June 22, 2003
Recap|Box Score|Notes|Photo Gallery
NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES (at Omaha, NE)
CWS Championship Series Game 2)
Stanford 8, Rice 3
STANFORD
Head coach Mark Marquess
(Opening statement): "I think this game is all about John Hudgins. I've been to the College World Series for a number of years. I don't think there has been anyone who has accomplished what John has accomplished in the last 10 days. They've been pressure games, and he's done a phenomenal job. I think we came out flat, but a lot of it had to do with (Wade) Townsend. We had Sam's (Fuld) home run in the first inning, but I think it was a combination of us coming out flat and Townsend mixing up his pitches. This game is all about John Hudgins. Obviously this keeps us alive for the one-game championship."
(on pulling Hudgins in the eighth inning): "The main thing was obviously he didn't have much left. His health is our first concern. We wanted to run him out there because we thought he could still throw the ball. Of course, we had to get him in the middle of it. The one thing about John is he knows his arm. He's going to adjust and do what he needs to do to get the job done. If you're going to play in the championship game, you want to throw your best. He's our best."
Starting pitcher John Hudgins
(on his performance): "In my performance today I didn't have great stuff. I thought I did a good job keeping hitters off balance. Since I'm not going to be a power pitcher, I still can be a spot pitcher. It's a matter of control and not velocity. I just tried to throw into (catcher Ryan) Garko's glove and focus on the location of my pitches."
(on how his arms feels): "How does my arm feel now? I can't go tomorrow, but I'm doing OK."
Shortstop Tobin Swope
(on the interference call in the top of the eighth inning): "It (the call) did surprise me, but the rule is simple -- if a runner makes contact with the fielder, there is interference and there clearly was contact. There was nothing malicious, but by the rule, the correct call was made."
Monday's probable starting pitcher Mark Romanczuk
(on starting Monday's game): "I was thinking about it last night and was hoping John (Hudgins) would come out and have a great performance, like he always does, so I could pitch. I'm really excited. This is why we get up at 7 a.m. to run every day. This is why we play all year. This is why I've played baseball all my life. I think I have some good notes on their (Rice) hitters."
Centerfielder Sam Fuld
(on his home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning): "In the first at bat, I was looking for a fastball, not any certain location in particular. I was looking for a ball to hit. Most pitchers try to throw strike one. It missed, so I thought he'd try and throw another fastball. I was not trying to hit it out of the ballpark. I was just looking to hit the ball up the middle."
(on tying the College World Series hit record): "Right now it doesn't mean anything, but it will someday. Right now all it means is I'm hitting and helping our team win."
(on playing eight games in one College World Series): "This is not a factor. We should be used to this. It shouldn't be a factor. It shouldn't be hard to get up for a national championship game. The coaches keep telling us we have all summer to rest."
RICE
Head Coach Wayne Graham
(opening statement): "Stanford was the better team today. We'll have to come back and play better tomorrow."
(on his ejection): "My dad was a 20-year umpire in the Southwest Conference and I'm sure he's in heaven right now. I think he'd be all right with what I did. If I went across the line, then I apologize. People make comments about the strike zone and some of it's acceptable and some of it is not. If (home plate umpire) Tony (Maners) thinks I crossed the line, then he's probably right. I was surprised by the ejection, but it's his call. But in my defense, I did not use profanity."
(on tomorrow's championship game): "I think my players just need to trust themselves. They are great athletes and if they focus on the job, they'll do real well. We lost today but it just means we get to play more ball, and this will be more ball than anyone has probably ever played here. Phillip (Humber) will be the starter tomorrow. I'm going to tell him not to do too much and just do what comes natural to him. We know he's capable of pitching a very good ballgame."
Second baseman Enrique Cruz
(on the team's reaction after Coach Graham was ejected): "I didn't think we suffered mentally, but the wheels did fall off and nothing really went right for us after that."
(on his team's lack of home run power): "We're not a home run team. We're all about line drives and clutch hits, and that got us this far. We have to capitalize with hits when we have runners on."
Starting pitcher Wade Townsend
(on his performance): "I thought I threw pretty well today, but now that it's over, I'm kind of disheartened because I made a couple of mistakes that should not have happened."
Designated hitter Matt Ueckert
(on Stanford starting pitcher John Hudgins): "He battled all day and kept us off-balance. When he made mistakes, we didn't hit them. He threw his change-up to lefties and located his fastball very well."