April 7, 2009

Recap | Box Score

Coach Steve Smith

On the game

"We made all of the routine plays. Jon (Ringenberg) threw strikes. The thing that is different about this game than a lot of games when you score 18 runs and have 20 hits, we only hit two homeruns, so it was a lot of base hits up the middle, balls in the gap. The balls that were hit out were hit good."

On Ben Booker

"Ben gives us another left-handed bat to put behind (Aaron) Miller and that is important in the lineup, the way the lineup shakes out. Aaron is the kind of guy that if people can pitch around him, they will. If we got Ben behind him it really changes the dynamics of the lineup quite a bit. He fits into our lineup really well."

On Shaver Hansen

"He is playing well and he has been playing well for quite a while now. It is what good players do. I think he is showing himself to be a really good player."

On having former Baylor catcher Kelly Shoppach in attendance

"What a cool thing for him. The way the schedule works out to see his parents and start a season in his hometown, basically and then have a day off and be able to come down here and visit with us and us see him and him see a little bit of a game. I think that is so rare, it is a neat deal. All of the coaches got to visit with him. We showed him around to all of the new improvements. It is always special I think when you see guys that are having the success he is having, making the money he is making and he is still the same guy. He is still Kelly, now he is married, now he has got children and he is a Major League Baseball player, but he is still the same guy."

Junior Shaver Hansen

On his hot hitting

"I am just seeing the ball well. Swing feels good and I don't feel like letting up any time soon. The team is playing really well, which is the most important thing. To come out and score 18 runs like we did tonight was pretty neat, especially after scoring 20 last game. I guess we fell pretty confident at the plate right now."

On the game

"Their pitcher was not bad at all. He mixed up his off speed, but once we got quite a few hits in that inning, his back broke I think and he was just starting to leave stuff over the plate too much. Once you score 10 runs on a team, it is pretty hard for the other team to come back. We did a good job of jumping on him and Jon (Ringenberg) did a good job of pitching strikes, too."

Freshman Josh Ludy

On the team's offensive performance recently

"The last two games we have had pretty good days. I think we have got a lot of talented guys and when they get hot it is going to be like it was tonight. They are just going to keep hitting and it is going to be a lot of trouble for teams."

Sophomore Jon Ringenberg

On his pitching performance

"I felt like my stuff was good. Basically we got a big lead early on and I think that helped: just being able to go out there and really just focusing on trying to keep the ball down and throw strikes and make my defense make plays."

On pitching with an early lead

"It definitely helps. It just relieves that pressure, knowing I can go out there and just focus on hitting my spots, working on pitches and trying to keep the ball down. I don't have to go out there and strike everybody out, just let my defense make plays."