Feb. 22, 2009

Recap | Box Score

CF Lucas Hileman
On the Pacific infield alignment in the 10th inning:
"In that situation I was just going with what they gave me. I felt when they brought in five infielders, which doesn't happen much, that it was kind of a slap in the face to a little freshman. I just felt confident that I had to go up with the mentality to stay calm. I have played baseball before so I was just getting the job done like everyone else had been doing throughout the game."

On the importance of winning a close game:
"Hopefully we won't let too much of this coming-down-to-the-wire happen. We were thrown into this situation, and I think we responded well with what we had. We are not playing as well as we want to right now but I am sure things will come around."

On the game-winning at-bat:
"I just wanted to see a pitch and just get the timing down. I knew this guy was a soft-tosser because most of the guys had been out front the whole game. I just stayed back and let the ball come to me; and wherever the pitch was, I just did what I needed to do."

On the team winning close games over the weekend:
From what I hear about last year, we didn't win a lot of games coming from behind. (Winning close games) shows how far we have come since last year. Hopefully this just shows our resiliency and hopefully we keep winning."

LF Adam Hornung
On going 3-for-4 at the plate today:
"I felt good at the plate, and I was seeing the ball real well. I was just trying to go up there and help my team in certain situations. Tomorrow we have to come back and do the same thing. Baseball is a day-to-day game. When you feel good one day you have to take advantage of it and hope it lasts for a while."

On the game:
"We gave up the lead in the ninth, but it was good for Pinckard to come in and shut down the game in the 10th."

On rebounding after a loss:
"Last night was definitely tough because we lost the lead late in the game. It was a game that we feel like we should have won because we had it in our grip. It was good to comeback and show that we can comeback when they tie up the game and win the game."

On the base-knock in the 10th inning:
"I was probably a little overanxious at the plate, but I got a pitch to hit; I'm glad it got through."

HEAD COACH Steve Smith
On the close games over the weekend:
"I think it says a lot about both teams. I really enjoyed playing (Pacific) because I think they played the game right, they play hard and they are scrappy. We only struck them out one time today, and they put the ball in play and put a lot of pressure on us. As usual, our guys will bounce back. It all starts on the mound; and when you get good pitching on the mound, you will get an opportunity to bounce back."

On the effort from the pitching staff today:
"We threw strikes and I thought Craig (Fritsch), particularly the first time out, did well. Jon Ringenberg, the first time in his career, eased through the order one time. His velocity was very good there for three innings but he lost a little bit going out there in that last inning. That is the thing that I find interesting at times. There is something special about that last inning. Those last three outs are a lot different than the first three. Brooks (Pinckard) came in and threw well. He was snake-bit - the ball down the left-field line, Shaver (Hansen) doesn't really have a play on it, then the next guy hits one a foot fair down the right-field line. But (Pinckard) was able to leave the go-ahead run over there at third and give our guys a chance to win the game."

On Adam Hornung:
"He swung the bat well. They pitched him good, too. They had a plan. They knew what they were trying to do with him. He did a good job of not chasing pitches. He lined into that double-play early in the game, smoked the ball to the second baseman who made a play. When he is hitting the ball that way, he is in pretty good shape."

On Lucas Hileman's at-bat in the 10th:
"I didn't tell him anything. I was wondering if I should put him in that situation, but I really didn't have a bunch of options at that point. Let's find out. We could have put a more experience guy up there but let's find out. We have got a lot of talented guys and there is a lot guys with great tools but we also need to find out who can play the game and who the players are. That is what we tried to do with (Hileman). They tried to make it tough on him by bringing everyone into the infield. The odds of getting the ball through the infield on the ground weren't great, but he found a way to do it."

On the importance of having a freshman come through in the clutch:
"It does give you confidence in him and for the whole team. It just gives you more options, and we are trying to find out what all of our options are right now. We have played three or four different people in center; Pinckard is probably our best one, and he hasn't even been out there yet. We are doing a lot of things, and we are trying to figure a lot of things out. We still have to figure the pitching part of this thing out, particularly late. That is why we play the game. You can't find it out until you start playing. You learn a lot about your guys when they start playing other people."

On Raynor Campbell:
"He had a rough day out there at shortstop; but some of those plays, a couple of them are experience plays - knowing when to come in on the ball. He made the tough play. The one that hit the cut of the grass and stayed down on him (in the ninth inning) was probably the toughest one and he made that. I just think he needs time, more games and more plays out there."

On playing five games in six days:
"Tomorrow I am going to start Aaron Miller. We should be fine for tomorrow. Wednesday I am probably going to have to split the job with the guys who have not yet thrown and just try to set us up as well as we can for the weekend. It is an unusual situation to turn around and play tomorrow. It is challenging us physically. I really thought Gregg (Glime) behind the plate today was tired. He made that throw when he had to make the throw there in the 10th when he threw the runner out, but up until then he wasn't throwing like he was two days ago. You can tell that playing everyday is not an easy thing; but at the level these guys want to play at, that is what they are required to do."