University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina Postgame Quotes
June 7, 2008 | Baseball
June 7, 2008
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North Carolina Head Coach Mike Fox
Opening Statement:
"The story of our team all year long has been defense and pitching. I think that was the story here today. We pitched well and especially to get a good outing from our starter and get good balance. If we play defense behind him, we usually put ourselves in a good position to where we have a shot to win. They opened the door for us some, obviously early. Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of it some. Obviously, we are happy to get away with a win today and survive a long hot day, get ready to do it again tomorrow."
On White's lengthy performance:
"That was important for us. I think we may have pushed him too much, sending him out there in the eighth. He was under one-hundred pitches, so we had a good lead and we were thinking if we can just squeeze one more out of him and save our bullpen. Unfortunately, it did not work out that way and we had to go to the bullpen. It was an important strong performance from Alex, given the circumstances with the heat and a big game."
Center fielder Seth Williams
On his outstanding play in centerfield:
"It is very important to a get a good jump on the ball especially in a park like Cary with big power alleys. We have a good scouting report on these guys and with a guy like Alex on the mound, who throws hard, they aren't going to turn on the ball too much."
On avoiding the distractions today:
"Well, I mean it is do or die this time of the year. This time of the year, you are going to get everybody's best and we are going to give them our best. I guess it just brings out the best out of everybody."
Starting pitcher Alex White
On dealing with the heat:
"The trainers kept me cool all day throughout the innings with wet rags. I got through it and just drank a lot of water."
On being one win away from Omaha:
"That is the key right there - we are one win away. Coastal is a very good team; they are not going to just fold on us. We have to win one more game and be ready."
Coastal Carolina Head Coach Gary Gilmore
On the team's defensive play:
"We have a good pitching staff, but we don't have high-strikeout guys. So, when we make mistakes, they compound themselves. Let's give credit where credit's due, every time we made a mistake, North Carolina capitalized on it. When you make an error and then you turn around and get a strikeout, you can run with those kinds of things. We're just not that kind of a staff."
Catcher Dock Doyle
On his approach to the plate today facing Alex White
"We just got caught in the dust. A lot of pitchers try to pitch to me and Tommy the same way, but he didn't do that. He did a good job moving around all the pitches and just kept us off balance all day."
Right-fielder Tommy Baldridge
On UNC's team:
"They're a great team; best pitching staff in the nation. Pitching like that, a couple run is really not going to win."
Centerfielder David Sappelt
On the difficulty of covering a lot of ground in the outfield:
"It's a real different adjustment from our field, but it's all about how long the ball stays in the air. The higher you hit, the easier it is to track down with more space. It's not that difficult, but just more room to get extra base hits."
On loosing focus with so many errors:
"Looking at it from the outfield, I felt like the more the errors and close calls were coming on in the heat, it was too much mentally for our guys. But that's just something that we've got to get better at and come back tomorrow and make an adjustment."
