March 22, 2011
South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner
Opening statement
Sometimes in this game you surprised by the outcome. Tonight was one of those nights. Coach Lee and College of Charleston have a very good team. We swung the bats well early, Colby (Holmes) gave us a quality start and we were able to jump out on them a little bit. All in all it was a great win for us and really a quality start for Colby Holmes.
On Adam Matthews play in the lead off role…
The last four or five games, Adam (Matthews) has put together some solid at-bats. He’s started to walk a little and started to hit some pitches in very aggressive fashion. He’s picked up a ton of points in his batting average and he’s really been outstanding here recently. We need a guy up there in the one-slot who can run and get on base and give those guys in the middle of the order a chance to knock them in. Tonight, Adam was fantastic.
On Colby Holmes as a potential Sunday starter..
I think he’s in the conversation. He pitched well tonight against a quality team. College of Charleston is one of the best hitting lineups we’ve faced to this point and we’ve played some good teams. Georgia and Clemson had some good hitters, but College of Charleston has got a lot of good hitters as well. I think he’s got to be in the conversation as far as Sunday starter. I would like to see him finish better but he’s definitely in the conversation.
On Jackie Bradley Jr. breaking out of his slump…
I’m happy for Jackie (Bradley Jr.). He’s been frustrated a little bit here lately and he’s been down on himself a little bit. The thing about Jackie is he’s a quality person regardless of what’s happening on the baseball field. I talked to him before the game and we were talking about his future a little bit. I told Jackie we’ve probably only got three months left together so let’s have some fun. Jackie told me today that he was going to have some fun and it’s great to see him get some hits today and be out there smiling again.
Junior CF Jackie Bradley Jr.
On breaking out of his slump…
No, I wouldn’t say I was pressing. I knew I was struggling and that I needed to make some changes and start swinging at better pitches. I wanted to get deep in the count today, and I did that and I found a pitch that I could handle. It felt really good to be back in the groove.
On what the team can take from this game…
This is definitely a game that we would like to build on. We want to take these at-bats and these approaches to the next game. We’re swinging the bats better and the pitching has been there all year. If we keep swinging like that we’ll be tough to beat.
Sophomore RHP Colby Holmes
On maintaining his intensity during the long innings…
Well I thought about the game and just tried to stay focused on that. At that point we were tied 0-0 and I didn’t want to get ahead of myself so I tossed a little and just tried to stay loose.
On his role as mid-week starter…
It really doesn’t matter to me as long as I’m pitching I’m happy. I’m willing to do whatever the coaches ask of me.
Junior RF Adam Matthews
On his career day…
I enjoyed myself out there today. I’m seeing the ball really well right now, other than the one at-bat where I struck out.
On College of Charleston…
That team is a really good team. They have a really good pitching staff and I’ve grown up facing a lot of those guys. They’ve got a really good team and they’ll bounce back from this. I expect that they’ll have a good season.
