2011 Corvallis Regional -- Game 2
June 03, 2011 | Baseball
June 3, 2011
Oregon State 7, Arkansas-Little Rock 4
June 3, 2011
Goss Stadium
Corvallis, Ore.
Oregon State Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Pat Casey
Opening Statement...
"First of all, I think Arkansas-Little Rock played very well. They must have struggled early because they played well. They shut out Oklahoma. I talked to our players before our game they were a club that was going to come out and had nothing to lose; I thought they played extremely well. I thought that when you haven't won for a long time, it makes it difficult because you press and you fight and then when you can't get a hit when you need one, which we didn't, it really makes it worse. Then when you misplace a fly ball you feel like this is never going to end. I have to give the players a ton of credit for sticking with it and really battling and getting through some tough times."
On Ryan Barnes not playing last year and coming in and shining...
"He's a typical guy in our program who comes here and develops and becomes a player. There's not a challenge that you give him he isn't going to give you 100%. That's the thing that I appreciate, he doesn't care if I put him in the nine hole, left field, one hole, sit him. He does a nice job for us and he battles. All of our guys battle; we just go through tough times. We've been going through some tough times and I don't think there's a team in the country that doesn't go through a difficult span. We just picked the wrong time."
On throwing James Nygren...
"I went all the way into yesterday, I never slept since Tuesday, trying to figure it out. I just felt like I have to go Sam (Gaviglio) and then I started to think about how I can't put these guys that need a day's rest. They've been doing it for us every weekend, and if that's what they tell me then we need to trust in our staff."
On the relief of finally scoring some runs...
"Yeah, it was hard for me in the dugout not to get excited. I kept my composure and did what everybody else does and said `let's go.' It's hard when you can't play. It's so much easier when you can play. When you can't play and you want to go up and hit, you can't hit. I think the guys appreciate that about me and I think they understand. I was with them the whole time. It's just a game of baseball; it's unforgettable."
On how well this set's up for the rest of the weekend...
"It depends on how the guy goes on the mound and throws it. We've got some young guys. Sometimes they go out there and get it done and sometimes they don't. You just have to trust at this time of year we're not reinventing the wheel, it's what we've done and we're staying with it. If we wanted to change things, we would have changed it when we got beat by USC, we would have changed it when we got beat by Oregon. It's kind of what Carter (Bell) is saying. We got the guy's together and said let's not panic, let's not buy into the fact that we're struggling."
First Baseman Danny Hayes
On his homerun and if seeing that many pitches help...
"My first swing of the day was not that great when he threw a changeup. Casey tells you not to changeup and I definitely should have listened to that because I looked ridiculous. Seeing pitches was big and you can't miss the one you hit. The guy was just nibbling the outside corner all day and he left one up."
On how it's gratifying to come off the bench to this...
"At the end of the year I was struggling. I'm here to hit and I wasn't doing that. I'd go with Casey's call on that too. Of course it feels good but I'm just here to help the team win. If I can hit the ball a little bit and our pitchers keep dealing, I have all the confidence in the world in our guys."
Third Baseman Carter Bell
On getting the dugout fired up after his double...
"We just had to stop playing scared and come out with the fire that we wanted to and talked about yesterday so that was really the turning point. Danny (Hayes) getting the big hit and getting his face on the scoreboard that's a definitely a booster for the team. We've been doing the claw all season so now that we have the team Mohawks, we've been doing the hawks now. The tomahawk was what that was all about."
On any panic in the dugout...
"After we had that missed fly ball in the outfield, myself and a few other guys could feel the tension and we just needed to loosen up and start being the hunters and not being the hunted. That's when our mentality really opened up and we really started to get on the attack and started to play the baseball that Oregon State plays. We want to play through nine innings and its better late than never and we're going to come out tomorrow and bring out that same intensity all night."
On if they can relax after this win...
"I think it definitely settles our nerves a little bit. We have a pretty young squad and so this is a lot of guy's first regional and playing at home in front of our crowd for a few guys it might be a little nerve-wracking. To get those butterflies out of the way and to get that first win at home in front of Beaver Nation is special for everybody and definitely brings momentum for the next few games."
Outfielder Ryan Barnes
On if the leadoff spot has been hard...
"Hitting in front of Jared (Norris) and (Andrew) Susac and Kavin (Keyes), I got a lot of hits tonight, got lucky, got some good hits and got some good swings on it. It was a great effort by the team. We battled and got the clutch hits in the end when we needed it."
On feeling on top of the world...
"Coach Bailey actually moved me in about three or four steps before two pitches before, so I guess you can give Bailey credit for that. The wind was blowing out and it just caught up in the wind and I happened to go out and make it snag."
Arkansas-Little Rock Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Scott Norwood
Opening Statement
"First of all, I just want to congratulate Coach Casey and Oregon State for being a fine host. They won the baseball game today because they out-executed us right through the middle of the ballgame to the end of the game. I was very proud of the way our guys played. I thought we handled ourselves extremely well in a hostile environment. I think there are a lot of people that doubted and wondered why we are here and I think you see the resolve and fight in the kids that I have and the way this program is headed.
For us to walk in here and play a team that's at the top at the Pac-10 and playing at a mid-major conference, we aren't satisfied with losing. We expect to walk out on the field everyday and win and we expect to do that tomorrow as well. We are going to acknowledge the things we didn't do right and never accept them and are going to fix it and come out here with a good attitude and a lot of resolve tomorrow and try to get back on the winning track. Oregon State deserves the victory today."
On Oregon State starting James Nygren at pitcher...
"You have to ask Coach (Casey) what happened with that. I have enough worries with my own team than to start worrying about somebody else's. All of their staff is good. Whoever we face is going to be tough. We did a good job of being patient and we did good shooting the ball the other way. I think the turning point was when we had a chance to add to the lead when it was 4-2 and get two more and it didn't work out in our favor that way. And their bullpen did a fantastic job of slowing us down and giving them a better chance to win and they did. They got a couple of swings at the end and that's where the difference was."
Shortstop Greg Garcia
On taking the lead and feeling like it would be their night...
"Everyone felt that way. If you had told me two nights ago that we would have a four-run lead as a four-seed halfway through the game, I think everyone would have been comfortable in that situation. But it's a game of momentum and when we had a chance to keep that momentum, it slipped through our fingers. When it went to Oregon State's favor, you just felt it unravel right before us."
