June 8, 2013
Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin
Opening Statement
“It was a good ball game, tough ball game for us, but we put ourselves in a position to win it at the end. After the last couple of innings, we just didn’t get the big hit. I’m proud of the way the kids dug in and got themselves going off a tough pitcher. I guess our demise was that seventh inning, we just couldn’t get out of it. Helms did a good job of staying on the ball off a tough pitcher, and he drove it and clocked it into the infield and we really couldn’t defend. It was in between the third baseman and shortstop, but we were kind of out of balance because of the base runners that they had on base. You have to give it to them. I thought they pitched well. I thought they pitched well after the third. I thought they contained us. I don’t think we had a hit until the 8th, I think. We certainly didn’t have many base runners and it felt like they were gaining momentum of the ball game. I give them a lot of credit. I thought Kevin pitched well. He had a couple tough breaks there in that 7th inning, but I’m proud of the kids. We still have 18 innings to play. Still a lot of tournament left.”
On being in similar situations during the season…
“I guess it helps. It puts you in that situation so you know that you’ve got plenty of time. To me, it’s a three round fight, and they won the first round, but they didn’t knock us out. That’s not going to happen. I like my bunch. We’re in the same situation before we started today. We have 18 innings to win. We just have to concentrate on winning pockets of the game.”
Vanderbilt pitcher Kevin Ziomek
On the seventh inning…
“They battled all game. You have to give them a lot of credit. They stuck with it; they didn’t give up there. I made a couple pitches but they put some good swings on the ball.”
On tomorrow’s game…
“We feel pretty good about tomorrow. We have a lot of baseball left so we’re not afraid of anything. We’ve come back before, and we’re ready to come back tomorrow.”
Vanderbilt outfielder Mike Yastrzemski
On seeing several different pitchers…
“It’s nice when you can see some bullpen action. You find yourself getting into trouble, and you start letting guys go 8 or 9 innings without doing much damage to the arms in the pen. It was good to see a few different pitchers and some different angles. I think that we saw a complete array of three different arms, and I think that’s only going to help us in the long run.”
Louisville Head Coach Dan McDonnell
Opening Statement
“It was an exciting game for the fans, for the players. You just felt like it was going to be a close game. This time of the year we knew we were going to be in a dogfight with Kevin (Ziomek) on the mound. Our guys battled and fought hard. Fortunately we were able to put up a crooked number there in the seventh (inning). We showed our depth today. Everyone knows about our bullpen depth, but we showed our position player depth today with (Nick) Ratajczak having to come out with the injury. I’m proud of the guys and I enjoyed the way they fought and we came out on the right end.”
On his team putting the ball in play, especially in the 7th inning…
“You aren’t going to get a ball middle-in where you are going to drive it into the seats. These guys are too good. From here on out all you are going to see are quality arms. I just want to see the guys compete. It isn’t always going to go your way, but you just want them to compete, fight and show some heart and they did today.”
On if this win gets the team over the hump since they haven’t beaten Vandy since 2010…
“No, as coaches we don’t seem to have a whole lot of relief. We’re just concentrating on going out there and playing good baseball. We respect Vanderbilt a whole lot, but we can’t get overly concerned about our opponent. Once the postseason started, you are going to play really good teams in the postseason, so let’s focus on ourselves and what we’re able to do.”
Louisville outfielder Matt Helms
On coming through with the big pinch hit…
“It’s just hard work. Every day I’m in the `Hack Shack’, which is what we call the cages, and working off the tee and the black box. I was just hitting and preparing for when my number was called.”
On Nick Ratajczak having to leave the game…
“We knew that Rat was hurting and when he came out, our hearts just went out to him because he’s been the heart of this team and the hardest worker on the field. He’s just a ball player and you hate it for a guy like him. We all knew he was hurting bad so we just wanted to show him some love and we told him we were going to win it for him.”
Louisville first baseman Zak Wasserman
On the success against Kevin Ziomek in the seventh inning
“The thing with these Vanderbilt pitchers is you know you are going to get great talent and great stuff. You can’t do too much when you’re in the box and the biggest thing is if you shorten up and go the other way, you’re going to have success. When your swing gets big or you pull your head and try to pull the ball, that’s when you won’t have success. They make great pitches and their stuff moves a lot. The simpler you make it, the easier it is.”
On getting the win in game one…
“It creates momentum going into game two, but the biggest thing is we know they are a very talented group. There is a reason they have won as many games as they have and you realize you can’t get too high or too low. We have to come out and be hungry and motivated tomorrow.”
