University of North Carolina Athletics
Post Game Quotes
May 30, 2009 | Baseball
May 30, 2009
Recap |
Box Score |
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UNC Head Coach Mike Fox
"After the first three innings, I thought we played exceptionally well; some of our best baseball defensively, and we had some great relief pitching. We needed to hit some balls in the gap and get runners in scoring position, and we were able to do that. It seemed like that was contagious and we were able to hit some balls hard."
"It was a big win for us. We had big performances from just about everyone in the lineup and it was good to see. We needed a game like this."
Ben Bunting, Sophomore, LF
On his three-run double...
"I think it gave us a lot of momentum. We were just trying to find a way to get ahead and it gave us the push to make a run.
On the effort and the win. This was definitely a team effort. We weren't trying to put an emphasis just on Dustin (Ackley). I think we made it easier on him to get on base and do what he does best."
On facing Coastal Carolina pitcher Cody Wheeler...
"We just knew we needed to not give into his game and swing at his pitches. We knew we needed to take our own approach and try to hit balls on the nose."
Colin Bates, RS-Sophomore, RHP
On facing Coastal Carolina...
"I don't forget how I've done in the past against Coastal, but as soon as the game starts you have to forget about it. It doesn't matter who we play, I have to get out there and play my game, throw strikes and make them hit me, and my defense made some great plays behind me."
Levi Michael, Freshman, 2B
"I thought this was a team effort. Everyone pitched in offensively and everyone got on base one way or another."
On Coastal's pitching...
"Coastal has very good pitching but tonight I was just seeing the ball well. I stayed back on a couple of change-ups and didn't try to do too much with them."
Coastal Carolina Head Coach Gary Gilmore
Opening Statement...
"Things didn't go the way we had hoped they would go. Mike [Fox] did a great job with his team getting them prepared. Obviously I'll take all the blame for my team. We weren't very prepared to get the job done and get their hitters out. I don't know what else to say. We failed at the opportunity we had, and we'll the pay the price having to come through the losers bracket, see if we get a shot at them tomorrow."
On Cody Wheeler, Starting Pitcher
"It got to a point where you can't get the ball over the plate. You get frustrated. You talk about our five hits. The reason we [usually] don't get five hits, the reason they got 17, their pitchers got them on and off the field. We're out there for marathon half-innings defensively. Baseball is a game of rhythm. When your pitcher gets you on and off the field, you score runs. The reason we scored so many against Kansas was a total reversal of this game. That's it. Cody just wasn't himself. He didn't pitch very well in our conference tournament, a lot of very similar things to this. I hoped he would bounce back, and it just happened to not be a better game. Matt Rein did okay. I thought the at-bat that broke our back in my mind was the at-bat by Seager, the ball off the end of the bat, the drop-shot in center field. That was the one that kind of broke our back. It was a 6-5 game, two outs, and he hits a ball off the end, a good job of hitting. Rico [Noel]'s out there running them down left and right, and it was the one spot on the field he wasn't able to cover."
Rico Noel, Sophomore, CF
On Carolina's three-run double in the third to regain the lead...
"Any time that happens, any time you're up, a three-run double in the gap hurts a lot. It definitely didn't bring us out of the game. We battled back from a lot of stuff, we were ready to respond, and it just didn't go the way we wanted to."
On trying to win the regional through the loser's bracket...
"We did it in our conference tournament. We came back from a loss. I think our team's ready to respond. We always are. When adversity sets in, I think we respond very well. We're ready to step up to the challenge."
