May 31, 2003
NCAA BASEBALL REGIONAL (at Stanford, CA)
Game 5 - Richmond 8, UC Riverside 1
UC Riverside
Head Coach Jack Smitheran Opening Statement:
"It was a bad day at the office. We just couldn't sustain ourselves well enough-we got off to a good start against Stanford [earlier in the day], but it seemed like Hudgins really settled down once he got an 8-5 lead and began to throw his breaking ball for strikes, and basically took us out of the game at that particular time. It's disappointing for all of us-I don't think we played as we would have liked, but we gave good effort. We wish we could continue playing, but the realty is that we're not, and we've got to start building for next year."
CF Brian Wahlbrink on the Highlanders' season:
"It's just a tough day overall, but you can't hang your head on the season 40-17, when everyone picked us for sixth place in the A-10. I left it all on the field; the team had a never-say-die attitude the whole time and we came back. This program's really taking off now, and heading in the right direction."
Richmond
Head Coach Ron Atkins opening statement:
"Long day, long day. We were how the Atlantic 10 plays doubleheaders, and maybe it's to get us ready for the Regionals. It's always good to come out of a day like this with two victories, and we've got another doubleheader tomorrow. I can't say enough about our ballclub-we had a devastating defeat yesterday at the hands of UC Riverside, and we came back today and put two W's on the board. I called Mike McGirr Bulldog, well I've got Bulldog #2 here on my right. What a job Jason [Bolinski] did, because UC Riverside is a good-hitting ballclub, and he just took command of the game right from the start and never let up. He got in trouble a couple times, made some great pitches, and we made some great plays on defense."
"Today we got some key hits in both ball games, and the guys are swinging it a little better. They're confident-that's what you have to do to score runs."
Winning pitcher Jason Bolinski on his approach:
"I just went out there and tried to throw strikes. They put the ball in play, and our defense made the plays for us all day. I guess I kept them off-balance with my off-speed stuff. I remembered a couple things from charting the game yesterday, but I just went out there and threw my game, and the defense did the job behind me. I wasn't that nervous going out there, and I guess that was a good thing."
Centerfielder Bryan Pritz on facing Stanford:
"We're just really excited. When it was announced that we were coming here, that was our first thought, that we're playing Stanford. Now we're really hyped up and excited."