March 1, 2014

Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2

Head Coach Chad Holbrook

Opening Statement

It was a great night for our team. It didn’t look that good in the fourth inning there, it wasn’t going our way. They [Clemson] made some plays and we had some close calls go against us there. I was really proud of our team and the way they responded. We talk about handling adversity, they were tested tonight and they handled the adversity. Our kids played hard and competed at every pitch. It took that for us to win tonight. Jordan [Montgomery] wasn’t as sharp as he usually is. He left a lot of pitches up in the zone and in the middle of the plate, but I thought that the biggest moment in the game was when they had us 6-1, runners on second and thirdwith nobody out and Montgomery pitched his rear end off. That’s kind of getting lost in the shuffle, but he pitched his rear end off to get out of that inning with no runs allowed and that helped us a lot. Grayson (Greiner) put a big swing on it and that got us back in the game. It got energy in the ballpark and we capitalized on the momentum. We beat a very good Clemson team tonight. Clemson is awfully talented and I was just proud of the way our guys responded and played. It was a big win for us.

On Grayson Greiner’s grand slam

I knew that we were going to have to have a big swing. I was actually thinking about the next pitch, whether to let him swing 3-0 then. I didn’t feel good that if they walked a run in that that would do enough. I thought we needed to split an alley and were lucky we didn’t go 3-0. I wasn’t even considering a 2-0 take. (Grayson) Greiner is the heart and soul of our team. There’s not anybody I’d trade for Grayson Greiner; the way he handles our pitching staff and you want him up in a big spot. He really is a gifted baseball player. That was an incredible swing of the bat. The knowledge that he gives off to out pitchers and our coaches in the dugout, I feel like I learn from Greiner everyday. There’s not many kids I can say that about.

Junior left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery

On his performance

It definitely wasn’t my best, but I knew that last inning I had to play a little bit of damage control. [There were runners] on second and third with no outs, so I just kind of bowed my neck and just threw it in there. I missed a few spots on a couple close calls. I had a few more walks than I usually do. I feel like I had pretty good stuff but I just found a couple barrels, so I can’t really do too much about that.

On having faith in a comeback

That’s the thing about our team; we’re definitely never going to give up, especially against Clemson. I knew one of our captains or any of the hitters were going to step up and make a big at bat. Definitely when Grayson [Greiner] was up, everyone kind of had a feeling that was going to happen. I had a feeling he was going to do it, and he did it, it was a really big hit right there.

Junior right-handed pitcher Cody Mincey

On his mindset

The nerves were rolling a little bit, but I just throw strikes and try to get outs. [I try to] get us back in the dugout to get us more hits so we put some more runs on the board.

Junior catcher Grayson Greiner

On his mindset going up to bat before his grand slam…

It’s not exactly what I was trying to do, but I’m glad it happened. We didn’t have much momentum at that point, we were down five runs. Baseball might tell you there to try and be on the conservative side, but Coach Holbrook didn’t give me a take. I got a 2-0 fastball I could handle and I was fortunate to get it out of the park and get a little bit of energy back in the crowd. I think that was kind of the turning point momentum wise. Once we got that big hit, everyone in the dugout felt like we could win it and at-bats just got a little bit more consistent. We were able to find a way to get a win.

On Daniel Gossett’s pitching

That’s the way he’s been since we’ve faced him for three years. He’s just an electric pitcher. He doesn’t have the stature of most guys, but he keeps the ball down and he mixes three pitches. He’s got an electric fastball and an electric breaking ball, and we were fortunate to get to him.