June 8, 2014
Recap | Box Score | Green’s Photos 
| Howell’s Photos
Postgame Quotes
Nashville Super Regional
Vanderbilt 12, Stanford 5
Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin
On the game:
“First, I congratulate Stanford. I say that for a lot of different reasons, not just because they won (the Indiana Regional), but because of the road they took to get here. It was not easy. That’s a tough group. They had to do a lot of traveling during exams. They had to come through Indiana which was not easy at all. You witnessed a very resilient team that kept coming back and forth. They’ve also been the model for this program. I say that with all due respect. That’s a guy (Coach Mark Marquess) that’s been doing this for 37 years.”
“I’m happy for the kids as always. Hayden Stone picked us up today in a huge way. The offense was good, I’m happy for Johnny Norwood. There’s a lot of emotions, but I’m just happy for this group and for Vanderbilt University.”
On what he’s learned since his first trip to the World Series (Vanderbilt made it to the 2011 CWS):
“I thought we played pretty well the first time to be honest with you. We ran into a very good Florida team and we couldn’t get through them. I thought the kids handled it very well. I’ll probably go back and look at how we did that. I made a lot of notes, a lot of suggestions to myself before, after, during, what have you, but it’s really all about playing good baseball and not being enamored with the circumstances once you get out there.”
On the significance of going back to the World Series:
“I’m happy for the kids. I’m happy for the coaches and staff and wives who spend so much time here in watching their husbands coach other people’s kids. I’m happy for the university. I’m just glad we’re a program that is competitive  as competitive as the medical school or any other school that exists in this university. I’m happy for all of our alumni who can see this. I look in the stands and see people that are 75 and 80 years old that get to witness this. That’s good for their heart. It’s good for the town, it’s good for the community, it’s good for so many things. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
On the consistency of the program:
“We’ve been very consistent for a very long period of time. If you look at the last years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, we’re always playing in the final game whether it’s a regional or a super regional and that’s the thing I’m proud of. We haven’t had ups and downs like some programs have. The closest thing we had to that was in 2012 and the kids rebounded so well at the end I thought we could have won a national championship.”
Differences from the 2011 CWS team:
“Well, we’re a lot younger. That’s for sure. That was the toughest thing we had to navigate with Stanford. We were playing a brutal lineup, one that just put a lot of pressure on you. They were different than Oregon with their bats. If you look at three of the key components today: (Jason) Delay behind the plate, (Hayden) Stone on the mound, you started a sophomore (Walker Buehler) and then you’ve got Bryan Reynolds. These kids don’t act like freshmen. They haven’t been here long but they fit in nicely.”
Has today been fun?
“It’s like Christmas Day. It’s like when your kids come down and they get under the Christmas tree and start opening the presents, that’s what it feels like. I don’t have to be a part of that. All I need to do is get in the dugout and watch the kids celebrate. That’s all I need. That’s all I ever want.”
On the matchup with Stanford:
“All you had to do is look at the box scores in the regional to understand how powerful they were and how they could come back because that Indiana team was very, very good. For Stanford to do that, it had to have a special group of players. They’re a very powerful offensive team. I don’t think their stats equate with who they are.”
On Hayden Stone:
“We needed to turn the momentum. We just needed a change, and that’s nothing against Walker (Buehler). He started the game last week, but they were on to him a little bit and when they weren’t on to him they were just finding holes. I think getting through that fourth inning was important. We threw the ball around when we didn’t have to, and we just needed to settle down a bit, and I’m glad the way he got out of that inning with just one run.”
The character of the team:
“Struggles can help you. I think it’s tough to be perfect. We were perfect for a long period of time last year, but it’s not like you can tell your team to lose on the weekend so we can struggle. I don’t really know how to get through that. The kids have developed an identity.”
Center Fielder John Norwood
On if they had momentum from yesterday’s game:
“Yesterday was tough, but we keep sticking with one another. We just keep passing the baton. It’s a new day, a new game, and that’s all we wanted do was win this game in front of our home crowd.”
On being the visiting team at home:
“It’s kind of weird, but you know we stayed with it. It really doesn’t matter we are still going to hit and we are still going to have to pitch. At the end of the day it’s who scores, and we will leave it at that.”
On mindset of the team with all the comebacks:
“Stanford is a good team. They are going to hit your not going to stop them from hitting. It’s all about us as me and Dan (Swanson) said jokingly. It’s reality you know. We stay with one another, and we just keep plugging away. So, if Stanford comes back, we are going to score again. Just keep passing the baton to one another, and never stop.”
On emotions after the game:
“For me myself it is just amazing. We are all just really blessed to be here right now with one another, and just keep wanting to follow. Hopefully get a National Championship that’s our next step. So, we are not done.”
Second Baseman Dansby Swanson
On Hayden Stone’s Performance:
“He was unbelievable today. He’s one of those guys that has a lot of confidence. He was able to come out there and just throw strikes with all his pitches, and put it where he wanted it. We were able to make some plays behind him, but the way he was able to come up there and slow them down so we could catch our breath and go back in there and hit and score some more runs. It was huge.”
On emotion after the game:
“It’s absolutely incredible. Because we started this all the way back in August with all the guys. We set ourselves out on a mission… to just get better everyday, and you know to become a family. At this point now we are the closest we have ever been. We went through some struggles, but we just stood our ground and just stayed within one another. Talk about today we are side by side, we are all best friends, and we are all brothers. I couldn’t be more proud of how we battled, and how we went about our business…. It’s a true blessing that we were able to come here together.”
On mindset coming out of the SEC Tournament:
“We have so much faith in one another that… we knew things were going to click. We kind of looked at the positives of the SEC tournament. Like we have a couple of days to catch our breath, and get back on our feet. It defintly helped out because we cracked down in practice, and got really focused and in tune with one another. It has really showed up in the last couple weeks.”
On his at bat to start the game:
“I was just trying to come up there and set a tone. Kind of give the appearance that we aren’t going to fold down after what happened yesterday. I was lucky to put a pretty good swing on a pretty good pitch, and get some things going for us.”
Pitcher Hayden Stone
On being on the field for the final out:
“It was amazing. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Just the opprotunity to be out there in that certain time, and I’ve just daydreamed about it all the time. I’m glad I got to accomplish that.”
On what pitches were working:
“My breaking ball with two stikes, and just locating my fastball pretty well too. Especially with the great defense behind me. It was just easy to pump the zone, and just let them work.”
On being a good matchup against this lineup:
“I know they had a lot of lefties. I figured if I could throw the breaking ball that kind of looked like a fastball until the last second that I could slow them down a little bit.”
On being at the bottom of the dog pile:
“I was concerned for maybe a brief moment. My left leg is in a little pain right now…. other than that it’s all good.”
Left Fielder Bryan Reynolds
On feelings of getting to Omaha:
“It’s sweet. Everybody did their job, like Stone. He went out there and carved. It’s just awesome we get to go.”
On having a good weekend at the plate:
“I guess things just kind of went my way. Up and down the lineup eveyone was swinging it well… It was a good weekend.”
On why he doesn’t act like a Freshman:
“You’ve got people all around you that just build you up, and you don’t feel like a freshman at all in this program.”
Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess
Opening Statement:
“First of all Congratulations to Vanderbilt. They did a great job. We couldn’t stop them all day. They hit the ball, they run the bases well. We came back and had a chance, we got within one. They (Vanderbilt) kept the pressure on us and played a great game. I’m sure they will do really well in the College World Series. They have a little bit of everything pitching, defense, they can swing the bat. So congratulations to them, they beat us every which way they could today.”
On what made Vandy a tough out:
They are really balanced. Their lineup is tough throughout. They got a lot of hits with two strikes. We had them down to two strikes and they got some big hits. They are an experienced team and they play really well. They are a tough matchup for anybody. They just keep coming at you. They put the ball in play, they ran some hit and runs and did a lot of stealing to put some pressure on us.
On Vandy’s solid relief pitching:
“Fulmer who pitched yesterday came out of the bullpen and they moved him to a starter. They have a lot of good arms. (Hayden) Stone who came in today has a good arm and a good breaking ball. They are very tough. They have a lot of left handers in the bullpen so they can match up with you in a lot of ways. They do a good job and they throw a lot strikes. Anything you get off them you have to earn it. They don’t usually give you very much. They have a lot of good arms, starters and relievers.
Stanford third baseman Alex Blandino:
On overcoming a five run deficit:
“It’s always tough when you start a game like that. If there is one thing I’ve learned about this team is it’s resilience. We battled the whole year. We never quit, especially in the playoffs where we had some unbelievable runs. I never doubted in my mind that we would fight back to win the game. We put ourselves in a position to come back and win towards the middle of the game. I’m just really proud of this team, the way we fought throughout the year.”
On how exhausted the players felt throughout the series:
“This is what you sign up for. You can only hope to have this opportunity to play college baseball. It’s been an incredible experience and it’s been a lot of fun. A lot of us have to go back and take finals. I have two finals next week, but it’s been a fun ride.”
Stanford pitcher Marcus Brakeman:
On approach coming into the game:
“What our coach has always preached is just to get the ball over the plate and throw strikes and if they hit it, they hit it. So, that’s the number one way you can stabilize the defense and to stop their scoring or at least slow their scoring to give our offense the chance to come back like we almost did. You just need to trust your offense and know that they will make a play for you. Not trying to go out there and try to be perfect on the mound is the key.”
