Post Game Quotes - William & Mary vs. Bryant

Story Links

June 4, 2016

Post-Game Quotes

2016 NCAA CHARLOTTESVILLE BASEBALL REGIONAL
Davenport Field – Charlottesville, Va.

2016 NCAA Division I Baseball Regional – Game 3
June 4, 2016 – 11 a.m.
William & Mary (30-30) vs. Bryant (47-12)

College of William & Mary Quotes

William & Mary Coach Brian Murphy
Opening Statement:

“Excited to keep playing. We beat a good baseball team today. They are a 47-win team, so a lot of credit to Bryant for their season. I thought we played a really clean baseball game. I thought we got a really great start from Nick, which was much needed at this point in the tournament. We played some good situational offense there in the third, we were able to answer Rinn’s homerun with Hall’s homerun and a couple of late inning guys were able to hold onto it for us. It was a good team win.”

On the mindset of elimination games:

“In an elimination type of game there isn’t a whole lot to say. You just tell them our job is to get to the next game. We were in that mentality three times before we got to the final game of the CAA Championship and we are in the same spot here. We will do whatever we need to do to get to tomorrow.”

On Nick Brown’s pace:

“I would love it if everyone worked that fast, but some guys aren’t comfortable doing it. I know defenders obviously love playing behind it. He does a lot of things well, but I do think his tempo is a big key for him.”

Second Basemen Cullen Large
On scoring from second on an infield hit:

“Yeah we always go through a couple of those a year where he sends us on those because he knows a lot of things happen, especially in the six hole like that. It’s a really tough throw that takes a lot of time and a lot of defensive teams don’t expect that so it is really good for us. We’ve done it in the past so I was expecting it.”

Starting Pitcher Nick Brown

On his quick pace throughout the game:
“Every game we run into a couple of situations where timing is an issue for the other team. It wasn’t much of a surprise, but it wasn’t anything we hadn’t dealt with before, just doing what we do game to game.”

On staying ahead of hitters:
“I think Friday pitchers, staying ahead of batters is a really big key and today it worked out, we got ahead of a lot of guys, all of our pitches were working which helped us get ahead without much trouble so it was really nice to be ahead and get a lot of batters out.”

Bryant University Quotes

Bryant Coach Steve Owens
Opening Statement:

“Just very disappointed. You are always disappointed when your season ends, but we really felt we were prepared and had been playing at a very high level last weekend. Yesterday was a really close game right until that one inning, and today we kind of got behind the eight ball, they put a three-spot up on us. We made a pitching change, [Brandon Bingel] was not as he has been, and then we made a pitching change and Steve [Theetge] did a really good job keeping the game at bay. The only way we scored runs this weekend was to hit home runs, and it’s too big of a park. The continuity to our offense was not there. I do not think we got a hit with runners on base one time in two games, so we got some stuff going, we have a very good offense, and we have had very good continuity to our at bats, and we did not have it, and that is the bottom line. I thought our defense was good enough. We gave up one run today, but it was good base running on their part. We just went cold at the wrong time of the year.”

On the seniors and the status of the program:

“They have been great. They lead us to three 40-win seasons in the last four years. Other than yesterday’s game we have been in one one-run games in the regional, and I think that was why we were rewarded with a two-seed with a little bit of reputation, and unfortunately we did not show that and we were really hoping to. Maybe, I think, we were hoping too much. There was some uneasiness and some tension, and I think we pressed a little bit when we did not do that all year. You cannot do that and be successful in athletics. Our program is a young Division I program. We just built some tremendous facilities that will help us be more prepared and practice and study better. We have great leadership from our president, and our board, and our athletics director, and our support staff all the way down. We have a lot of followers in our program now, which is cool because it really was not there a few years ago, so there is a lot of buzz about our program. We try to represent Bryant athletics through our baseball team at the highest level in how we act, how we compete. We try to play against really good teams in order to prepare us for this setting, so we are very fortunate. I think we have earned a lot of respect through hard work and having players who develop and come out to play for you everyday and we are hoping to continue to build that. We are not happy. I am happy for what our players accomplished this year, but I am really disappointed in how we played this weekend. Sometimes that can help motivate you going forward. We did not get to the regional last year, and we were omniscient to get back here and I really felt good about what was going to happen, and it did not happen. A couple of the boys that pitched, James Karichak is back, Steve Theetge is back, a lot of the other guys are back, so there are a couple of good arms to build on that got their feet wet out here and showed that they are pretty good.”

Robby Rinn
On the pace of Nick Brown:

“I think it was maybe something at the beginning of the game that affected us a little bit, but we adjusted to it. I think our biggest problem today was he was getting ahead of us. He was getting ahead of batters, we were chasing stuff that was not in the zone, so I do not think it was as much his tempo, it was just that he was getting ahead, but we helped him out in a lot of situations. We were chasing stuff in the dirt, swinging at the high fastball, and taking strikes, so I think it was a little more on us than his tempo.”

On the lack of offensive production:
“It’s really disappointing. It is not what we expected at all when we were coming down here. We knew what we had, we still know what we had, and we did not put it forward well. We did not really show everyone just how good we were. We still know what we are in the locker room, but at the national stage, no one really knows what our offense can do, and that is just something that is really disappointing.”

On the pitch that he hit for a homerun:
“It was a 3-2 count. A fastball that he left a little bit up and a little bit inside, but I just got my hands around enough to get to it. He did not seem to leave his fastball up over the plate very much. He hit his spots pretty good. It was a tight zone, and he worked very well.”

On leaving the game:
“I never want to come out of the game, but we had a good matchup with our lefty and he gave us a better opportunity to get out of that jam than I did.”