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Virginia-Arkansas Postgame Quotes
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NCAA Men’s College World Series
Game 9: Arkansas vs. Virginia Post-Game Press Conference Quotes
Hall of Fame Room, Rosenblatt Stadium
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor:
(opening statement): “This game took everything from Arkansas, it took everything from Virginia, unfortunately we came out on the short end of the stick. I couldn’t be more proud of the kids in our uniforms. No one picked us to get this far, we showed a lot of character and pride. This team will always be remembered as the first team to play in the College World Series from the University of Virginia.”
(about his team’s play): “I thought we pitched well, swung the bat well and had opportunities but didn’t capitalize. That is a credit to Arkansas. That is baseball, but I am so proud of this team.”
(about what he said to his team after the game): “I told them that I couldn’t take the hurt and the pain away because it means so much to them. We felt we had a legitimate chance to win the national title. I am proud of each one of our guys, we got to this point because no one has pointed fingers, they are teammates. And even though the season is over they are still teammates.
Virginia third baseman Steven Proscia:
(about his team’s run to the College World Series): “We’re a young team, and not many people thought we’d be in this situation. We were looking to prove something and I think we did that. We’ve got a lot of young guys that will be looking to get back next year.”
(about the at-bats in extra innings): “We knew if we strung some hits together [in extra innings] we could get some runs across, but unfortunately we couldn’t get that big hit with runners on base. Arkansas did, so we have to tip our caps to them.”
Virginia right fielder Dan Grovatt:
(about the season as a whole): “We had a very young team and a lot of people didn’t think we’d be in the position that we are. We stayed together as a team all year, and that’s why we’re here. Now we have a reason to come back.”
(about extra innings): “We had an opportunity every inning all the way to the end. We just didn’t come up with the big hit and Arkansas did. I left four guys on base myself. It was one of those games where that kid won the battle on 3-2 and got a big hit. We couldn’t come up with one.”
Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn:
(opening statement): “It was just a great ball game to be a part of as a coach. Roller coaster. Those were tough kids that didn’t want to go home.”
(about pitching plans): “We’ve got some guys. Maybe not the guys that would be pitching for us on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We need to find a way to score some runs. We are thin though.”
(about the resiliency of his team all season): “I kept saying we’ve been doing this all year. The way you saw our team play today is what we’ve been doing all year.”
Arkansas outfielder Andrew Darr:
(about being calm during big at-bats): “I tried to have a good at-bat. I was looking for something up in the zone. I’m confident because I’ve been there before. Across the board, it was a good baseball game.”
Arkansas center fielder Brett Eibner:
(about his at-bat in the 9th inning): “I was looking for an off-speed pitch. I got it and put a good swing on it.”
(about where his big hit ranks in his career): “It is one of my top ones, definitely in the College World Series.”
Arkansas pitcher Dallas Keuchel:
(about his pitching performance): “I tell myself I’ve been through this before. I didn’t want to let them go out like that. They kept swinging through the slider and missing.”