April 22, 2004
Columbia, S.C. – Head coach Ray Tanner
On having Kevin Melillo and Steve Tolleson back:
“I think there is definitely a comfort there, having two veteran guys in the lineup. I know they are not a hundred percent and I think that was clear but you know what you are going to get and they are going to make good decisions out there as far as the mental part of the game. I am just hoping that in the next few days maybe they can still improve physically and get back to where they were.”
“I think we now have the right guys out there. The question is if we can do it day after day from here on out. I think Tolleson responded pretty well today from last night and Melillo had a little swelling. We have to go day by day but we are trying to keep them in the lineup. The idea is to get your best team back on the field and that is what we are shooting for. “
On being concerned about the remaining SEC schedule and the standings:
“I am probably one of eight or nine coaches in the SEC. There are two or three that probably are feeling pretty good but there is definitely some concern. We have fifteen games left and we are playing each other and you are going to beat each other up. There are going to be some great battles and you know that there will be three or four teams at the end of the year that didn’t get enough wins. We are all feeling that situation right now. We want to get on a roll and get into a good position.”
On playing at home:
“I think that is going to help us a little bit, you still have to play quality teams and play well, but playing at home is a little bit of an advantage. We have great fans here. We have played some games on the road and our guys are happy to be back.”
Sophomore infielder Steven Tolleson
On what it means to the team for him and Kevin Melillo to be back on the field:
“I think it means a great deal for us to be back. We both played in Omaha, Kevin has played there twice. He is a great leader for our team, he is a team captain. Anytime you have somebody like that on the field, it is always a plus. “
“It is definitely the most frustrating thing I ever had to go through. Just mentally going day in and day out to the training room and then coming out here, seeing everybody play and having fun, knowing that you can’t really be a part of that. That’s tough, but that’s sports for you. I had the injury and I had to sit through it, Kevin had to sit through it and hopefully we will be back for the year and we don’t have to deal with this anymore. “
“We have to get some more wins under our belt and this is a good time to come back. There are a lot of games left to play and anything can happen. Hopefully we can help this team win.”
“I hope our fans will stay behind us and see that we are trying our best to help this team win. Whether it is as much as we used to be able to do, I don’t know. Right now it may not be but later on this year it will be and hopefully we can back on the right track this weekend and get rolling again.”
“We need Kevin in the lineup more than anybody on this team. He is a team leader, he is a captain and it is tough to replace that. In the beginning of the year everybody was out there enjoying the game, having fun. Probably more than we should have. I think Kevin does a very good job of keeping everybody in the game. Trying to have fun but also getting your job done. That’s why he is such a great leader. He keeps you in the game, keeps you loose.”
Junior infielder Kevin Melillo:
“It is great being back and having a whole team out there. We rolled off a win last night and I hope we can build off of that. I think it builds a lot of confidence for this team, knowing that there are guys out there that are not a hundred percent but are giving their all. People feed off of that and recognize that. “
“It is very frustrating sitting on the bench see the team drop some games that we shouldn’t have lost. We are back out there now and hopefully we can get some wins under our belts and get ready for the postseason. “
On South Carolina fans:
“These fans have been great for us all year and they have supported us. We just want to give something back to them, show that even though we are not a hundred percent, we are still going to play for them and give it all we have.”
