May 31, 2008
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Nebraska Postgame Quotes
NCAA Lincoln Regional
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Nebraska Press Conference
Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening Statement
"It was a tough one. From our side of things, I thought our effort was outstanding. The kids played hard and were very focused. We did a great job all the way around with our kids and performed at a very high level.
From their side of things, I thought they were exceptional. Their lefthander (Daniel Bibona) was outstanding. He located every pitch - off-speed, fastballs, you name it. The fastballs were in to right-handers; changeups were out to right-handers. Off-speed was away. He was locating just about everything. That's pretty tough to hit when a fellow is doing that. We tip our hats to him and try to move on, but I'm pleased with the kids' effort. I'm disappointed that we lost, but not disappointed in our kids."
On Nebraska's offense
"Their pitcher did a pretty good job. Once again, I'm disappointed that we lost, not disappointed in my kids. They fought. They kept fighting and trying to find a different way. He (Bibona) was pretty darn good tonight, so I wouldn't put it on any of these kids and say they did something wrong."
On the road Nebraska faces to winning the regional
"We have to fight. We've been there. We'll see. It's a tough task, but you have to take it one game at a time. Its so cliché, but these kids will get in the locker room, sleep on it, get ready to play tomorrow, and we'll see what happens. You can't win the third game until you win the first."
On Nebraska starter Johnny Dorn
"It's Johnny Dorn. I don't mean that as a noun; that's an active. That's what he does. We gave up a hit or two, with runners on first and second and get out of it; runners on second and third and get out of it. Five years from now when we have that situation, we'll just say 'Johnny Dorn.'"
Infielder Jake Opitz
On UC Irvine starter Daniel Bibona
"We had opportunities early that we couldn't take advantage of. He settled in there, and we even struggled to get guys on base, let alone getting some runs.
"He had three pitches that he was spotting up. Our guys were chasing balls in the dirt. You expect him to throw strikes, and you get that pitch with two strikes, and you can't lay off it."
On coming back to win the regional
"It's tough, but we've been here before. We've won doubleheaders before all season, so we're confident. We're ready to go tomorrow."
On Daniel Bibona's adjustments during the game
"To be honest, he was on the whole game. He had one mistake that I got, but other than that, he was on all day."
Pitcher Johnny Dorn
On giving up a home run to UC Irvine's Ollie Linton "I think it was a 1-2 count. I wanted to bury it and didn't get it on the ground at all. I think it was down in the zone, but he made a good swing and made me pay for my mistake."
On making possibly his last start at Hawks Field
"I think I'm going to have a chance to see it again. If we win two ballgames and get there Monday, who knows, I might be out there again."
On his pitching performance
"I felt good. I thought it was one of my best outings, but they just put the bat on the ball and it fell in there sometimes. They got some good ABs, and you have to give them credit."
UC Irvine Postgame Quotes
NCAA Lincoln Regional
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Coach Mike Gillespie
On the game
"I think I can only state the obvious and say that it was an exceptionally well-played college baseball game, not the kind of game you often see in college baseball. I think everybody expects, with the aluminum bat, that you just don't see these kinds of games very often. It was a really clean, crisp, well-played game. Both pitchers pitched outstanding. We're of course extraordinarily proud of Danny (Bibona) and Eric Pettis. We felt like we got really good defense on three or four different occasions.
We strung together three hits in the second inning with two outs. The guy that we've come to expect home runs from (Ollie Linton) jumped the yard and we made it hold up."
On the impact of Linton's home run on the rest of the game
"I certainly felt that it was big. We as a coaching staff felt that the game would figure to be a 3-2 game. Literally, the talk we had before the game was that Danny, who is capable of doing this and who has done it consistently would be able to do what he's always done, which is hold them down. It (the home run by Linton) was the fifth inning and it made it 3-2. I certainly did not feel like we wouldn't get any more or we couldn't get any more, but on the other hand, you realize that we just got a giant hit. We felt like we had the right guy on the mound and our best defense on the field, so we felt like we were in the best position possible to protect that kind of a lead."
Outfielder Ollie Linton
On his home run
"I felt like I got into it. I got it really high. It was a curveball that he threw down and in and I just dropped the head of the bat and luckily, I got enough on it to get it out of the ballpark."
On his approach
"I don't go up there thinking I'm going to hit a home run. I try to put the ball on the ground and make the defense make the play. If I run into a few balls, I'm happy about it. In that situation, I was trying to keep my same approach and luckily enough, I ran into a curveball that he left a bit higher than he had been during the game."
Pitcher Daniel Bibona
On his performance on the mound
"In the beginning, I felt like I had all my pitches working, but that I was just a little timid. Toward the end of the game, I really felt like my slider and fastball command were good and I fed off the crowd."
On feeding off the crowd
"In the beginning of the game, it was a little overwhelming because I've never pitched in an atmosphere like that before. When they were all clapping in the seventh or eighth inning, I felt like they were all clapping for me."
On bouncing back after NU's third-inning home run
"I regrouped a little bit. Those two hitters (Mitch Abeita and Jake
Opitz) were very good. I felt like I had to be a little more careful with them. It (the home run) was a 3-1 pitch that I hung a little bit and he did what he's supposed to do with it."
Shortstop Ben Orloff
On the atmosphere
"It's really awesome being out here. Some of the guys were saying, 'this is college baseball'. With this atmosphere and playing a really quality team like Nebraska, that's just a well-played game."
On being confident in pressure situations
"I think a lot of it has to do (with the fact) that we've been here before. We're not nervous. We know that, if we play well, we have a good chance to win any day against anybody."
On Ollie Linton's power
"I joke with Ollie. I say he's the poor man's Ryan Howard. He does an unbelievable job at the top getting us going and once in a while, he runs into one. He's unbelievable."
On executing fundamentals on the basepaths
"It's stuff we work on all the time in that, as soon as you get on base, you know how many outs there are, you pick up the coach and know where the outfield is playing. With one out, they were playing (Jeff) Cusick a little deep. I saw that he had gotten jammed a little bit and I knew that ball was down as soon as he hit because I had checked to see where they were playing him before the pitch."
