May 27, 2006

Florida State coach Mike Martin

Opening statement
Well, it was a ballgame that I was very pleased with the way (Florida State starter Mark) Sauls gave us three innings. We had not planned on going to get Brent (Marsh) as early as we did, but it just happened that the lineup was where it was. He pitched extremely well and we know that he does not rebound well so we just said, "well, let's see how far we can ride the horse." And we rode it Belmont style, because this young man pitched just beautifully against an outstanding NC State team.

On getting some extra-base hits later in the game after starting out playing small ball
(Danny) Diaz did a very good job of moving the runners. Tony Thomas did a good job of getting him (Travis Anderson) to third. We did some things right. Diaz also did a good job on a safety squeeze. We just tried not to miss an opportunity to score when we got it. Buster (Posey) of course was big at the plate with a double and a triple. It gives hitters opportunities to drive home runs by getting good pitches to hit and I thought we did a good job of that.

On Travis Anderson's recent hot hitting
Travis is hot. We want to get him up there as many times as we can. He's certainly been a lift to this club. A lot of times, as we've said in the past, one guy gets hot, and it gets contagious. And I'm seeing a lot of guys swinging the bat well right now.

Florida State senior RHP Brent Marsh

On his lengthy relief outing, and whether he were thinking he would only be in for two or three innings
Pretty much that's what I was thinking, because that's generally what I do. I was getting quick outs, getting ground balls, and I wasn't taking too long in the innings, so as I progressed throughout the innings I realized that there was a chance that I could continue to go.

On whether Martin or pitching coach Jamey Shouppe approached him about finishing the game
Shouppe came to me in the seventh and said "We're going to ride you out as long as we can." I said, "I'm more than willing to and I'm happy."

Florida State freshman SS Buster Posey

On Florida State scoring a pair of runs in the top of the fourth after NC State got a two-run home run in the bottom of the third
I feel that was big for us. We kept the momentum on our side, I think, coming back and getting two runs. Travis Anderson led off that inning with a double, is that right? And then Tony (Thomas) had the hit and the great hustle around the bases, which got the crowd into it even more. It was very big for us.

On whether he were thinking about a home run in the seventh inning (for the cycle)
Maybe a little bit. I probably shouldn't have. I thought I made a good swing at the first pitch. It kind of caught me off guard, because I had seen him (NC State pitcher Joel Brookens) throwing slider, slider, slider to Shane (Robinson) and the rest of our right-handed batters. So I was looking fastball, but it was still in the back of my mind, and I had a good pitch to hit on the first pitch and I just fouled it straight back. After that he made a couple of good pitches on me.

NC State head coach Elliott Avent

Florida State played well. We made a lot of mistakes today. I thought Ryan Pond pitched very well for us every inning, but they got runs every inning. It just seems like he made a couple of mistakes an inning and they didn't miss any. They got all his mistakes and that's what good ball clubs do. (Mark) Sauls did a pretty good job, they didn't walk anybody and didn't give us any freebies and played good defense today and we just couldn't seem to get anything going against (Brent) Marsh.

That's what they do. I know Mike (Martin) would play for a run early. He wanted (Mark) Sauls out there with the lead and they were able to get the lead and do some nice things. It is pretty much going to come down to game seven between us and Florida State, it seems we've played them a lot lately.

On the pitchers heading into today
I think at this point the bullpens are spent a little bit on both sides. The key to the next game, I think, and it doesn't have to work like this because the game never does, is who's starter is the best and can get them to about the sixth. May not win it, but it would sure be nice for either one of us to have a starter go out and give us a lead after six or seven innings. Hopefully, a big one for us.