Ole Miss-St. John's Quotes

Story Links

St. John’s Quotes
Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer
Opening Statement:
“I guess the bottom line is the long ball hurt us early and the walks hurt us late. We had opportunities to jump this guy (Ole Miss pitcher Drew Pomeranz) and we didn’t take advantage of them. We made one bad base running play and we let them off the hook. I thought he was good but he was also susceptible tonight and we just didn’t take advantage of that.”

On its rally late in the game:
“It was too little, too late. We really let the game get away from us. Kyle Hansen left some fastballs over the plate and when you give Pomeranz a 6-0 lead, you know you’re in trouble. We had opportunities to keep that game close and maybe get to their bullpen and do something but our young pitchers – the Achilles heel of this ballclub – starting giving things away. If we didn’t walk people, it would have been entirely different going into the ninth inning.”

On Ole Miss’ Drew Pomeranz:
“He’s very good. He’s obviously going to be a very high draft pick. We attacked him and looked for fastballs. He’s a two-pitch guy. If he doesn’t get his breaking ball over, you can jump him. He punched out five of our guys but it was at night. I would like to play these guys in the daytime. I don’t think he was as sharp as he was, but he is a very talented young guy who can make a lot of money. I don’t think he was at his A-game.”

Freshman Jeremy Baltz
On Drew Pomeranz’s pitching:
“I thought he threw well but he wasn’t throwing his curveball for a strike. We had some good at bats, but I agree with Coach that we let them off the hook and didn’t get the hits when we needed them. I think if we had gotten that big hit when we needed it, this would have been a totally different ballgame. It seemed as if every time we had runners on, Pomeranz would make that big pitch to get us out. We didn’t come through when we had to.”

On his homerun in the eighth inning and the mood surrounding it:
“It was a fastball. I was looking for a first pitch fastball and he threw it. We’re never going to give up and I think that the home run gave us some hope and some life. We started to put some bats on the ball and get on base after that. We were one batter away from getting the tying run at the plate. We were almost there and maybe that home run gave us some life to get us there.”

Freshman Kyle Hansen
On his four-inning outing:
“I felt good going out there but I couldn’t get my fastball over for a strike in the beginning. Once I did get it over the plate it was flat and missed the location. I thought my slider was my best pitch and whenever that happens, it is not a good day.”

Ole Miss Postgame Quotes
Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco Quotes
Opening statement
“I thought we played well tonight – of course Drew [Pomeranz] pitched seven shutout innings and continues to amaze me in the brilliant career he has had. Tonight – I don’t know, maybe nine or 10 days rest since his last start, probably wasn’t as sharp with his command, but it’s amazing – I was talking on the radio – how critical we are of it, which really isn’t fair because at the end of the day he just doesn’t give up runs.”

“Offensively I thought we were terrific – we only had single digit hits, fortunately for us, they [St. John’s] had some trouble finding the strike zone – that gave us a lot of opportunities. I though we were very efficient on offense, we got some bunts, we got some key base hits – and certainly some home runs in a very big park. I thought we played pretty well.”

On if he would use Drew Pomeranz again during the weekend regional
“I think the only way we would use him if we got to Monday and obviously check to see how he feels – but that is far away.”

“I thought we had a good plan and swung with a lot of confidence. We were efficient – we seemed like we swung at strikes and got good swings off – but when they fell behind or walked people we didn’t chase many bad pitches. When there were opportunities to bunt we did those things, we got runners in with sacrifice flies. I thought it was a good night for us offensively.”

Junior Tim Ferguson
On Ole Miss’ quick start
“It was real important – our offense had been struggling – to come out early and swing it early with two freshmen coming up big was huge. Tanner [Mathis] had been out a while, but he started today and was awesome – had a big triple for us that pumped us up and really set the tone for the rest of the game.”

Junior Drew Pomeranz
On early-inning struggles
“I struggled to find my rhythm a bit towards the beginning of the game – once I settled in a bit it all started to come together. I felt a lot more comfortable out there on the mound.”

On early two-run Ole Miss lead
“It really didn’t change my mindset with what I was doing – it is always good to have run support. You feel a little more comfortable when you get up six or seven runs because there is some breathing room – but I still just want to go after people to win the game.”

Freshman Tanner Mathis
On missing past month and appearing in first NCAA Tournament game
“I just told myself to ‘stay patient, stay calm’ – I was on deck and [Drew] Pomeranz told me to swing just like I do in batting practice. I did and I connected with it. All my swings the rest of the game after the triple were like my BP swings and I think that helped a lot what he told me.”