SIU vs. UE Postgame Quotes
05/28/2004 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 28, 2004
Southern Illinois coach Dan Callahan: "I really think the keys to this game were Josh Joiner (SIU Pitcher) and our two-out hits. We didn't always get ourselves out of the two-out hit situation this season. There were several times where we'd get into that situation and leave runners stranded. We just swung the bats well tonight.
(on game preparation for tomorrow) : "I had a meeting with my guys in front of the dugout right after tonight's game, and I asked them if they wanted to do anything differently. The consensus was that we don't want to do anything differently. I had the option to hit on the field before tomorrow's game, but we want to prepare just as we have for the last three games. From a coaching standpoint, we really need to tell them to relax and keep them relaxed. We were in the same situation (championship games) last year and we just didn't get it done."
(on the teams attitude changes from Wednesday to Saturday) : "Winning always breeds happiness. When you win, its fun, but when you lose, it's real tough. We learned the hard way that losing can humble you. There was a point in the season when we went through a time where we felt that our guys were not executing, but the effort was still there. We never felt like our guys just quit. Going into the Valley season we thought we'd do better, but we didn't, so getting here was a good achievement."
SIU Utility Player Nathan Emrick (on success of hitting in the tournament) : "We've been on the other end of it (strong hitting). We were streaky all year. There were times we'd swing without any idea of what we needed to do. We've been concentrating on the little things such as hitting the ball backside this tournament. We just really have to concentrate on the the little things."
(on how it feels to have a second chance in the championship game) : "It's nice to have a second chance. We feel we let it slip through our hands last year. We just have to make sure we don't give them a chance to win the first game. It was pretty emotional coming off the field last year (after the game). We may not get a chance to do it again, so we have to play relaxed and do the little things tomorrow. We can't get all tensed up.
SIU Pitcher Josh Joiner (on tonight's performance) : "I just had to try to stay within myself and my spots. I just tried to hit my spots and get the win."
Evansville coach Dave Schrage: "I would like to think Springfield for all of its hospitality and for hosting the tournament. I'm really glad that the tournament is coming back in 2006."
"I would like to give credit to Joiner who pitched a strong game against us."
"We came into the tournament with nothing to lose. I'm proud of how our team played in the tournament."
UE INF Mike Serafini: "I thought that we played great ball beating the number one and two seeds."
"This team has a bright future with all the young talented players that will be returning next season."