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NCAA BASEBALL SUPER REGIONAL (at Stanford, CA)
POSTGAME QUOTES
Game 1 - Stanford 5, Long Beach State 1
LONG BEACH STATE
HEAD COACH MIKE WEATHERS
Opening Statement:
"I thought (John) Hudgins was outstanding. That is why he was the (Pac-10) pitcher of the year and drafted where he was. I was real impressed with how he handled some tough situations. We had a couple of opportunities, but it is hard to get anything off a guy like that."
"I thought Abe (Alvarez) pitched well for us. He pitched out of a big jam and then we weren't able to get a break. It was a good ballgame. I think these two guys (Hudgins and Alvarez) proved they are two of the best pitchers in the country."
Did you say anything to Troy Tulowitzki (error in sixth gave Stanford 2-1 lead)
"Haven't said a word to him. He is a freshman and only has nine errors all year. Not many freshmen in the country have made under 10 errors. He has played fantastic for us, errors are part of the game. He probably tried to do two things at once. I didn't say anything to him, and I probably won't say anything to him."
Talk about tomorrow's game
"Our philosophy is to win the series. We have played a lot of good teams all year. Stanford obviously rates as one of those teams. I think three other times we have lost a Friday game and went on to win the series. Jered Weaver has been in this position before. The Saturday game of the series is the most important, because Saturday puts you position to win the series, or puts you in position to sweep, or get swept."
JUNIOR LHP ABE ALVAREZ
On getting out of jams
"I just went at it and just made pitches. You have got to trust your defense and just make the pitches. I'm been doing it all year and it is great to still have it at this time of year.
STANFORD
HEAD COACH Mark Marquess
Opening Statement:
"It was a fantastic game, the most important game of the season. I was very impressed with John Hudgins and the performance that he gave us tonight. I didn't know if we were ever going to score. I was impressed with Alvarez, and he showed why alongside John Hudgins that he is one of the best pitchers in college baseball. We finally broke through with the offense, and Putnam's three run homer was huge and put the game out of reach. We have had some super college baseball in the Super Regional here, and this was another great example of that. If you like baseball, there is nothing better than tonight. This is college baseball at its best."
JUNIOR RHP John Hudgins
On his complete game performance:
"Coming in, I knew that I was going to have to pitch really well. I knew that I had to be focused. I thought that I put my best stuff out there every inning, and I came away pitching pretty well. It seemed that at times Alvarez and I were out there battling back and forth, and it was just a great match up. If he didn't come out, this game probably would have ended 2-1. Fortunately our guys hit better than theirs and we came out on top."
On if anything changed after the offense put two runs on the board:
"I don't think that too much changed. I still thought that we would get to Alvarez eventually because our hitters have been so strong lately. I knew that we would battle and put some runs up there, so I just wanted to go out there and keep battling and hold them as much as possible."
SENIOR CATCHER Ryan Garko
On facing a tough pitcher in Abe Alvarez:
"He is a great pitcher. Hands down he is the best pitcher that we have faced all year. After Carlos (Quentin) and I struck out back-to-back, we looked at each other in the dugout and smiled, because I don't think that we struck out back-to-back all year long. We didn't feel that we were taking bad swings. Nobody got down, and we knew that it was just a matter of time before we broke through. He made us look bad at times, but we broke through with two runs in the sixth and then Danny (Putnam) hit the big three-run blast."