May 25, 2005

2005 ACC Baseball Championship
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Game 7: #4 Florida State vs. #5 North Carolina

Opening Statement by Florida State Head Coach Mike Martin
It was a well played baseball game on both sides. I was very proud of these young men's perseverance. I thought (Robert) Woodard pitched great; I thought (Jonathan) Hovis pitched great, (Matt) Danford pitched very well. It was just a game that we got a break there at the end that you never expect and it was a good job on (Aaron) Cheesman's part to get the bunt down. But I think what we have to always remember is this guy (Tyler Chambliss) is the one that got it done. He went out there and threw a lot of pitches. He's going to come to us tomorrow and tell us that he's ready to go an inning, and we'll discuss that later on. But it was certainly a good win for our program against a very good University of North Carolina team.

On the five straight batters getting on base in the eighth and not scoring:
That was an inning you'd like to forget. We had four straight hits and Cheese got hit, and we don't have anybody in, and there's two outs and a man on first and second. So it was just one of those that, as I said earlier, I admire these young men for their perseverance. Nobody dropped their head and felt sorry for themselves. They kept plugging away, and Tyler (Chambliss) kept us in the ballgame.

On using the ball park to their advantage to hit the ball and make outs:
I thought Brian had a good outing. North Carolina is very good. That's not a fluke. I though Brian Henry pitched a very good ballgame. What, one run, he pitched a very good baseball game. It just developed into what we've tried to do all year and that's why he was taken out. We haven't played anybody this year with seven left handed hitters. That puts a lot of emphasis on our right-handers getting it done. I thought Brian got it done and T.C pitched very good.

On the play of his team tonight:
I'm just very proud of our young people. I thought we played a solid baseball game, and that's what we're trying to concentrate on. We know that the winner of this game is going to play a very good opponent as everybody that's played us this year has been. We're very exited about being able to play tomorrow night. We'll see what happens.

Aaron Cheesman on the play in the bottom of the ninth:
That was very uncharacteristic of myself; I was very disappointed in myself. The game was over pretty much. But you have to forget about it and roll through. I was just hoping to get a chance to do whatever I could do to help the team win from there on out. It's sad we had to play four more innings, but I tell you what, we've got a bunch of guys who don't quit, and in my five years here this is a group of guys who really get after it. We enjoy being around each other.

I don't know if I would have done anything any differently, I thought it was going to hit Wordy right in the chest. I thought I made a good throw. I didn't do anything different, I wasn't nervous about it or anything. I just went and threw it and it just happened. You got to forget about it and go on.

Tyler Chambliss on pitching:
You just have to shake things off and go on. Things have gone wrong before and you just have to keep going through it and hopefully the team can stick together like we did and come through and win.

On pitching the longest outing since last year's tournament:
I got comfortable out there and got into a grove. They kept telling me one more inning, but I was telling them I was good to go another one. They were going to have to pull me off the mound; I was going to finish that one out.

Statements by North Carolina Head Coach Mike Fox:
We're disappointed in losing. My hat is off to Florida State; they are such a good team. They do what is necessary to win. We've been down that road with them before. Normally, when you don't give up any unearned runs, you don't lose, but that is what happened to us tonight. It's been kind of our M.O., losing games. We can't seem to win them and get a big hit. The other team hangs around long enough for us to lose it and that is what happened tonight.

It was a great college baseball game with some terrific plays. They turned some big double plays and we made some big plays. It was well played for the most part. There is a fine line between winning and losing and they took advantage of our mistakes. Overall, it was a terrific game.

Pitcher Robert Woodard on his performance:
I'd say for the first four or five innings, I felt pretty good with all three of my pitches. The third time around the order, you know it is in the back of your mind you've got to be a little finer, especially with the kind of hitters that Florida State has. I felt like especially when I got behind in the count, I was just trying to be too fine with some of my pitches. It's like coach said, when you give them an inch, they take a mile. And that is what they did. They made some good swings on some balls and took some pitches that were just off the plate and found a way to get on base.