Feb. 27, 2009

Recap | Box Score

HEAD COACH Steve Smith

On winning one run games:

"I don't know if it is a mental approach. We are just playing a lot of close games. We have been the home team in all of those games. We won a few of them at home getting the last at-bat. This is first time we have won one on the defensive end and I think those are a little different, when you got to go out there and protect the lead. If there is a mental side to it at all, it is probably the guy on the mound."

On Logan Verrett

"I think Logan has really done a nice job. It doesn't seem to faze him. He came into a first-third, and he was pretty sharp right off the bat. He has been really big given that other guys haven't been. I don't know if Logan's future will be out in that role; but right now is right now, and he is doing a good job in it right now. He is a four-pitch guy. I think he is the best four-pitch guy we have had as a freshman. We have had some guys that have developed four pitches, but he showed up with them. Today he threw some changeups that weren't very good. Matter of fact I didn't like them when Gregg (Glime) was calling them. He locates his fastball both sides of the plate and has a pretty good slider."

On defensive effort today

"The only plays I can really remember really are the plays Shaver (Hansen) made over at third. He is making a lot of pretty nice plays. He saved a run on the dive play there with two outs on Shawn's (Tolleson) last hitter. He made a pretty tough play when he had to come get the ball with a runner at third base. If he bobbles that at all, they are going to score. When you are playing these kind of one run games every play - when it's over if we boot those plays, if we boot one of them you look back and go we got to make the routine play and fortunately today we made the routine plays. What is really amazing in the first four games at home that were all one run games, we won three of them, you can look at the stats we kicked it quite a bit. We were very fortunate I think to be able to win those games like that, if you are going to win them this is usually how you got to do it."

On Shawn Tolleson's performance:

"I thought he was much more consistent. Shawn's the kind of guy once he gets into the game if he is able to get into it he usually is pretty good. His problems, if he has them, are usually early like they were last week and he was able to dodge that bullet. A better club last week probably would have gotten him out of the game, but he was able to hang around. Today he was pretty good from the get go and I thought he was way more consistent. Shawn's an interesting guy mechanically to work with, but today he was pretty consistent out on the mound."

On Raynor Cambell being comfortable at second base:

"Not yet. I really didn't. I mean he made the plays, but he had one play where he wasn't sure whether to come get it or stay back, but you can be like that at second a little bit. You can bobble it and you still got a little time. I have a theory on all that range stuff and we saw it play out in the first game today. You can put a guy at shortstop who (has) all of the range in the world; he can get (to) the balls, but he can't throw anybody out. What you need over at shortstop is the guy that is going to make the routine play. You can't bobble it and the range will help you at second because if you can get to one there, you still got a play. But he is not comfortable yet. I am sure if you would have gone out there and played shortstop for four games and booted it like he did, you would have the yips too, but he will be fine. He is a good player."

RHP Shawn Tolleson

On today's outing

"I felt pretty comfortable out there. I had most of my pitches working. I really just tried to keep the fastball down, away from the guys so they couldn't get up in that wind."

On his slider

"I didn't throw it a whole lot today, but when I threw it I was usually ahead in the count just trying to get a big swing and a miss."

On the importance of rebounding from last week's outing

"It was important to me. I worked real hard this week in my bull pen and I built up a lot of confidence, so I went out there feeling pretty confident about today."

On focusing on his command

"I was definitely trying to spot them up. Early in the game I was just trying to get it over the zone and then I was moving out once I got ahead."

On winning one run games

"I really don't know how we are doing it, but we are doing it, so that is the big thing."

On the defensive play behind him

"It is great to have someone like Shaver (Hansen) over there making plays, diving plays. Even though he doesn't get the out at first, he saves that run from scoring, so it is plays like that in a one run game that are pretty huge."

1B Dustin Dickerson

On his approach at the plate in RBI situations

"(It was) pretty much a two-strike approach. (Houston Starter Wes Musick) was working lefties away early and then coming in hard late. I was just trying to get a pitch I could handle and put it in play."

On the Bears being patient at the plate

"We weren't that patient early in the game actually. We didn't have a very good approach: we were swinging at balls down. I felt we started figuring out towards the end of the game, sometimes it is too late, so we need to start doing that earlier in the game, score more runs earlier."

On the defensive play

"Yeah it is always critical. Defense and pitching is how you win games. We need to do that the whole season, but we did, we made some good plays and then Shawn (Tolleson) made some good pitches to keep innings under control, so that was good."

On winning one run ball games

"We don't want it to be that close, but I am glad we are ending up on the winning side. I don't know I guess we just have a lot of fight and don't want to lose. We always find ways to win if we can, so we have that no-quit mentality, so I am glad we are still winning."

On game tying RBI at-bat

"He threw two sliders, painted on the black away. With two strikes I knew he was either was going to try to get a fastball in or go to that pitch again. I was looking away and luckily he left a fastball over the plate, where I could handle it. I got a good barrel on it and put it in play."