June 13, 2001
Head Coach Mark Marquess
(opening statement)
"It was another fabulous college baseball game. I look at the stats - there were no errors. There's been a lot of offense here at the College World Series but the last two games between Cal State Fullerton and Stanford have been great baseball, especially for baseball purists who like the game, and like the pitching and defense. These last two games were as good as you're going to get, especially considering the circumstances and everything that's at stake. I thought that (Jeremy) Guthrie pitched one of his best games of the season. After his first outing here, he came back strong. He had good stuff, was getting ahead and spotting all his pitches. I also thought (Jon) Smith pitched well. He had a good fastball. We were just fortunate. We got a couple of home runs, got a couple of balls up in the wind and then a big basehit by Topham to score two. It was going to be one of those games when you got your opportunity, you had to get a hit and cash in on it. We were able to do that. This is a special group because not much was expected of them. I'm very proud of them. To get all the way to the College World Series championship game is truly amazing. It's also special because of the team we beat. Beating Cal State Fullerton means a lot to us because we respect their program. They're well-coached. They play the game the right way. They're always difficult to beat. It's special if we're going to get to the CWS championship game to beat a great Cal State Fullerton team. They are a great team and they showed it here at the College World Series. For us, it was a huge win. We've got one more to go and hopefully we can play like we have all year. This was typical of the Stanford Baseball season. This is how we've played most of our games - 4-1, 2-1, 3-2 - pitching and defense, and timely hitting. It was a big win for us.
(on whether he is a little more confident in his ballclub for Saturday's CWS title game after being surprised that his club made the College World Series)
"Yes, I am, simply because they've surprised me all year. When we played USC at our place early in non-conference and we swept them that really surprised me, but I don't think it surprised them. They've been very dedicated and very hard-working. (There is) a lot of competition within the team to play. But, it really gets down to pitching. I have to give the bulk of the credit to our pitching coach Tom Kunis, who's done a fabulous job with a very talented, but young and inexperienced pitching staff. He's really molded them together with guys who haven't been there before. That's difficult to do, but they've done it all year, along with our defense. We're going to set a fielding record that won't ever be matched at .978. Most of the errors we've made him been in the outfield, our infield is just phenomenal. It's pitching and defense. I don't care if it's an aluminum bat, I don't care if you're hitting with a tennis racket, pitching's going to get hitting out. Coach Kunis has done a great job with our pitchers."
(on getting to the College World Series)
"It's tough getting here. We were one game away from elimination in the first Regional and had to beat a strong Texas team two times on one day and then we were up tough against a tough South Carolina team. It's tough to get here and that's why it's such a special tournament."
Jeff Bruksch
(on his role as the closer in the College World Series)
"I'm jacked up the more we win because that's the closer we're getting."
Ryan Garko
(on whether he has developed a "flip of the bat" after his homers)
"I am not trying to do that. I think it's more of a reaction when I hit the ball well. I just kind of flip the bat down really quick. With the wind blowing out, I was just trying to get the ball up. I got it pretty good. I wasn't trying to hit the ball out of the stadium. I just ended up doing it."
(on hitting his second CWS homer out of the stadium)
"It's just nice in a couple of close ballgames to come up and hit the ball out. I didn't hit a lot of home runs this year, but that's something I would like to do and something I think I was expected to do being recruited to Stanford. Being able to come up in those spots and hit home runs is big, especially in close ballgames."
(on getting back to Omaha)
"On the first day of morning running, we broke with "Omaha". We all thought that we could get back here."
Jeremy Guthrie
(on rebounding from his difficult outing on Friday versus Tulane)
"It feels real good to be able to come back and pitch as I hoped and expected to pitch. We looked over the film on Friday and saw some things that definitely needed fixing. I felt real good when I threw a bullpen between games and when I worked out in the pre-game today that the things we talked about were going to help me in this game."
Brian Hall
(on picking a great time to hit his second homer of the season)
"I think it was a great time to hit the ball out of the ballpark. Any time you can hit the ball out it is a good feeling. I got a good pitch, and I got it up in the wind."
Andy Topham
(on exceeding the expectations of head coach Mark Marquess)
"Coach keeps telling us he doesn't expect us to be there, but we definitely expected to be there. We knew we could get back to Omaha. Once you get here, anything can happen. It's a crazy park. The ball flies out of here left and right. We just kept working hard and kept telling ourselves that no matter what other people think, we are going to get some wins and hopefully get back here.
(on his two-RBI single after going hitless in his front 10 at bats)
"I didn't feel too bad about it (being 0-for-10). I was swinging the bat pretty well and hit a couple of balls pretty well that got caught. I was swinging the bat well before I got here and just kept going after it. Luckily, I got a pitch (to hit) and it found a hole. That first one's always the toughest one to get and now it's out of the way."