May 22, 2002

Recap | Box Score

Duke head coach Bill Hillier:
"I thought we did a great job offensively, coming out, hitting the ball, putting five on the board and immediately putting pressure on them. I thought (starting pitcher) Colin (Begley) did a great job. They announced before the game it was his first collegiate start, but I believe it was his second. He's a sophomore, had back problems last year, has not pitched much for us in the past. But in the last five weeks we've been able to use him. In a situation like that where you've got the No. 1 team in the country in their home state, he did an unbelievable job. He gave us a chance to win the ballgame. I'm happy with the way my guys competed... especially after going down there three weeks ago and giving up 49 runs. My guys are pretty good at math."

(On his expectations for Begley)
"Five (innings). I thought if he could get us through the fifth, and if we had the lead, we'd be in pretty good shape. He took us way beyond that - six and two-thirds. That's by far his highest pitch count has been in a while."

(On the game's turning point)
"I told my guys before the game started that in a situation like this you have to take the pressure off the pitcher immediately. After the first inning, I said, 'holy mackerel, I need to say that more often.' We go out and give him a five spot. Against anybody in the conference, it's easier to pitch when you have a lead."

(More on the loss)
"We weren't supposed to beat them. I told my guys coming in, 'go out and compete. We're 9, they're No. 1 in the country. So don't get caught up in all those numbers.' I feel worse when we lose to teams we should beat. It's tough when you get late in the game and you've got a chance to put a team away like that and you don't get it done. But I'm proud of the way my guys competed."

Florida State head coach Mike Martin:
"We're obviously very fortunate to win the ballgame. We are very pleased with Trent Peterson and I thought he really gave us a chance to come back. He was effective. A lot of times when a guy comes in like that, you're concerned that the other club gets a couple more and then you are really behind the eight ball. Trent was just outstanding with all three pitches and really showed that next year he deserves a chance to pitch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That is his goal and that is our goal. We expect to lose two of the guys in our rotation. As far as offensively, you all saw it, there were a lot of big hits and a lot of outstanding at bats. I can't say enough about Jerrod Brown. He is playing close to his hometown with a lot of friends and family out watching, but he didn't try to do something he might do otherwise."

"I've been in this game long enough to know that anything can happen and for me to sit here and tell you that I just knew we were going to we were going to win ... give me break. Our guys had some outstanding at bats and I want to give credit to our young men but I want to give a lot of credit to that pitcher from Duke (Colin Begley). He did a great job, he had us talking to ourselves and saying 'what was that pitch I swung at?'

"I am just very pleased with my guys. They did not panic, which is critical this time of year when you just have to play the game. Their guy did a great job of shutting us down but when we had opportunities, we took advantage of them and that's what you want to see."