June 5, 2005

Recap | Box Score

(Only includes winning team due to loser playing following game)

Baylor head coach Steve Smith
"Well I thought it was a game where we played well defensively and that was really important -- particularly when Mark (McCormick) got wild in the fifth inning. To get out of that inning and to only allow a couple of runs was pretty significant inning. I just thought we played well defensively and got a great performance out of Abe (Woody), which is not to terribly surprising -- he's a pretty solid guy. We got some timely hits with (Chase) Gerdes at bat against the left hander (Omar Arif) and we got some breaks but that's what it takes to win a game like that. You can't win a season like that but you can win one game like that."

On starting Chase Gerdes:
"Well we don't have Reynolds, it was a decision between not so much Gerdes playing but Fortenberry or Sevigny and I didn't want to take Sevigny out of the line up. There starter, Demel, was a good slider guy and I really felt like that we need to get as much left handed presence in the line up as we could and really don't have any other option there and I wanted him to have to see some left handed hitters. Another thing it did for us was that it got some speed in the game and that was an issue early in the game for them and I think that we were able to take advantage of that and put a little pressure on them on the bases and get him out his comfort zone a little bit, but he's got a great arm, he is going to be a really good one."

Baylor centerfielder Chase Gerdes
On his two-run single in the third inning:
"I was just trying to put the ball in play. I have been struggling with the left-handed breaking ball so I was just trying to put the ball into play."

On getting an early lead:
"Well anytime you can score runs in the first couple innings it is huge and get the momentum going our way, rely on our coach and play defense."

Baylor catcher Josh Ford
On the importance of today's game:
"It's very important that we didn't want to play again. It's hot out there and we knew that they were a good club. We were going to have to come out with some fire in us and I think we did that pretty well. (Sam Demel) is not a bad pitcher, he has thrown a lot of innings for them this year and has a lot of good stuff. We battled and had some good at bats early and got him out of the game fairly early and that was the approach the whole time."

On winning the game:
"It's just one more step, we wanted to come out here and win. It didn't matter if we had to play two today, we want to be playing tomorrow and be in a position to win. It's nice being able to go home and get some water in you and relax a little bit and have those two teams beat up on each other, so it's a plus definitely."

Baylor pitcher Abe Woody
On getting TCU's McGuirk to ground out to end the seventh inning: "Well Coach Smith came out there and told me that (Matt McGuirk) was the guy that hit a home run off of(Ryan) LaMatta a couple of months ago. He was saying that he was a pull hitter so I was trying to stay away and let my ball sink away from him, not inside to him."