the game."
On bringing in Latham in the ninth after Claiborne pitched so well
"(Claiborne's) role is what he did. We've got a conference games on Friday, and Daniel Latham is one of the greatest closers in the history of college baseball. He's a senior, and when you have him down there, on most days I'll take my chances (with him). Today, it worked out."
On the team's offensive performance against UL-Lafayette
"We left five on in the first three innings and we got down 4-0. When you get down 4-0 early, you can't do as many things on the bases action wise as you can do when you're up 4-0. So you have to depend more on getting a guy on and him knocking somebody in. Tonight, we had some really good at-bats. I think we had some guys who, situationally, did a good job - just like Sunday."
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE HEAD COACH TONY ROBICHAUX
Overall thoughts on the game
"Goebel has been pitching very well for them, and we knew that. He was off to a 5-1 start. Once we got those four (runs) we tried to build on it, but you have to give him credit there. He could have collapsed right there after those four runs in that big inning, but he didn't collapse. He held us at bay and we couldn't build on him. We had many opportunities to build on him, but he made big pitches when he needed to. He bypassed the middle innings and he kept his team in the ballgame. He bridged the gap to their best arms, and you have to give their hitters credit. They came in and hit off some good arms for us. That was some of our better relievers and they got the job done."
On if he was surprised to see Latham in the ninth after Claiborne's relief effort
"He's their closer evidently and you have to give the ninth to your closer so that he can in the habit of handling the ninth. (Claiborne) came in throwing really hard and set up his change-up and his off-speed with a very good fastball. You have to give him credit people. You need set-up people to get to your closer, and he set up his closer nicely."
On the having an opportunity to get a lead in the ninth inning
"We did again, just like we did in the middle innings. We had runners in scoring positions, and they made big pitches when they needed to. They didn't let us score in the middle innings and they didn't let us score right there (in the ninth). You've got to tip your hat to them."
