May 21, 2009

Recap | Box Score

Head Coach Steve

On starting Willie Kempf and the game:

"Number one, whoever you start wasn't going to finish. Number two, if you start (Aaron Miller) it really weakens us defensively with Dan Evatt in left field from the start of the game. The play that killed Willie (Kempf) was the bunt play. You are looking at a 3-1 game right there that turns into a 5-1 game. I felt bad for him. He showed enough composure to get out of the inning. That is kind of the way the night was in a lot of ways. We had opportunities. We got the leadoff runner on many times and just didn't execute. They made mistakes. That was a pretty big mistake on their part on that bunt and they don't pay for it--they get two runs out of it. They wild-pitched us home twice. This was a night that if you play the game well, you win the game."

On Baylor's chances to make the NCAA Tournament:

"We have a good RPI and we have a good record against the top 100. If we get in, that will be the only way that we get in. I don't know what is going on around the country with all of the conference tournaments and how many at-larges are going to be won by upsets. You really don't know until all of the tournaments are over. The other thing working against us obviously is our last couple of weeks. We will just have to wait and see."

Junior RF/LHP Aaron Miller

On Baylor's chances to make the NCAA Tournament:

"You never want to leave it up to someone else having to choose, and that is where we are at. I just don't know. It is in somebody else's hands."

On the importance of getting to the Kansas State relievers:

"That was the whole plan. (A.J. Morris) was throwing gas. That was the game plan the whole time; to make him throw some pitches and keep the game close so that maybe we could come back late. That is kind of what we did. We had a little rally there. I came back out and I just hit the guy and then they got another run back, stopping our rally. The whole game we thought we had a chance."

On the importance of the Kansas game:

"We have one more game left and we need to win it. That is really all that we can do. Kansas is another top 30 team so we need to come out and beat them."

Junior SS Shaver Hansen

On officially being eliminated from the Championship game on Sunday:

"Every time you lose you are disappointed. We had our backs against the wall coming into this tournament. We wanted to win every game and obviously now that isn't going to happen. We still have some season left to play so we just have to focus on Saturday's game."

On A.J. Morris:

"He is the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year. (He is great) but we were hitting him pretty well. We just didn't get any breaks today. Baseball doesn't give you breaks. We didn't have things go our way. Willie (Kempf) pitched pretty good. They didn't make any mistakes and that is why the won. They made good plays when they needed to and they got out of jams when they needed to. They were just the better team today."

On Kansas:

"We still have another game to play. We are focused on Kansas and that is where we need to be right now."