2011 Corvallis Regional -- Game 3
June 4, 2011
Georgia 7, Arkansas-Little Rock 3
June 4, 2011
Goss Stadium
Corvallis, Ore.
Georgia Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach David Perno
Opening Statement
"We got our guy going today. Levi (Hyams) was tremendous and got us off to the kind of start we needed. Alex (Wood) was solid, very solid. I thought in the early innings he was doing a good job and making it work. You have to give credit to Arkansas-Little Rock. They put their run together with two outs and nobody on. But all and all, I thought it was more of a complete effort from us."
On bouncing back from yesterday's loss...
"We've had to do that a lot this year. We've had a lot of losses and had to bounce back a ton. We're accustomed to it. I thought the only piece we've missed yesterday was offensive pressure. We did a much better job at that standpoint today. We pitched well the last two days and played pretty good defense, really good defense. So that was the missing piece and our guy Levi (Hyams) got it going for us."
On battling back in the loser's bracket...
"We are kind of going by one win away. You just take care of it and you get momentum going. We are going to need a couple of people that may have not had great seasons step and do something special tomorrow. I don't think we really have lit it up offensively yet either. I think Levi (Hyams) got going today but there's a lot left there. Once Kyle (Farmer) gets going and, of course, we got a big pop from (Brett) DeLoach today so we have a lot of pieces. We have a couple of guys on the bench that probably will get some shots tomorrow. We have plenty of juice. It's about taking care of tomorrow's game at 1:00 and then anything can happen and you're in the championship and who knows."
On starting Brett DeLoach......
"He makes it easy. He always steps up for us when we need it. He's been really good for us all year. He might not be the match tomorrow, but we got plenty of guys and plenty of options to put something together tomorrow."
Second Baseman Levi Hyams
On turning his hitting around today...
"I kind of shut everything down and talked to some of the guys and kind of reset my attitude and my approach at the plate. I stopped trying to do too much and just focused on squaring the ball up, barreling the ball and everything else will take care of itself and I'm just glad it turned around."
On ever leading the game off with a homerun before...
"I don't think so. I've don't think I've led off one with a homerun. It's kind of a nice and a good way to get it started."
Pitcher Alex Wood
On the early homerun for him and the team...
"Especially after the way Michael (Palazzone) threw our first game yesterday and not having a lot of offense pressure like Coach (Perno) said to lead off the game with a homerun definitely had a little weight lifted off my shoulders. I had a feeling we'd score some runs for me today and that was definitely a little weight off my shoulders and a weight off everybody. With him kind of opening it up and saying `it's time to get the bats going' and get some runs on the board and give me some help and get us to Sunday."
Arkansas-Little Rock Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Scott Norwood
Opening Statement
"First of all, congratulations to Georgia. They played very well today. Coach Perno is a class act. I was actually thrilled to play those guys today. I told those guys in the end that the University of Arkansas-Little Rock is now on the map. We can play with Georgia; we can play with Oregon State. People told us that we could not do things at this place and they played hard. I love these guys for what they do for me. They make a coach have a great job; it's fun. People told me I'm an idiot for taking this job. That it would kill my career. You don't kill careers when you have great athletes, great student-athletes, and that's what we have. They played with a chip on their shoulder like their coach does and we played emotional. We're thrilled to be here, but we are not happy with the result. I can promise you this, we will be back."
On Levi (Hyam's) performance today...
"I thought Levi was pretty impressive. When you get a guy, just like Greg (Garcia) does at the top of our lineup, he just starts the day off. And when you start with a leadoff homerun, it just kind of puts an air that it's going to be a tough day. That kid's pretty good and you can see why he's leading them in hitting. He was a tough out and we didn't have the answers for him today. He had almost half their hits."
On staying in the game for so long...
"We were down 1-0 and sitting right in there and Cal (Calvin Drinnen) just pitched. Today he didn't have his best stuff. We had an opportunity to get back in the game. They made a great pick move and I think that strung the momentum right there and got out of it and then they had that big homerun and there was another close play at third. Some days it goes your way and some days it doesn't. He was in a great position and made a good call, so you have to tip your hat to those guys for executing when they had the opportunity to take advantage of a big break and they did."
On what they will be taking away from this experience...
"It's extremely helped in our recruiting already. It's been fantastic. There are some kids that we were about two or three away from finishing our class and it just helps. We're on TV, we're on the highlights, we're in newspapers now and we're going to have some opportunities to play in the pro park downtown a little bit more next year, which helps our visibility. I think we won the hearts of a lot of Oregon State fans last night with how hard we played. I told you we were going to come in here and get right in their grill right off the bat and I think we just ran out of gas today. You could see that in the end and that's part of it. Sometimes it doesn't end the way you want, but you have to keep fighting. There's a light at the end of the tunnel and we're going to keep fighting until we get there."
Second Baseman Jason Houston
On being part of this team...
"It's been amazing. We got a good solid senior class coming back from last year and we brought in a bunch of good guys. It's just been a fun run here at the end. Nothing to lose from the get-go, making postseason; it's indescribable."
Shortstop Greg Garcia
On proving they belong...
"This program is definitely moving in the right direction. Before the season started, we were picked last in the Sun Belt. No one gave us a chance then and we weren't supposed to do anything in the regional tournament. We weren't supposed to beat Troy. We weren't supposed to beat FIU. We weren't supposed to make regionals and yet here we are. That's a tribute to him (Coach Norwood) and that's a tribute to all of us. And, like he said, we can play with anyone in the country and this program is definitely moving in the right direction."
