Postgame Quotes
Story Links
NCAA Men’s College World Series
Game 2: Virginia vs. Louisiana State Postgame Press Conference Quotes
Hall of Fame Room, Rosenblatt Stadium
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Louisiana State head coach Paul Mainieri:
(opening statement): “That was a game we haven’t had for most of the season, where we had a subpar performance from our starting pitcher. Our defense made some great plays to keep us in the game, then our offense came to life and gave us some separation.”
(on which hit was the biggest): “The bats came to life midway through the came, Ochinko’s home run was the big knock. It was nice to win the first game of the College World Series one time; this is the first time we’ve done that in a long time.”
(on the defensive plays): “When Schimpf came in after that diving catch in the outfield, I told him that he’d really improved since the early innings … All the plays were very important. Our defense kept us in the game, because we weren’t pitching very well. [Virginia] hit the ball really hard, but we made the plays. We’ve preached to our guys, if you’re not hitting, make a play on defense. It’s going to take a little of everything to win a championship.”
Louisiana State outfielder junior Ryan Schimpf:
(on his home run Saturday): “He left a pitch up, a change-up, and I put a good swing on it. It wasn’t even the biggest spot of the game though Sean [Ochinko]’s home run was big too.”
Louisiana State first baseman junior Sean Ochinko:
(on his home run Saturday): “It was good to be able to help the team and drive in some runs, even though I struck out three times too… I was just happy to help the team. I’m not going to lie to you guys, that [home run] was the most important baseball moment of my life. ”
Louisiana State pitcher senior Louis Coleman:
(on the state of his shoulder for Monday’s start): “[My shoulder] is feeling fine, and I’m definitely ready for Monday. I’ve done this a couple times before [a relief appearance two days before a start]… This was actually one of the fewest number of pitches I’ve thrown [in a relief outing] all year.”
(on being on the winning end of the first game of the CWS): “We’ll definitely sleep easier tonight having a win under our belts. We’ve got to get ready for a great team on Monday. It’s nice to have a couple of days off, but we’ve got a tough team to face Monday in Arkansas.”
Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor:
(Opening statement): “It was a great college baseball game up until the 8th. They were very aggressive. You play a team like LSU and not make plays, they’ll burn you. Give LSU credit. We left 13-14 runners on base. LSU made the plays. We couldn’t come up with the big hit. I’m proud of our club.”
(on taking Danny Hultzen out of game): “He’s been our guy all year. He’s nineteen years old. He’s a special pitcher. He had a tough time putting LSU away. LSU did a nice job of battling.”
(on responding): “I’m not worried. Our team showed resiliency. Team has tremendous pride. We’ll be ready to play on Monday.
Virginia catcher Franco Valdes:
(on hitting in bottom of lineup): “The bottom of the lineup is doing well. They pitch less to us. It helps team as a whole.”
Virginia second baseman Keith Werman:
(on hitting in bottom of lineup): “Getting on base gives guys in the top a better chance to make things happen.”
Virginia pitcher Danny Hultzen:
(on LSUs hitting game): “LSU is very talented and I made some bad pitches. They took advantage and gave us trouble.”