May 12, 2015
Head Coach Chad Holbrook
Opening Statement
Obviously it was a good night for us. Canaan (Cropper) got us off to a good start on the mound and pitched fairly well. I don’t think his command is quite back to where it will be soon, but he had good life on his pitches. His velocity was good and he’s bouncing back nicely from having a year off for Tommy John surgery, so that was encouraging for us. We played good defense again and swung the bats well. I think we brought the momentum that we found last week. I think the guys are a little bit more confident than they’ve been. (They) put together some good at bats, played good defense and our pitching was good today. So, it was a great mid-week game for us as we head into the weekend.
On the offensive momentum
We struggled at times, obviously, throughout the season to develop consistency of all phases of the game. Hitting kind of stood out because we’ve been near the bottom of the league in batting average and offensive output. It’s good too see us play (this way). I think we’re playing the way we’re capable of playing right now. We do have some guys in there with some confidence, which we have been shaky in our confidence department throughout the year. It’s important to play not just one good weekend. It’s important to build upon a mid-week win. Last week it started with Wofford and we built upon that. Hopefully we can keep it going.
On the freshman in the original lineup
They (the freshmen) played a huge part in our victories at Texas A&M. Hunter (Taylor), I think you can see his improvement. He’s not just getting hits but he’s much more polished behind the plate. He’s blocking balls in the dirt better, he’s receiving balls extremely well and he’s got a great makeup behind the plate. I really like what I see out of him. Clark [Scolamiero] and Madison [Stokes] were special. Clark was special over the weekend at Texas A&M and we’ve always thought Madison was going to be a really good player for us. It’s really nice to see them play the way we thought they would play and we think they can play. They’re obviously big parts of not only the rest of this year, but they’re big parts of the future. I’ve always said I’m tickled pink with this freshman class and I think you can see why now with the way they’re performing.
Freshman Catcher Hunter Taylor
On how the pitchers threw tonight
They all spotted up well, which is all we can ask for. From the first pitch to the last pitch, I think they hit there spots well.
On continuing on the momentum the team has heading into the series against LSU
I think it’s great. It’s always good to win have a win going in, especially all the runs we’ve put up in the last four games. You can’t ask for anything more.
Freshman Outfielder Clark Scolamiero
On the explosion on offense in these last couple of games
I think we’ve been working a lot in our practices and really taking our approach backside. (Coach Brian Buscher) has been using this term, the dirty side. That’s really what we’ve been working on and it’s showing results. Hopefully we can keep it up.
On continuing on the momentum the team has heading into the series against LSU
We have a lot of confidence right now and I think that’s key. We’re going into here Thursday night with a lot of confidence and I think we’ll have some fun.
