May 30, 2003
Recap|Box Score|Notes|Photo Gallery
NCAA BASEBALL REGIONAL (at Stanford, CA)
Game 1 - Stanford 9, Illinois-Chicago 2
Stanford
Coach Mark Marquess' opening statement:
"Well, it was a great pitching performance by Ryan, a complete game in the first game of a regional. I am very pleased with the way we came out and scored 4 runs early and then Mac settled down and started getting his off-speed stuff over the plate, struck out 10 batters, and in my opinion got stronger as the game went on. We got some good hitting and overall it was a strong first game for us. Obviously the story of this game was the effort by Ryan.
Starter Ryan McCally on rustiness after not starting in a month:
"No, I don't think so, I was just mainly throwing fastballs because I was getting behind in the count. Like any good hitters, when they see a lot of fastballs they are going to jump on them and make you pay for falling behind. When I was able to get the changeup and slider and throw those on fastball counts. That was real big for me.
Coach Marquess on his rotation for a regional:
"In a 4 team regional, if you lose one of the first two, then you have to play five games, and the final 4 games in about 30 hours, so you need some flexibility. We felt with the matchup Ryan would be fine. I think he is right on, when he got his off-speed stuff down he got some command and things were different. With Mac, if I had gone 3 or 4 innings with him, I could have brought him back Sunday, obviously I don't need to after his complete game tonight. I needed someone who would give me a complete game or go 3 or 4 innings and come back on one day rest. I needed someone who could give me two outings or a complete game and he did that."
McCally on whether he settled down after the first few innings:
"I don't know, I thought I was going well the first few innings. I thought I was making good pitches that they were just squirting through the infield. To come back and get 4 when we were up obviously helped me, and to come back the next inning and not have my best stuff, the 4 were big."
Marquess on the early innings:
"I think they hit a couple balls hard off of Mac, but I think if they were going to get him, they were going to get him the first few innings. Once he settled in and got control of all of his pitches, I thought he was fine. They did a good job swinging at fastballs, but once he got through the first few innings, and got his pitches down, he was fine."
Carlos Quentin on the experience factor:
"Yeah, anytime you can come out and jump on a team early, especially at a regional, it is big. They have to come in to our home field and that gives us a lot of momentum. We were fortunate to get on top of them and keep chipping away. As compared to my freshman year it is a big difference, and a lot of us have been here for a while. So we wanted to come out, make a statement, get on top of them, and score some runs."
Quentin on Ryan Gehring:
"He was throwing the fastball in and off-speed away as a pattern for a lot of the hitters. He was leaving some balls over the plate in the first innings so we jumped on them."
Marquess on tomorrow's starter:
"I'll start Hudgins tomorrow."
Illinois-Chicago
Coach Mike Dee's opening statement
"We didn't play as well as we are capable of playing, especially in the first inning. Stanford is obviously a very very good club, and we learned a few things today which will help with our experience level. For our program, it is the first time we have been in an environment like this, and I am sure we will survive it and play better tomorrow against Richmond."
On a lack of postseason experience:
"One of the reasons we started Ryan today is because he is a big game pitcher and when he struggled in the first inning it surprised all of us, him included. Obviously Stanford has been in this situation before and it is a big advantage to them. To them its just another game and they've earned that with their performance over the years.
Starter Ryan Gehring on nervousness:
"I think our whole team was a little nervous, but I don't think it had any effect on how we played. I go out there and stick to the game plan, just try to throw strikes and keep the ball down. I tried to be too fine and was not as direct with the game plan as I should have been. But nerves, in the end it is still a baseball game, the bases are the same, the mound to the plate is the same, it is the same."
Coach Dee on capitalizing on early chances:
"When you get into games like this you have to realize you won't get many chances, and those chances are magnified. If you get that hit in the first it builds momentum and everyone relaxes just a little bit. We got a big hit last weekend that sent us here, but it just didn't happen for us today. That is just part of baseball."