May 25, 2005

ACC Baseball Championship
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Game 4: #3 Miami Hurricanes vs. #6 NC State Wolfpack

NC State Quotes

Opening Statement by NC State Head Coach Elliot Avent
The guys really played well today, you're talking about a classic example of what the ACC is and what this tournament is all about. Two great teams, one of the best pitchers in the country, and I'm talking about their guy, and another unknown guy in Andrew Brackman, to go on this kind of stage. We've got Cesar Carrillo who has had the kind of year he's had and match him pitch for pitch. Brian got the big hit in the first and we thought we might get a couple more, but fortunately because of Drew (Brackman) and Joey we didn't need it. Joey came in and was lights out as he has been many times for us. We played well, so did Miami, it was just a great.

Andrew Brackman on his freshness after the rain delay against Florida State last week:
"My arm felt alright. The rain delay kind of set me back a little bit. I was a little wild in the first inning, had to get my control, but after that, things just went from there.

Brackman on his feelings about being the focal point during the game:
It feels good. I want to be in the middle of it. I want to be the guy that's out there when the games on the line. It's my second ACC tournament and I got used to the first one earlier in the year. I know there's big Hype around it and there's a lot on the line going into regionals and everything. We just need to get a couple more wins.

Brackman on being more nervous for Basketball or Baseball:
I think basketball a little more.

Elliot on Brackman being what he expected:
He's been so special, and its not just want you see on the mound, he's a pretty special person. What he gives to our player's day in and day out. He's a competitor, and competitors are contagious. So it's not just what he gives us on game day. He's a lot of fun to be in the ball park with and we're a pretty close team. So he's given us a lot of things. But I think what he's given us on the mound is probably a little more than I expected.

Brian Aragon on his double to score the two runs for NC State:
I got a great pitch, got a fastball. It was a great count, a great situation, especially with the guys around me in the order; you got Aaron Bates, Aaron Cone, and Jake Muyco around so you're fortunate to get good pitches. Fortunately we had a great approach coming into the game; we had everybody with the same game plan. I was fortunate to get a great pitch to see. It worked out in the first inning.

I've said it many times an I'll say it again there have been many two sport players in colleges, a lot of times its football , I've been at this for twenty-five years and recruited several dual players and I've never seen anybody keep his work and maybe go beyond his word the way Herb Sendek has. When he was in Andrew's living room, on his commitment to play both sports he's been phenomenal and that speaks volumes of him, especially with the pressure they're under in the ACC basketball league.

Miami Quotes

Opening Statement from Jim Morris, Head Coach for Miami:
First of all I want to congratulate NC State, they've got an outstanding club, they played really well, they played hard, they got a big hit when it counted there in the first inning and that kind of determined the game there in the first inning. There pitcher threw very well (Brackman), I heard a lot about him, never seen him before, he's a guy that not only has got a good arm but being 6'10" he's sneaky fast on top of it. He pitched very well. We didn't get some big hits when we had opportunities. I thought our pitchers threw well, Cesar threw well; I thought we played good defense, we played hard, and we just didn't get a big hit when we needed it.

On Miam's five game losing streak:
I don't remember the last time I lost five in a row to be honest with you. It's been a long time. Sure I'm concerned. We've got good players, we've got a good team, but we can't seem to put it together right now as a group to do what we need to, to win. It takes a total team effort to get this done and we haven't done that the last few games. We've had some opportunities to win a game, but we didn't get it done today.

On Miami's chances to host for the NCAA Tournament
I don't know I mean we put in a good bid as we always do. We always get a great bid by the University of Miami going in financially; we've just got to take care of our part of it. Coming into the tournament our ranking and our RPI was still okay. We've just got to start winning a few games right now. We've got to get it done and fight our way through the loser's bracket. It's happened before and it can happen again.

On the rest of the tournament:
I've been in this tournament for 12 years and won it a couple of times. You just have to get hot and play well. For us now, we need good pitching. Our bullpen has got to be good and we need some good starting pitching and some timely hitting. With a guy like Perez, you have to be careful how you throw him. This guy won't throw again for the rest of the Tournament. He's going to get ready for the NCAA Tournament and I feel confident that we'll be in the Tournament. I don't know where we'll be or what seed we'll be, but I feel like we'll be in it. He'll be pitching in the first game of that tournament. We're not going to take any chances with him. We've got 11 other pitchers, so we just got to get it done.

On the availability of Camardese:
Yes, he is available and so is anyone else who we need to win the game right now. He had hadn't pitched in a couple of weeks due to the mumps.

Cesar Carrillo, Miami Pitcher on NC State:
I just came out of the shoe, I was trying to throw strikes, and they got a couple walks, and were battling all day. A lot of full counts; they came out with a great game plan. They just got a couple guys that got a base hit when it counted.

On Brackman's pitching:
He's really effective, seemed to be ahead all day, he was throwing his fastball and curve ball for strikes on both sides of the plate. He was just working ahead and throwing hard. Tough, obviously for us; He pitched well.