Quotes Following Baseball's 9-2 Sunday Win Over UIC
Feb 24, 2008 | Baseball
Feb. 24, 2008
TULANE QUOTES
Head Coach Rick Jones
Overall thoughts on the weekend
"We know how tough our schedule is going to be over the next two weeks, but I've been thinking about this weekend for so long. You just keep your fingers crossed that it'll go well. I don't know if would could have drawn it up any better - with the weather, the fan experience, the three wins. It was just such a great time for us. It was historic. We had a great-pitched game, played errorless defense and got timely hits on Friday. We came from behind twice yesterday to win a one-run ballgame and got a save out of the bullpen. And today, to come from behind and for the first time in two years we were rewarded for a good swing. We put a good swing on a ball and we get rewarded for it. With the sun-splashed stadium and all this, it couldn't have been drawn up any better."
On the Tulane bullpen not allowing a run in the three games
"We demand a lot out of our bullpen because we're not going to overtax our starters. We're going to use these guys and we're going to need more and more of that."
On today's offensive output
"We put some good swings on it and the ball was carrying well today. When you're in a ballpark like this and you get rewarded for doing something well, you don't go away from that as quickly. Aja put a good swing on. Dyer put a good swing on. Scelfo, Segadin, Warren, and they got rewarded for it. And that's what you can reinforce as a coach. It isn't playing cheap, it's playing true. This is a great college baseball experience, this weekend. Also, it was played the way it was supposed to. We beat a good club this weekend."
On the performance of Aja Barto
"The key thing for me was he handled right-handed pitching very well. He handled the sliders, he stayed on the ball, his balance was good and he fought through some at-bats. When Aja is swinging the bat well, there are not many players in the country that can be more dynamic because of the way he runs, the talent that he has in the outfield and his size. This weekend, he showed what kind of player is capable of being."
Junior Outfielder Aja Barto
On the offense's performance on Sunday
"I think our approach out there was pretty solid. Everyone through the lineup. We were trying to be aggressive. We took it easy I guess over the first few innings. But we just trusted in our ability, we knew we could do it. We stuck with that approach and it came through. "
On the team adjusting to UIC's off-speed pitches
"In the hitters meeting today, we talked about a few things. Both Friday and Saturday, they were majority off-speed. We changed our approach a little bit, sat back and kept our aggressive state of mind."
On the weekend overall
"It's unreal. I don't think it could have gone any better than it did. The fans, the environment, everything that happened. It all just sort of fell into place and to finish it off with a sweep was great."
Freshman Pitcher Robby Broach
On if he was nervous when he took the mound today
"In that first inning, I had some butterflies in my stomach. But I got through it and after the first couple of innings, I got rid of them and settled in."
On his overall performance
"I didn't feel like I had my best stuff today, but I was able to make pitches when I need to and my defense was great behind me. They helped out a lot and made some big plays out there."
ILLINOIS CHICAGO QUOTES
Head Coach Mike Dee
On his team's performance over the weekend
"I think we got better and relaxed as the weekend went on. Our kids didn't lose their aggressiveness. As a whole, I was pleased with the way our kids reacted to the environment given the fact that our kids really haven't been outside."
On Tulane's five-run fifth inning
"I think the one inning was the only inning that was really a disappointment to me the whole weekend. I think we lost our composure on the mound, we lost our confidence in ourselves and we tried to do some things were weren't capable of doing. We started elevating the ball and they did a nice job of taking advantage of it. It's something we work hard at trying not to do but we weren't able stop it that inning."
On the Tulane team
"I thought they did a really nice job at the plate of trying to adjust. I thought today, in particular, they did a much better job of looking for something off speed and adjusting to that. They played solid defense all weekend, and I think they're a good ballclub."
