June 7, 2003
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NCAA BASEBALL SUPER REGIONAL (at Stanford, CA)
POSTGAME QUOTES
June 7, 2003
Game 2 - Stanford 4, Long Beach State 2
LONG BEACH STATE
HEAD COACH MIKE WEATHERS
Opening Statement:
"First I would like to congratulate Stanford. They played like champions, they didn't make too many mistakes; they did the things they had to do when they had to do them. They got the hits when they had to and made the pitches. I think they played almost perfect baseball. As far as our guys, obviously the season we had was special. I'm proud of our guys. I don't think that in the last two games we played the kind of baseball you have to play to win a series like this, against a team like them. Unless they made a lot of mistakes too, and as I just said I think they did not. I thought we could have played a little bit better. We hurt ourselves a little bit, but I thought we were very very competitive - we played very smart. I think the season speaks for itself. As far as the job Jered did, it seems like in the last couple months everybody said that he had to pitch the game of his life and he's been doing that for eight or nine weeks, and I thought he did it again today. I thought today's game was a lot like yesterday's, where we had opportunities early in the game and I think that in the end, we out hit them 10-9 and we had a bunch of hits early, just like yesterday and we couldn't get the hits. I thought they did a really good job of doing what they had to by their guys when they needed to do it. I am proud of our guys, we had a hell of a year - a lot of firsts. It had been awhile since we had won a conference championship, we had never hosted before, our college and our community got to host and we went through that and we came back here. It was out first taste of Super Regionals. Hopefully we can experience it again. This guy on my right will experience it again. We had a hell of a year, and I hate to see it end. You always hate to see the kids walk off the field dejected, but I couldn't be more proud of this club.
On your decision to take Jered Weaver out:We know it is for Omaha, but we have never in this program extended people to hurt them. Troy Buckley, our pitching coach, has a good handle on where these guys are. At 123 pitches we thought that was enough, especially with our closer down in the pen. Unfortunately we made a two-out error, which opened the gates for them. If that hadn't happened, he would have been on the mound in the 8th inning.
JERED WEAVER
On throwing so many pitches
"There were a few situations where I had to throw a few more pitches, they were fouling some stuff off. You have to give that to them, they are a really aggressive baseball team. I knew that coming in, and I knew I had to pitch one of my better games. For the most part, I think I did alright, there were a few missed spots and missed calculations, but when you miss a spot, you know you are going to get banged around a bit. They are a very aggressive baseball team. That is for sure."
STANFORD
HEAD COACH Mark Marquess
Opening Statement:
"I am obviously excited and thrilled. This is a really special team. The team chemistry has been good, and we have had nice chemistry with all of the players. The veterans were leaders, and sometimes the young guys didn't know what was going on, but they hung in there. It has been a special year, and I told the young guys that it is not that easy to get to Omaha, but we have done it five straight years. Today's game had a great pitching performance by Mark Romanzcuk. Long Beach State had a couple chances to break things open, but Mark shut them down and pitched well in tough spots. He didn't get discouraged, and then we had the big hit by Danny Putnam. I want to thank the team because they are a very special group."
On sticking with Mark Romanzcuk:
"I think that Mark's fastball is most effective late in the game, because he gets stronger as he goes along. He has shown this quality throughout the last half of the season. I would say that he is the most effective the majority of the time during the seventh, eighth and ninth inning. I didn't feel that I could have gone to anyone in the bullpen better than him this evening, so that is why I stuck with him. He felt strong, and he was a great competitor out there. They had a chance to get to him, but he hung around, and he has done that all year long."
On his performance this evening:
"I was a little emotional the last couple of innings, knowing that we were just twelve and then nine outs away from Omaha. Those last couple innings are so crucial, and that is the kind of situation that makes me want to pitch, that makes me want to have the ball in my hand. It reminds you of why you love baseball so much. I was happy to have this chance to help propel the team back to Omaha."
On his approach to tonight's game:
"My scouting reports that I went over last night made me realize that I didn't want to give Long Beach State any free passes. I wanted to make them earn their hits, and I have to give them credit because they put the ball in play and got quite a few hits. Later on in the game, I started to make a few adjustments, sharpening my slider a little bit, and that helped me out. I started to get on a roll in the middle of the game, feeding off adrenaline and then the runs that we scored later on in the game."
On his big hits during the Super Regional:
"Looking back, it has been fun. Every guy comes through at some point during the year, and I had the opportunities in this series. I feel very grateful that I was able to come through in these big spots. This kind of end really makes the entire season that much more worth it, all of the hard work. When I stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, I was pretty pumped up and got a pitch up in the zone to hit."
JUNIOR RIGHT FIELDER Carlos Quentin
On a home closer at Sunken Diamond:
"I am just happy that we are headed back to Omaha. My time at Stanford has been amazing, and I thank all of the coaches for giving me the opportunity to play. It is sad to think that this might be my last game on this field, but it was a win, and that is what it is all about here. We are headed back to Omaha."