May 28, 2006

Championship Game Quotes

(1) Rice 11, (2) Houston 5

Reckling Park - Houston, Texas

RICE

HEAD COACH WAYNE GRAHAM

Thoughts on the game

"Our team came to the park, they really wanted to win today. I think it was important for them to play the game well and it is every time they come to the ballpark. That was a pretty good deficit for us to be in and I thought we did a great job coming back. I really appreciate the way we've been able to do that all year because we've come from behind a lot."

On getting the big hits today

"There was a lot of quality at bats today. We didn't get lucky, we just hit the ball hard. When you are hitting the ball so hard through the infield that the infielders can't react, you're hitting the ball pretty good."

On the defensive effort throughout the season

"It was really gratifying to see (leftfielder Aaron) Luna all over the place today. He's got a bad gash on his arm, but he's a football player, you're not coming out of the game. He didn't even mention it. Now, we we're going to have to go sew him up. He made two or three real good plays. I think this team is committed to defense. I think cohesive defense really brings a team together as a team."

STARTING PITCHER/DESIGNATED HITTER JOE SAVERY

On coming through with a big hit after a so-so outing on the mound

"That sums it up. I was obviously disappointed with my performance on the mound. Even though we should have all our seedings locked up, we wanted to win this tournament and beat the U of H as always. So, I am glad - that's the beauty of being a two-way player - you get the chance to redeem yourself somewhat. All the credit goes to (Will McDaniel) and I just tried to do my part at the plate."

On hitting a home run similar to the one he hit in game three of the regular season series

RELIEF PITCHER WILL MCDANIEL

On a long layoff and pitching so well

"I felt good. I was coming off a lot of rest, so I've been waiting to get out there and get another chance to pitch. I felt really good. I had really good command of the curveball today, which is really important for me to be successful. Once we got that big lead, I just tried to go out there and go right at them pretty much and throw strikes."

On coming in with no outs and the bases loaded in the fourth

"I try not to think about it, just focus on the hitter and try to make my pitch and hopefully work out of it."

On great defense behind him

"I love it. It's awesome when you get that kind of defense behind you. It pumps everybody up and gets everybody ready to go. Those quick outs, it helps lower your pitch count and all that."

RIGHTFIELDER JORDAN DODSON

On the Owls' good at-bats and being aggressive at the plate

"I felt that after the first couple of games we were leaving runners on and I think a bunch of guys came these last couple of games and stepped up real well and when they had runners in scoring position and bared down on the pitches and didn't let the pitchers have anything, hit the balls where they were pitched and drove in the runs we needed."

On struggling the first couple of games, but looking sharp in this game going into regionals

"You know I've been struggling a little bit the last half of the year and to come out and do well in the championship game against a rival team like the U of H, it boosts your confidence a lot. So, at regional time, I hope to be in the same position."

HOUSTON

HEAD COACH RAYNER NOBLE

Thoughts on the game

"We played extremely hard today. We just made a few mistakes in the field that you can't make against a very good ball club. Our bullpen was less than spectacular to say the least. I think that kind of sums it up in a nutshell. We got off to a great start, but then we couldn't get anything out of the bullpen until Aaron Brown came out and held them at bay pretty well. You got to hand it to Rice, they did a fabulous job today of scrapping back. The difference in the ball game was their bullpen was better than our bullpen."

On Matt Farrington's performance

He was doing a fabulous job and the strike zone was tight. For Matt to be effective he has got to that inside pitch and it just wasn't there today and that really opened up the door for Rice's hitters to lean out over that plate. That's just baseball, sometimes you get the inside corner and sometimes you don't, but it's tough luck for Matt."

On the game plan

"We told ourselves to come out in a very aggressive mode and that's what we did. We made some baserunning mistakes. But, you know if you're going play aggressive baseball, that's what you want to see. You want to see guys make the action happen. I don't think that's what took us out of our rhythm and out of our game. I just think it was making plays when they were hit to us in the field and just not making the pitch when we needed to make the pitch."

FIRST BASEMAN LUIS FLORES

On his first-inning, two-run single

"I was just looking for a pitch to hit. It was 0-2, I was trying to protect. You know I didn't want to strike out with the bases loaded. I saw that changeup and just threw my hands that way and the ball fell into place."

On feeling good with a 5-1 lead

"We were playing with a lot of confidence in the fifth inning when they started coming back. All of sudden they caught up with us and took the lead. We just stared falling apart, but that's our fault. From now on we just have to stick to it and we just have to stay with it from the first inning to the ninth inning, we just got to go at it hard."

SECOND BASEMAN ISA GARCIA

On his confidence of the team going into regional play

"It's been a long season. At the beginning we were playing very average and all the pieces weren't there. It's been a team deal. We've all come together pretty good. It's like coach said, this week is a new season. We have to get ready because we want to keep playing. We don't want to go home. We don't want to make it an early summer."

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