May 25, 2006

ACC Baseball Championship
Coaches Quotes
May 25, 2006

NC State Quotes

NC State head coach Elliott Avent
Well, first of all, I want to talk about how great our pitching's been in this tournament thus far. This team is known for its hitting and we are a good hitting team, there is no doubt about it; but when you get in the ACC Tournament, the regionals and super-regionals, it is not going to be hitting that carries you through these games, it is going to be pitching. We have had outstanding pitching; Gib Hobson yesterday did such an outstanding job and then Eryk McConnell today. He was sensational and Sam Walls, everyone is telling me what guts I have for leaving him in the game. I should not have left him in the game, he was okay with his arm, but it was a two-hour rain delay but he said 'coach, I want to go back in there' and when a guy has given you what Sam Walls has given me for three years and especially this year, sometimes you do things with your heart instead of your head. It was a hard decision and Sam Walls proved me right. Probably was not a very good decision on my part, but what a great competitor he is and I'm very proud of this whole team.

On having a day off on Friday
The heat is the heat so a day off is going to be great for all our players, but Caleb Mangum our catcher and Matt Mangini, they can use a day off because they are playing with a lot of guts. Both those players are pretty banged up right now. Given those two guys a days off is a really great thing.

On beating Virginia in the last four games
We are two good ball clubs and obviously today's game could have gone either way. The three games that we played at our place we just played very well against them because we are a good ball club too. I don't think anyone is going to master the Virginia club. They are a good ball club, they play hard, play well, have good pitching and well coached

NC State pitcher Sam Walls
Our defense - I just throw it up and let them make plays. The last two games, we executed when we needed to and I think that's what won these two games for us. Pitching with that kind of defense makes things a lot easier.

Virginia Quotes

Virginia head coach Brian O'Connor
Opening statement
Obviously it's a very difficult loss. To lose a one-run game in the 1-0 game is tough. It's tough the way we lost the game. We had a lot more hits than they had and struck a lot of balls really hard. But like I talked about yesterday after the win against Florida State yesterday, it comes down to getting a few clutch hits and making some clutch plays. Unfortunately, we had a big walk in the inning that they scored three runs and we didn't make a play on a bunt and I really felt like that was the ballgame. Those are the fundamental things that we have done so well this year and this is one game that we didn't do it and it cost us the ballgame. North Carolina State's starter (Eryk McConnell) did a great job. He pitched very well against us, dominated us early in the season, and pitched another good game tonight. I thought our guys battled him and it was just a great college baseball game. It was just unfortunate that it took five and a half hours or so to finish.

On whether it was tough on Tom Hagan to come back with a 2-2 count after a 2 hour, 25 minute rain delay
Well it's tough, but it was tough on (NC State pitcher Sam) Walls, too. I know Coach (Elliott) Avent was probably torn on whether to bring him back or not and he gutted it out, their guy did. We were fortunate for Tommy to get a walk, and then another walk and Tim Henry had a chance with the bases loaded and just couldn't come through.

On the tournament being far from over
Oh, there's no doubt about it. I know the character of these young men on this team. We've won 46 games this year, and we've got a great team. The great thing about this game is you've got another chance tomorrow. You've got a chance against a great ball club in Florida State and an opportunity to move on to the next step with a win tomorrow, and I know our guys will be ready to play tomorrow. They've shown a lot this year to be able to bounce back after difficult losses. I've talked about their character all year and I hope it shows tomorrow.

On whether there are positives coming out of this game
I think so. Obviously it's disappointing, but there are a lot of disappointments in this game. Florida State had a disappointing loss yesterday and they came back and found a way to win today, and you have to do that in the game of baseball. It's so different from the other sports. I know our guys played hard, they played hard all the way to the end. They won't get down on themselves. They'll come back and they'll be ready to play tomorrow, and it will all start with Mike Ballard. It all starts on the mound, and how he comes out and handles Florida State will dictate whether we have a good chance of winning the game or not tomorrow.

On having Jacob Thompson pitching in a situation like this one
I've spoken about his poise all year long. This kid's only 18 years old. He's pitched in some big environments against some great college baseball teams in this league. He's pitched deep into every ballgame he's started for us. It was another great experience for him to pitch in the ACC Tournament against a very good opponent. His pitch count was at about 90 pitches after the sixth inning and I considered taking him out of the ballgame. But we talked to him and he told us that, "Coach, I can keep us right there. I can give you one more inning." And he came out and threw a great inning. That's a sign of somebody that's mature and as a young pitcher that he knows what he's capable of doing. And it saved our bullpen an inning, which could be crucial down the rest of the tournament.

Virginia junior RF Brandon Marsh
On whether he took it upon himself to provide the offense
Certainly not. We have a bunch of guys in there. We hit a lot of lineouts today. We hit the ball hard all day and we continued to battle. I think the whole team's going to continue tomorrow and I'm sure a few more are going to fall than they did today. I think the whole team's going to take it upon themselves. It's not going to be one guy. Our team's not built on one hitter. We're a collaborative team and we'll do whatever we can to win tomorrow as a team. As long as we take it one day at a time, I think we have a chance where we can be successful.

On hitting a home run
I was just trying to put the ball in play. You always try to hit the ball hard and the wind was blowing out before that storm started coming in. So I got the ball up in the air and it helped me out a little bit, but no, I don't really swing for the fences. It wasn't something I was shooting for.

On this loss perhaps being a wake-up call
Certainly, I think so. We were very successful the last few weekends of the season. We took that momentum into this tournament, but it's got to be a little bit of a wake-up call. There's a bunch of good teams in this tournament. We played tough, and they played tough. They had a good game and got a few key hits. It's just going to make us stronger in the long run, so I definitely think that it's going to help us throughout this tournament and into Regionals.

Virginia freshman RHP Jacob Thompson
On his performance, especially late in the game
Well, I just tried to gut it out the last three innings. I didn't have my best stuff today and I just knew if I go out there and throw strikes to try to save our bullpen.

On this being his first ACC Tournament
Oh, it was very exciting. It's always been a dream of mine to play in this tournament. Unfortunately I fell up on the short end today, but like Coach said, Mike (Ballard) will come out and give us a good game tomorrow, and we should be fine.