May 28, 2005

ACC Baseball Championship
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Game 15: #1 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs. # 4 Florida State Seminoles

Opening Statement from Florida State Head Coach Mike Martin:
I feel like I threw a rock at the window of the church and got punished for it. That was an old fashion whipping - they beat us in every area. That's the best offensive club we've seen this year, no question about it. They're a team that's going to be very formidable in post-season play. They've got all of the necessary ingredients to get to Omaha. I think it just shows you the strength of our league because the team that finished seventh is playing the top seed for the conference championship tomorrow. I'm very proud of our young men, it's just one of those days that started off bad. You've got to be able to roll through it and be ready to go. We'll be anxious to see what tomorrow holds.

On Georgia Tech's pitching today:
They certainly got it done. We know they didn't use (Tim) Gustafson, who is one of their top relievers. I thought (Jared) Hyatt came in and did a very good job of shutting us down.

On hosting an NCAA Regional:
I feel very confident that we will host a regional.

On losing to Georgia Tech to get placed in the loser's bracket earlier in the tournament:
I think at this point in the season, there's no way we're going to be the least bit negative. This ball club has accomplished a tremendous amount this year and we're very proud of each and every one of them. Today was just one of those days in which they showed how good they really are. And you take your hat off to them and you move on.

On the match-up of Georgia Tech's hitting and Virginia's pitching:
I think it all depends on the wind. If the wind is not blowing like it was today, you could see a good eight, nine runs scored by both teams. They're both playing extremely well right now.

First Baseman Danny Wardell on the tag:
I tagged him. I didn't know if I beat him or not because of the angle, but I tagged him on the back and it was up to the umpire to make the call.

On whether the team was tired:
It's not that we were tired today, they just came out ready to play. We just weren't hitting the ball the way we should have.

Third Baseman Ryne Malone on the team's defense throughout the season, but not at the tournament:
All season, we've done a really good job at making the routine plays and making the tough plays look easy, but this weekend, everything seemed a little tougher for some reason. All in all, we did the best we could out there. We did everything we could to make the plays.

Opening Statement from Georgia Tech Head Coach Danny Hall:
I'm very proud of our team. I thought they played great baseball today. Obviously the runs early were nice to see. I know Ryan struggled a little bit with his command but made some big pitches to keep them from scoring on us. I thought that Jared Hyatt came in and really threw the ball great for us to kind of keep them in check. I'm very proud of my team and excited about getting a chance to play for the championship tomorrow.

On the offensive display:
I think that was big for us. The first couple games we swung okay but maybe not great. This is the first time we've been a visitor, anytime you're the visitor and you can put runs on the board early that really helps your team's momentum; it helps your starting pitcher and I thought that was a big key for us. It looked like they were going to get out of the inning, but Whit (Robbins) hit that long home run then Greene followed it. When they could have gotten out of there without giving us much, they got out of there giving us a bunch of runs.

On this game being easier than the last three and making the team more calm:
I like games like this because you don't have to do a whole heck of a lot with your coaching. So anytime in the tournament you can get a big lead like that, it allows your whole team to relax.

On liking the ten-run rule:
We talked about it in our league meeting. We have never had it in our tournament and I think it's come in to play in a couple games in the tournament. I like it because I guess the game was out of control, and for us to save us from maybe having to use another pitcher, it was good for us.

On playing Virginia tomorrow for the championship
They've beaten us six straight times the last two years. Fist thing that sticks in my mind is that they have very, very good pitchers and play great defense. I think that Ryan Zimmerman, and I said it when the guy was a freshman, he's the best defensive third baseman that I can remember seeing in college baseball for quite sometime. Their second baseman may be one of the best guys I've seen in college baseball at turning double plays. So I think their pitching and their defense is their definite strength. They are a very solid club, they're well rounded and they compete well and we'll have to be at our best tomorrow to compete with them.

Coach on the dimensions of the yard and does it favor one team over the other:
I think it's a very fair ball park, it is spacious. Today the ball traveled a little better, so if you did hit one it really had a chance to get out. But this is a beautiful ballpark. I think it's a fair park, so if you make good pitches you have a chance to win.

Tyler Green on his homerun:
I just got a fast ball to the plate and sailed it up and it ended up flying out of the park.

On already beating Florida Sate once to putting them in the loser's bracket, being more motivation to take care of them and get them out of the way:
It's a tough thing to beat a program like Florida State five times this year. That's a big confidence booster for us that we can go out there and overcome anything.

Ryan Turner on his home run:
On mine, the pitch before it he threw a curve ball in the dirt so I was pretty confident that he'd throw a fast ball the next pitch in the middle of the plate and he did and I got a hold of it.

Ryan Turner on working with the lead this game as opposed to the last few games:
The last few games I've pitched, except for North Carolina we had a little bit of a lead. The games have been pretty close and I had to go up there and battle just to keep us in the game. But today the fellas kept telling me just hold them right there and we're going to blow this game open. They knew their bats were good today. So all I had to do was keep Florida State's run total down but I struggled a little bit with my control but for the most part I tried to minimize their run scoring because I knew we were going to score a lot of runs today.

On the play at first base; was that the turning point of the game:
Definitely, the had a chance to get out of the inning without much damage but the game ended up getting out of control after that. These guys got some huge hits to really expand the lead with two outs

Whit Robbins on Hunter mislocating his pitches:
I guess, he threw it over the plate and we hit it today. Everybody was seeing it well. They missed a couple pitches over the plate and when they did that we acted on them and didn't let them go.

Whit Robbins' take on Virginia:
Like coach said they're a good defensive team. They don't give up many mistakes. When you're not swinging good and you don't give them any breaks, it's hard to get on them. Other than that, I think we're ready to go tomorrow. We feel confident and relaxed to play tomorrow and we plan on having a good day tomorrow.