April 15, 2009

Recap | Box Score

Coach Steve Smith

On Dustin Dickerson's play

"He has been since the day he got here a pretty intelligent hitter. His physical tools are continuing to get better at the plate and he is getting stronger. He is a guy that I think really benefits from experience. He is always watching. He is always paying attention in what guys are doing. I think he is one of the guys we have that can go to the plate with a plan in mind. He can actually sit on a pitch and do something with it. I wouldn't call him a guess hitter. I think he is very educated in what he does. There are other guys that are just flat out guessing all of the time, but he is not that way. I think you look at his frame: there is a lot of room to grow right there. He is going to wind up being a very big man one day."

On the game

"This was a game that it really helped us to get out to the lead early. I thought Trent (Blank) threw well early and then started getting the ball up. That long inning, he wore down big time. He really needs to just get physically stronger. I thought his disposition, his attitude, the way he went after them was much better than last week, obviously. I thought (Reed) Woytek was a huge factor in the deal. He got us through two innings pretty clean. He settled down a little bit. Then Max (Garner) comes in at a pivotal situation and gets a big strikeout with the top of the order at the plate. It's Willie (Kempf) and (Logan) Verrett's bullpen day, so I wasn't sure what I was going to get. I sent Trevor (Mote) down there to watch both of them. Willie went out there very sharp. Even though he gave up the run, I thought he was pretty good. Then I didn't know if I wanted to pull him or not because I didn't know what I was going to get out of Verrett. (Gregg) Glime was in the pen catching him and let me know he was pretty good. Obviously, Glime knows what he is talking about. What is interesting is how a guy like Logan can be that electric in an inning and it has got to be the ninth inning. I mean he hasn't throw 93 in a start yet, but every time we have used him out of the pen he has been at least 93 and sometimes 94. It would seem to me as a starter he is pacing himself. I don't know if it is adrenaline, I was surprised, I mean I really was, he hadn't been that sharp in an inning in a long time. I have been kind of worried that I might have screwed that kid up, taking him out of that role, but he was pretty good."

On Raynor Campbell's home run

"I thought it was real big at that point. Two out, two run homerun takes the bunt out of the game, if they happen to get a lead-off batter on. I thought for him it was his best swing. He has hit some homeruns that I will call cheap, fly balls that just carried out of the park on windy days, but that ball when it was hit, I thought it was a double. I thought it was going to be off the wall out there. He hit it on a line and it just carried out of the park. For him to hit a ball to the pull side like that, he hit that ball real good."

Junior Raynor Campbell

On Baylor's offensive play

"We feel confident at the plate. The last week and half we have put up quite a few runs and got quite of bit of production from our lineup. We feel real good at the plate right now and are looking forward to this weekend."

On using home runs to power the offense

"With this lineup, we have about 50 homeruns, anybody in this lineup can put the game in reach or out of reach for a team. We have been living and dying by the long ball, but we been living by it. We are playing in Stillwater this weekend definitely a hitter's park, so hopefully that will work to our benefit."

On his home run in the eighth inning

"He (UTA pitcher Brian Watson) wasn't throwing very hard. He was an 80 mph pitcher, but he could locate a little bit. My first at-bat he struck me out on a fastball in, so I decided I was going to get up in the box. He got me a fastball over the plate and down and I am a low-ball hitter and I got extended on it and put backspin on it and got it out of here. It is definitely easier pitching with a three run lead than a one run lead, but with Logan (Verrett) out there, he comes in there and it's over."

Junior Dustin Dickerson

On his hot hitting streak

"I am just kind of locked in. I feel good at the plate, have a good approach and everything is just clicking right now."

On his first home run

"That one felt really good. He threw me a fastball right there, the first pitch so I got to see it and I had the take on that one. Then he threw me the exact same pitch and I put a good swing on it and it felt good."

On his second home run

"That one, I was kind of out front, but I got a good barrel on it and the wind kind of took that one, but it still felt good. I like to be able to hit the ball the other way. That is mostly my strength, but it is always nice when you pull one down the line like I did the other way."

On hitting left-handed pitching

"I actually changed my approach up a little bit of them. I scoot off the plate some and look to get the barrelhead there more, that way I can extend my arms a little more. It is feeling good. I got a hit the other day and did the exact same thing, so I stuck with it and it worked today."