The University of Mississippi Athletics
NCAA Regional Game 4 Postgame Quotes
5/30/2009 | Baseball
Ole Miss
Mike Bianco
OPENING COMMENTS
"I thought it was a great college baseball game. I thought both teams played very well. The difference for us, certainly very early, simply was Phillip Irwin. He was very dominant and didn't look like a guy who had not taken the mound in a couple of weeks. He was terrific the whole game and pitched out of a lot of jams, especially to a very good offense. They (Western Kentucky) have a pretty good offense. They had a couple opportunities, and he really bared down and made some pitches. I thought the difference for us offensively tonight is that we did what we have done all year. We got some key-timely hits and none bigger than Matt Snyder's home run. Then Jake (Morgan) at the end was tremendous. To come in, especially in the eighth to pitch like that, much like Phillip, he was very dominating."
On Ole Miss being the only undefeated team...
"We talked a little bit about it last night at the press conference. Winning the first game or losing the second or vice versa-- there is really no difference in how many games you have to win to reach the championship in a four-team double-elimination tournament. Today is the big game, which is why a lot of people throw their number one. Obviously it is where you wanted to be. It's the position you want be and hope for before the tournament starts.We are excited to be in the position we are, but we have to finish."
Junior RHP Phillip Irwin
On being one of the best pitchers that Western Kentucky has faced this season...
"It's a great compliment. When you get seven runs of support, it's real easy to pitch. It takes a lot of pressure off of you. My job was to fill up the zone and throw a lot of strikes. I kept the hitters off-balance and threw a lot of strikes. "
On his time off since his last start...
"Rest is always good. I threw an intra-squad game last week, and I felt sharp then. I didn't feel like I had taken two weeks off. My arm felt fresh. My stuff was there and everything was in the strike zone."
Sophomore RHP Jake Morgan
On being one of the best pitchers that Western Kentucky has faced this season...
"It's a great compliment, especially coming from a great team like Western Kentucky. You know they hit real well and all of their hitters had great swings. It's a great compliment and gives us all confidence."
On Ole Miss being the only undefeated team...
"We expected to be in this position. At the beginning of this year, this is where we wanted to be. This is where we knew we could be. It's nothing really big for us. It's just one more game tomorrow and one more thing we looked forward to at the beginning of the year. We know we deserve to be here."
Freshman DH Matt Snyder
On his home run at-bat...
"I was just tyring to stay focused on being aggreessive at the plate and getting my best swing off. He left a change-up up. He didn't make that many mistakes in the game. He is a great pitcher and mixes pitches really well. I was just fortunate enough to hit that ball. I got a good swing on it, and it felt good."
Western Kentucky
Head Coach Chris Finwood
Opening Statement
"It was a good ballgame, and I thought the difference in the game was the pitching. That's probably the best three arms we've seen this year. (Phillip) Irwin did a really good job. We started getting to them there in the middle innings and were able to get a of couple runs. Shane (Cameron) battled for us. He made really only one bad pitch that resulted in a home run and left a change-up up. That ended up being the difference in the ballgame. I'm proud of our kids. It was a great crowd, great atmosphere, and I told them I thought we looked like we deserve to be here. We just didn't have enough timely hits, which was probably the difference maker in the game. They had them, and we didn't."
On who is pitching against Missouri Sunday...
"We are pitching Matt Hightower. Matt was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. He was one of our top guys most of the year. He's perfectly capable of giving us a good outing. We are at the point where we have to do everything we can to win that ballgame, so everyone will have to be available. We will just have to cross that second game when we get to it."
On coming back after being down 7-0...
"That's just this group of kids. They love to fight and never feel like they are out of it. They don't ever hang their heads or quit. That's one of the most fun things about coaching them. I'm awful proud of how they approach the game. They just go out there no matter what the score is and try to have competitive at bats. That's what we did tonight. We have done it plenty of times. We just didn't get enough of the big, timely hits. You have to give their pitchers credit for that. They had a lot of big time pitches when they needed to."
Junior RHP Shane Cameron
On Matt Snyder's at bat that resulted in an Ole Miss homerun...
"I was just going to pound the zone and everything. I felt good with my change-up. I just left it up, and he got a piece on it and it went over the fence."
Senior OF Chad Cregar
On Ole Miss pitcher Phillip Irwin's performance...
"He was mixing three pitches and popping in the zone. He was commanding the zone really well."
On his 6th inning home run...
"I was just trying to come home to this crowd. I wouldn't say I was nervous because we have been here before. I was trying to do too much and was dropping back. It was 0-2 and he left a change-up, and I stayed on it."
On if Western Kentucky can win the regional after one loss...
"We can swing our way out of anything. Our bullpen has been doing great. We still have some good arms we haven't even thrown. I think we have a good chance to fight through it and be right back in it."
Junior 3B Wade Gaynor
On his at bat with bases loaded in the third inning...
"That's a situation you dream about being in. I was excited to get up there. I wanted to be patient and not swing at bad pitches because that is what pitchers like to do in situations like that with a big crowd. The guys got on for me, and I didn't get it done. It's not the first time I have been in that situation, and it won't be the last. It just didn't happen for me tonight."
