June 1, 2008
Nebraska Postgame Quotes
NCAA Lincoln Regional
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Nebraska Press Conference
Head Coach Mike Anderson
Opening Statement
"It's a tough group of kids to let go. I'd also say that they're probably a group of kids that are more ready for the world than a lot of others who have come through here. It's tough for me to let them go, but they're going to be just fine as they move on. I'm really proud of them. I'm really proud of the group of seniors that we had. We always talk about adversity, and adversity created an opportunity for these kids. Last spring, this summer, this fall - it created an opportunity to prove to people that this team and this program were good kids who did things the right way and worked hard. Our seniors set the tone for that, and I'm extremely proud of that group for doing that. That came from some difficult times. This group has left a nice legacy, and I can't say enough about them and how proud I am of them, not just on the field, but off the field. This game can be an extremely humbling game, and obviously that is the case today. This one day won't represent to me what these kids represent, and I'm proud of them for that."
On the difference between the loss today and last night
"I thought we were a little bit flat. I was fearful of that. Leaving that night game, losing like we did with a tough loss, we tried to shake it off. I kind of anticipated us to be down 1-0, 2-0 after the first couple of innings and seeing what we could do after that. That's the way the game is played. You see that stuff all the time. But they did a good job of locating some pitches. I didn't think we were very disciplined. Throughout this year, we were able to hide some of our weaknesses. Teams see you play, and they attack you the same way they did last night."
On struggling against left-handed pitching
"I think it's exaggerated in the fact that you're in a regional, and it makes it look like it's a bigger factor than it is. Oklahoma State had two left-handers, and they got us. Those things show up. I think Oral Roberts did a good job of figuring out what they needed to match up with us, and they got us. That's why we play a lot of games in the game of baseball.
You hope to get the right matchup in the regional and hope to get the right situation. If you do, and you have some savvy and moxie, you move through it. We just didn't have it."
On finding energy going into today's game
"Scoring early was the big thing. I think they had the same intention because they're not too much of a bunting team. They try to do everything they can to score early. They did, and we didn't. We didn't have that early. They came at it, and we were going to have to work for our runs. We were going to try just about anything. From a pitching standpoint, everybody was on call. A two-run homer hurts. Three runs, we can figure out a way to try to make that up and stay in it mentally. Six runs is difficult. That happened quickly, and we had a full bullpen and guys ready to pitch."
On the team's performance since the Texas A&M series
"I would say this team kept trying to move on. We had adversity, some of it in the beginning, middle and end. We got some losses in the end. I wouldn't categorize our loss today as because of (Texas) A&M. It's always a mindset to stay even-keeled in the game of baseball and not get too far down or up. These kids aren't patting themselves on the back; that's not the issue. This team plays with a lot of emotion. We got 41 wins this year because of the energy and what these guys did to create that. You leave it out on the field all the time, and in a series like that, there's bound to be a few valleys in there. You just hope they're not too deep and the mountains aren't too high to get fired up about it."
On the team taking a confident approach
"It's baseball. I wouldn't say I'm shocked, but I wouldn't say it was expected either. I'm still confident in them. Opitz and I were looking at each other at third base saying 'anything could happen.' That's the mentality. I'm not shocked that it happened, but I like the fact that our kids go into games with confidence and not cockiness and talking about it.
I think that's what Nebraskans want, and that's what they deserve, that they have confident young men who can do this all the time. They go out and think it and believe it. I'm not shocked, but those things happen."
Infielder Jake Mort
On Oral Roberts starter Kelly Minissale
"All credit goes to him because he did a good job. We were undisciplined in counts that we shouldn't have been, in counts that were hitters'
advantage counts. I thought sometimes we tried to do a little too much, but other than that, he pitched pretty well. When you have a guy who is pitching well and you're undisciplined, it's hard to produce a lot of runs when you're doing that."
On last night's 3-2 loss carrying over to today "It might have. It's one of those things that this team has done a good job all year of coming out and playing the next game. We've done that all year. Like I said earlier, we have a great group of seniors who make sure we haven't done that. That's one thing that has always stayed with us."
Infielder Jake Opitz
On carryover from last night
"Last night was a tough game, obviously. They came out with the same type of pitcher, and we didn't adjust very well. Once we didn't adjust those first few innings, it was almost like 'here we go again,' and we couldn't stop it."
Outfielder Craig Corriston
On finding momentum in the dugout
"I don't think it was a concern, really. As the game progressed into the second and third inning, you could tell we were dragging. But going into the game, I think we were fine. Our mindset was fine."
On the team facing adversity
"Obviously we didn't want to end on this kind of note, but we handled adversity throughout the year pretty well. We played pretty good baseball all throughout and overcame a lot of things. It's baseball, and that's the way it happened."
Oral Roberts Postgame Quotes
NCAA Lincoln Regional
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Coach Rob Walton
On the game
"It was a hot game. The guy on my left (pitcher Kelly Minissale) was special. He's so valuable to the club as a center fielder. He's our best outfielder. He's a really good athlete. What we've tried to do with Kelly during the year is pitch him against all the premier clubs in the country. There's a little reason behind that. We knew we were going to need him in a regional, so we didn't pitch him in our conference weekends because it's really not going to do a whole lot of good for us because we really need our center fielder. The only way we could develop him was to throw him against Wichita State twice as well as Arkansas so he's in those big environments. I really wasn't too concerned about him performing well in this environment because we put him in those environments during the year. Regardless, if you get him in those environments or not, it takes a special mindset, makeup, toughness and determination. It was one of the best performances that I've had as a head coach in tough conditions, a tough ballpark, a No. 1 seed in the tournament. For me, it doesn't get any better than that."
On Minissale evolving into a pitcher
"That evolution goes back to when he was six years old. I've known the Minissale family for a long time. They're special people. They're friends of mine. Back when I was scouting part-time and those types of things, Kelly was in our baseball facility, taking lessons and swinging a bat at six or seven years old. It's mind-boggling the time has passed so fast, and we're here in a regional in Nebraska. Who would've thought it at six or seven years old? But at six or seven, believe me, you could tell he was going to be a player. They're a great family and he's a great kid. It's just a wonderful situation for him."
On Minissale developing into a pitcher
"We kept it in the pen. He's so valuable to us in centerfield. He's not our fastest outfielder, but his first step to the baseball is so good, I just haven't seen anybody like it. He probably runs a 6.9 60 (-yard dash), but he plays like he runs a 6.6 60. He never gets a bad read, never gets a bad jump. It's just so valuable to have that defender that it's hard to take him out and get him in the game (as a pitcher). If you end up starting him, then you have to bang him from the outfield for the next game, so it's very difficult to get him on the mound. This year, we didn't have a choice. We had to do it. He's actually thrown bullpens for the last couple years, but it was waiting for the opportunity to present itself where we could use him. This year, fortunately, we had the extra outfielders. That was key. (Justin) Mitchell comes in and plays late defense for us. Brian Van Kirk moved to the outfield. We had options this year and we didn't really have them the last couple years to be able to fill those holes in the outfield spots. The opportunity presented itself, and then we set a plan early in the year where we said, 'This is what we'll do with Kelly. We'll put him in this environment. That way, if we have to use him in a regional, he'll be ready for that situation.
It takes a tough-minded kid to do that because he's saying, 'I'm only getting the tough guys in the middle of the week', but this kid
(Minissale) just likes to play baseball. The mentality is right."
On preparing Minissale for spot starts
"We ran his pitch counts up all year. He threw 100 pitches in each game he threw. He's more conditioned to throw 85-90 (pitches). Any time you're over 100 and not getting regular starts on the weekend, you're asking a lot of a guy. It's definitely in question for me too. I would've liked to have seen him finish the game, but he's cramping up a little bit."
Pitcher Kelly Minissale
On his performance
"I have to thank the coach for having the faith in me to put me out there.
My fastball command and my changeup (were working for me). That's about it."
On his feelings about his performance
"It's an amazing feeling, really. I'm glad I went this way. We still have a couple more games and I think we can pull it out."
On his preparation to pitch
"We work at it. I throw bullpens and get ready for games. It's a mindset to go out there and get it done."
On Nebraska's offense
"They reminded me a lot of Wichita (State). Those fastballs on the corners, they went after them but didn't square too many of them up. A lot of them were infield fly balls, fly balls in foul territory. It's good when you have a good defense behind you."
