June 8, 2002June 8, 2002
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NCAA DIVISION I BASEBALL SUPER REGIONAL
at Stanford, CA
Post-Game Press Conference Quotes
June 8, 2002 (Game 2)
No. 8 Stanford 5, USC 3
STANFORD
Head Coach Mark Marquess
(Opening Statement)
"It was another great game, I was surprised that there weren't any homeruns. I was nervous with USC's power to get the ball up. It was a great pitching performance by their lefthander Campos and Cunningham also did a great job like he has for the last four or five starts. It was a great win, I'm very proud of our seniors going four consecutive years to the World Series. That says something about their class and what they've meant to Stanford Baseball."
(On the six seniors)
"I'm very proud of this senior class and the reason they're special is that they didn't come in as stars. A lot of them had to wait a year or two to play and when they got their chance, they led by example in practice and games, and my hat's off to them. All six of them have been instrumental to our success."
Starting pitcher Tim Cunningham
(On preparing for this start)
"My approach is the same for basically every game, try to keep the fast ball down and throw some off speed pitches. I try to attack the hitters using the whole plate. I know I struggled a little bit, but I think that I was pretty confident in our offense and I did my best to hold them the rest of the way."
Relief pitcher Dan Rich
(On his expectations this season)
"Being able to come back this year has been great and coach Marquess showed a lot of confidence in me giving me the ball late in the game. I try and do my job and throw strikes. We were able to go out there and our opponents the past few days. It's been a great season so far."
Third Baseman Scott Dragicevich
(On the seniors going to Omaha again)
"It's a thrill for us. We were a little nervous, but we had our eyes set on the goal the whole time, and as you saw today, the senior leadership is a huge part of our team. We were able to come up with some big spots and this is what we've been shooting for, it's a great place to be."
(On the subdued dogpile)
We're saving our dogpile this year for the last game.
Second Baseman Chris O'Riordan
(On the seniors going to Omaha again)
"One thing we've tried to tell the younger guys all year is how hard it is to get to Omaha and how many things have to go right. We've had a lot of things go right for us over the past four years, and we've had some clutch performances by a lot of players. It's unbelievably exciting, it's what we've been working for all year, every year. It should be fun going with all six seniors, we've really grown up together."
USC
Head Coach Mike Gillespie
(Opening Statement)
"First and foremost we'd want to say hats off to Stanford. We know that Stanford's a great team and great program. They're really a fine club and certainly the kind of club that you have to match pitch for pitch and play for play, you have to play well. If they get a couple of extra outs to work with, they're going to do exactly what they did. They're going to be a great representative of themselves and of our conference and certainly I think they're a team that has a chance to win the national championship, I don't see where they're short in any area or weak in any area. They're a club that's very capable of wining the national championship. We're certainly proud of our guys and how they played, watching this game you'd understand why we're frustrated but in no way would we want that to detract from what we've all accomplished."
(On the seniors and their accomplishments)
"These guys here have been with us for a few years and these are guys that we have a great feel for and great love for. They have accomplished greatly. Brian and Bill specifically have been members of back-to-back conferences championship teams, they've been to Omaha twice - we have been among the best teams in the country and I think these guys deserve a ton of credit for that, and among our baseball family that's the way we feel about them. It's hard to have a good feeling right now, but these guys have been great USC baseball players and we're tremendously proud of them."
First Baseman Bill Peavey
(On what Stanford did today)
"They've got some great pitching and they pitched us well all weekend. Our hats are off to them because they pitched well and they played defense well."
Starting pitcher Cory Campos
(On what happened in the sixth inning)
"Things just fell apart, I was getting a little inconsistent in my pitches, and I got hit a little bit and that's the end results. The errors didn't rattle me, I just kept throwing and I wasn't too worried about it."
Centerfielder Brian Barre
(On being an offensive club and not having offense against Stanford)"It's hard to say when you've faced good pitching like they have here, and in general good pitching beats good hitting, that's what happened this weekend. We came in here and battled at every at-bat. I don't think we gave in at all, and I think we got after it, and of course its frustrating when you cant string any hits together and put some runs on the board."