May 22, 2002

Recap | Box Score

Duke head coach Bill Hillier:
(On getting a win tonight) "We weren't in the Tournament yet, in my eyes, until we came in and did what we did tonight. We are in the double elimination tournament and we'll try and make a run and see what happens. I just told my players that NC State made a run last year coming out of the play-in game and there is no reason we can't."

(On pitcher Paul DeMarco) "He came out and right away threw a double play ball. Paul started out slow for us early in the year but has come out and played really well for us in the last two or three weeks. He is young, has a good arm, but has a tendency to overthrow when he gets behind. The ball gets up in the zone and he is trying to throw it by people. When he throws consistently, he is going to be pretty good for us over the next two or three years for us."

(On team's offense) "The way we have been hitting for the last four or five games you would hope we can get it going offensively, we've been swinging it well lately. We scored some runs up at Maryland this year but Terry did a good job of keeping the pressure on us, I know I felt the pressure. Those last six outs did not seem very easy."

(On playing Florida State) "I just told my guys, FSU's not going to give us any respect. They scored 49 runs against us in Tallahassee three weeks ago and swept us in three games. Maybe their coaching staff is giving us respect, but their players are saying 'Duke isn't any good', but we'll come out and see if we can't surprise them a bit. It should be a good atmosphere and that is what you come down here for."

Maryland head coach Terry Rupp:
"He (Paul DeMarco) came in and did a nice job. We hit into a couple of double plays there, where we had the bases loaded and that really hurt us. We had some chances to really break the game open, but we let them get away from us. It is especially difficult to lose in a game where you are not in a double elimination situation. This was the game to get us in the Tournament. Obviously, it is very disappointing, but we made some team mistakes and fundamental mistakes that cost us the game. We threw that bunt down line that cost us. Mentally, we just didn't play that well. Duke swung their bats well. Again, they got the hits when they needed them when runners were in scoring positions. We had runners in scoring positions all night long, but we couldn't get the hits to break the thing open. You've got to give credit to their pitching staff. They bared down when it mattered."