Postgame Quotes
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June 1, 2013
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Virginia Coach Brian O’Connor
On the game:
“What a great college baseball game. What an environment, what an electric environment here with our fans. Just a tremendous college baseball game between two really good college ball clubs. I’m so proud of Scott Silverstein, who has come so far and for him to be on the mound, I just hated taking the ball from him after six innings but he had done his job. Certainly our bullpen came in and was fantastic with Josh Sborz and Kyle Crockett. Really proud of our team. It’s amazing this time of year, it doesn’t come easy. We just have to hang in there. The sign of a really good ball club is one that finds a way to win in different ways.”
On UVa’s defense
“I think throughout the game we’ve gotten better defensively. Obviously when (Branden) Cogswell went down, and moving (Nick) Howard to shortstop you don’t know what you’re going to get. We have confidence in Nick, but he hadn’t played there before. I think that they’ve come together really well too. Nick made some fantastic plays tonight, Kenny Towns has done a great job, and I think it’s shaping up to be one of our better defensive ball clubs.”
On Silverstein’s slow pace tonight:
“I think it depends on the situation. There are times where we try to purposely slow the game down a little bit. Elon had over 80 stolen bases going into tonight, so we picked off a lot to first base just to try to keep the double play in order. We teach our guys that rather than speed up with guys on base, slow down and calm down and make good pitches. We’ve been doing that for 10 years and its worked pretty well for us.”
Virginia pitcher Kyle Crockett
On fan support at Davenport
“The fans are awesome. It’s great to have to have the fan support that we have. Every weekend they come out and support us. Their screaming at the end doesn’t hurt, it gets me pumped up.”
UVa Pitcher Scott Silverstein
On pitching out of a 2nd and 3rd jam after Gragnani error
“Reed (Gragnani) has picked me up multiple times all year, so I guess it was my turn to pick him up and I was able to throw pitches for strikes and get pitch to outs.”
On starting his first postseason game as a fifth-year senior
“That’s the reason I came to Virginia. Whether it’s the first year of the fifth year, that’s the environment I came to play in.”
UVa outfielder Kenny Towns
On his RBI double in the 4th:
“One thing I’m trying to do is executing the situation. Nick (Howard) did a good job out there of getting to second and then going to third on the ball in the dirt. He just made it easier for me. All I had to do was hit a sac fly, and was fortunate to come out with a double. But he did a great job; he made it so I only had to hit a sac fly.”
On playing in a regional
“I don’t really think the situation, being in a regional, makes a difference. Just executing the situation, regardless of the situation is what we need to do.”
Elon Coach Mike Kennedy
Opening statement:
“I’m proud of the effort we put forward tonight. I thought we worked some counts offensively, had some opportunities and just didn’t finish a few at bats with guys on base. I thought we worked and made Silverstein work, we made him throw some pitches. We had some opportunities, we just didn’t finish. This guy to my left over here (Medick) was unbelievable, he made pitch after pitch and kept us in there. In a situation like that, you still have a chance, and that’s all we can ask for. It was a great ball game. Silverstein was unbelievable. I thought we worked counts and had opportunities, and he got better. We chased some pitches out of the zone, but a lot of that was because he’s so good in those situations. We’d get guys on base and he was like a different guy, he would just bear down and make pitch after pitch. I’m really proud of our effort, I thought we played hard, I thought we competed well and we had some opportunities. That’s what you want to have in a venue like this, and I think our guys understand that we’ll get better from it, and hopefully we’ll show up tomorrow and play well, and get right back in it tomorrow night.”
On UVa’s second baseman’s error that set up Elon’s best scoring chance:
“We had to play really well to win against a quality team, and they opened the door for us right there. You have to take advantage of those situations. They just beared down and made some pitches. We didn’t see that slider up, and he got us to chase a little bit. We swung out of the zone a little bit there but number one, the mistake created the opportunity, and number two we didn’t take advantage of it.”
Elon Left Fielder Sebastian Gomez
On continuing to leave runners on base:
“It was really frustrating for us. We squared up balls and had pretty good at bats, but we didn’t have that big hit that we needed. It was unfortunate, but we did what we could. Hopefully we will come out tomorrow and put together some quality at bats.”
Elon Pitcher Spencer Medick
On his start after recent poor starts:
“I threw the sinker a lot today and tried to get some ground balls to keep the ball in the park. I was leaving the ball up in the zone a bit too much back in May and April, and I was able to keep the ball down and do a lot of ground balls today.”
On allowing two runs in the 4th inning:
“Obviously every time they score, you wish you could take it back. I think the fastball that he hit up the middle that drove in the run from second was a little up, and the sinker kind of flattened out. The inside fastball I threw that he ripped down the line was a little up as well. I wish I could have brought that down. You can’t really dwell on those pitches, you just have to flush it and go to the next pitch. Then I was able to settle in and not let them get to me.”
Elon Catcher Alex Swim
On his hits against Silverstein:
“He’s a great pitcher obviously. I was just in there battling, trying to get something going.”