Quotes
May 27, 2001
2001 CORAL GABLES REGIONAL
Game Six
Stetson vs. Miami
POST-GAME QUOTES
STETSON
Head Coach Pete Dunn
General comments:
“Somebody was supposed to tell Kevin Brown that Miami’s forte was “littleball” this year. That’s what got it done for the Hurricanes this year ? speed and advancing runners, but Brown did a great job today. We just didn’t have the pitching so we could stay in the ballgame. It was obvious.
“As I said earlier, not having Oglesby, one of our starters, available this weekend set us back one starter. We tried to start Andy Wilson and he was a little fatigued from playing three games in the heat and humidity, he was just gassed. Same thing with Collins. He gave us a couple innings and that was it. Then the roof fell in there.
“I’m proud of our guys. We just didn’t have enough for Miami, but I was proud of the way our guys came back from a loss to Florida to win two yesterday to get to this point. For our ballclub and our program to get to the next level, we’ve got to win one of these here. This is the second year in a row that we’ve played in the championship game on the last day, but for our ballclub now our goal is to win a Regional. That’s our challenge for the future.”
On whether he expected a high-scoring game:
“If we had the pitching that was healthy and fresh, you probably could have seen a lower-scoring type of ballgame. I was kind of kidding earlier, because Miami has some guys in their lineup that can do damage. Certainly, KB is one of them. He took advantage of an opportunity. Andy’s arm was not good . It didn’t hurt, but he said it was just dead. But Miami can blow you out if you give them the chance. I saw them do it to Florida State on TV. They pride themselves on their speed and defense, that’s what they do best, but they can take advantage of you at the plate.”
Rightfielder Jeff Christy
About the range of emotions in this tournament:
“Honestly, to tell you the truth, we knew we had it in us to get to this game. That’s what we expected to do. We came in on a losing streak, but we expected to get to the final game. We battled against Bucknell and got off that losing streak, then we got a second win yesterday against Florida. Basically, it was just a matter of the guys pulling together for each other. This is a team thing.”
Third baseman Frank Corr
On the outlook going into the game:
“We knew we had a battle on our hands coming into the game because they have a good pitching staff. We respect them all and we knew we would have to bear down and get the sticks going. We just pretty much did that.”
Did you feel it would be a game won by hitting today?
“I did. I felt it would be, with us being in a situation of having a lack of arms. I felt that we were going to have to score a bunch of runs and try to outscore them. I made the comment that I wanted to get us going in the first inning and get on top of them, which I did, until they picked me off.”
Pitcher Andy Wilson
On his performance:
“I don’t think it was a matter of me being tired. It was just a matter of me not getting it done today. I went out there and they hit mistakes that I made and really just played well today.”
Was starting the game a different feeling today?
“I don’t think it made any difference for me, starting for the first time (this season). I’ve started all of my life. Once again, it was just a matter of them playing well today.”
MIAMI
Head Coach Jim Morris
General comments:
“We won today like we don’t normally win. We hit a lot of home runs. Of course, KB had a tremendous day. I think it’s great that he did because he’s struggled some this season, and we talked about that. But what’s really nice about that is that he really worked hard, came out every single day early to get back in the lineup. Good things normally happen to people who work hard and I’m really glad that things have happened like that for him.”Dan Smith is a guy that was probably our 13th pitcher at the beginning of the season. He’s another guy that continued to improve as the season went along. Of course, Lovelady is always our cheerleader and he had a great day. And, of course, Javy is our MVP for the season.”It’s nice to win it and I think we deserve to host a Super Regional. I’m very excited about the way our guys are playing right now.”
Asked if he was shocked by the offensive production today:
“A lot of that was Kevin. He’s a guy who hit a lot of home runs for us and got hot. He got 11 of our RBIs today. That makes a huge difference. Every time he came up he had guys on base and all three of them were only in question until he hit the ball. He’s a guy that can do that.”
First baseman Kevin Brown
On his improved production recently:
“I’ve been seeing the ball pretty good the last couple of weeks. I’ve been getting some good swings on some pitches, but I think today I just took advantage of some good pitches to hit. I just got some good swings on them and I think that’s something I haven’t been doing until the last couple of games. When I get a good pitch, I’ve been connecting with a good swing. Today I just tried to do that.”
Shortstop Javy Rodriguez
Comparing the team’s mood now, as opposed to earlier in the season:”During the Fullerton series, we were not really playing as a team. We weren’t playing great defense, and our pitching wasn’t there, and our hitting wasn’t there. It just happens some times. A team doesn’t play as a team. We were playing bad baseball. Next week, we picked it up. Played as a team, made less errors, we hit the ball a lot better. And then, the turning point of the season was against Florida State. We turned the whole season around there.”
