April 2, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010 vs. Mississippi State
Head Coach Ray Tanner Quotes
On wanting to give Blake Cooper a complete game:
“I didn’t give that a whole lot of thought. I think he probably wanted to finish it out. I think we were around 103 (pitches). He wanted to go back out and so we sent him back out and we didn’t want to get any higher than what we were (120).”
On Cooper stepping up in the Friday night role:
“He an I talked a number of times in the preseason. (Sam) Dyson was a little behind schedule and I told him that there may come a point where we would flip it on Saturday if Dyson got on track. It didn’t make any difference to me. Both of those guys were going to pitch. He was ready to do that. He has been our best pitcher. I don’t have any reason to not start him on Friday night. He battled his rear end off and always has.”
On the play of Brady Thomas:
“He gives us quality at bats. That is what he has done since he has been here in the practices and scrimmages. He makes it difficult on pitchers. He is not an easy out. He takes some pitches and runs the count full. He will give you a quality at-bat. He hasn’t really gotten the opportunity because of some quality guys in front of him, but some guys haven’t been producing and he has gotten his chances and cashed in on them.
On the ability to start a lot of players:
“It is a great problem to have. I’m grateful that I have got some guys to choose from. Sometimes you just play some guys out of necessity. It takes a long time every day to put the lineup together.
On winning six of the first seven in SEC play:
“I’m certainly pleased with that, but there is a lot of baseball left. We are in the first game of the third weekend, so there are a lot of games to be played. I’m proud of where we are right now, but there is a long way to go.”
