May 24, 2006

Virginia head coach Brian O'Connor

Opening statement
To beat a great program like Florida State in the opener of the ACC was a big win for us. To be able to advance on in the winner's bracket is very important in this tournament, and the guy sitting to my right, Sean Doolittle, gave us another tremendous performance and Brandon Guyer came up with a couple of clutch hits. I just felt that it was really important for us to get on top of them early in the ballgame, and we just play so much better as a ballclub, and I think anybody does, when you're not fighting from behind.

Thoughts on Florida State starting pitcher Bryan Henry
He pitched very well, and he pitched deep into the ballgame. The guy's a great pitcher. He's an all-conference pitcher. I felt like he did a good job and I felt like our team did a really good job, had a great plan and a great approach against him. I looked up late in the ballgame and we only had four hits on the board and that's a testament to him and his ability. I knew it was going to be a tough, hard-fought ballgame, but fortunately we got a couple of key hits that allowed us to win the game.

On pitching in tough situations
Well, I think our pitching coach, Coach (Karl) Kuhn does a great job of preparing our guys for those situations. I talked to the team yesterday and I told them that this time of year, everybody that we play from here on out is going to have good pitching, they're going to have good hitters, it's going to be a very good ballclub and it's going to come down, quite frankly, to what you do in the clutch. Clutch pitches, clutch plays and getting clutch hits, and we did that today. We are where we are right now because of those guys on the mound making those clutch pitches.

On the play of Virginia leadoff hitter Greg Miclat (2-for-3, BB, 3 SB, 2 R)
The guy's a threat to steal bases, he started off the game with a hard-hit ball, he's done some great, great things for us this year and he set the tone for us today right away in the first inning.

Virginia sophomore LHP Sean Doolittle

On how he felt today
I felt really good. Any time you're pitching in heat like this it's easy for your body to feel good. We jumped out to a lead right off the bat, and I knew it was important for me to go out there and attack those hitters. Like coach said, once you're up against a team like that you've got to do everything you can to keep them down. I felt like by throwing strikes and getting ahead of a lot of hitters I was able to set myself up for some strikeouts.

Virginia sophomore LF Brandon Guyer

On delivering in the clutch
I was just lucky to be even in that position today, and I love being in that position. I love when the pressure's on. They threw me pitches over the plate that I took advantage of, and I just try to put the ball in play, and when you do that good things will happen. Those clutch hits wouldn't have mattered if it wasn't for the pitching and the defense that we had all day. I got lucky today, I got some clutch hits, but all the pitching and defense is what got us the win today.

Florida State head coach Mike Martin

From our standpoint, it was just a situation where Sean Doolittle was extremely impressive. He just did a great job of spotting his pitches and kept us off balance and you have to credit the great job he did. From our side, I was just so pleased with Bryan Henry and the guts he showed out there fighting to keep his ball club in the game but just kind of ran out of gas in the eighth inning. He just did a great job of competing, and that is his m.o. and has been for the last two years he has pitched at Florida State. If we are able to get to the next level of play, he will certainly have the ball.

On having to play with one loss ...
It's not somewhere where we have never been but it's going to be a monumental task, but not one that is impossible. We know it is going to be difficult with the level of teams that are here; however with the bracket change, you are only looking at two additional games in bracket play so it's not out of the question. We do feel like we have the pitching to come back through it, but it is going to be tough, no doubt.

On Virginia...
Virginia does so much right. They're the epitome of a team that does not beat themselves. They are a well-coached baseball team. I am very impressed with Brian O'Conner and his staff.

Florida State starting pitcher Bryan Henry

I felt good. I went out there and let them put the ball in play. My defense worked great behind me. We battled the whole time and they just found a couple holes here and there and got a couple bounces to go their way. That's the game of baseball. We fought the whole time and that's all we can do.

They are a team that scrapped for all their runs, just like we do. We knew it was going to be a dog fight and that's exactly what it was. They came out on top this time.