March 30, 2014
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 
Head Coach Chad Holbrook
Opening Statement
It was a great weekend for us, obviously. I told our guys after the game, in this league there is very little separation amongst teams and we could easily be sitting up here having lost two out of three. A pitch here, a pitch there, a play here, a play there and we lose two out of three. We consider ourselves very fortunate. I don’t think there’s much separation between us and Tennessee. I was very happy with the way we played today. It was a meaningful game for Wil Crowe. A Tennessee boy, he grew up being a Volunteer fan 20 minutes from their campus. I’m sure he felt a little pressure today going against his home state school. He threw the ball extremely well and that was really neat to see. I didn’t think we’d get seven innings out of him, I was hoping to get five or six clean ones and for him to keep us in the game. We had a fresh bullpen so I thought our pitching situation was in good shape. We made a little bit of a change with the lineup and put Elliott [Caldwell] up there and he got a couple of big hits for us. Tanner [English] is comfortable down there in that nine hole. I keep trying to convince myself to put him in the leadoff spot, but when I put him in the nine hole he gets hits. Other than that, it was great weekend for us. We have a quick turnaround this week with a Tuesday game against Appalachian State and we travel Wednesday for a Thursday, Friday, Saturday weekend at Arkansas so it’s not going to get any easier.
On getting an early lead and winning comfortably
I wouldn’t say I was comfortable. You’re never comfortable in the SEC. It was 7-0 and I’m going to [Cody] Mincey. The games are too important. They can change, just like they changed last night, on a dime. You never think the game is over. It was good not to have to use Joel Seddon. Grayson Greiner, if he’s not one of the best two, or three, or four players in the country I don’t know who is. That performance he put on this weekend was incredible. It was a nice day for us. It was just a good clean win and we needed one of those in the league.
On Wil Crowe’s performance
I thought it was his best [performance]. Number one, because of the situation of whom he was throwing against. But two, just from a rubber to play, a rubber to mitt standpoint, he was efficient, threw strikes and changed speeds. His changeup was very effective. He dumped his curveball in there for a strike when he wanted to. He is very polished for a freshman, has a great demeanor, and has a great competitive spirit. He can go to any pitch in any count, which is very rare for a freshman, especially when you consider him a power-type guy. I think his strikeouts will go up and I think his stuff will only get better as he continues to grow and mature and gets a little bit stronger. He’s learning how to pitch right now and that bodes well for his future, there’s no doubt about that. Usually it’s the other way around, usually the hard throwers have to learn how to pitch. He’s a freshman that knows how to pitch and it usually doesn’t go that way. You see a lot of young kids trying to light up the radar gun and missing pitches over the heart of the plate trying to get a hit. He’s hitting the corners, hitting the spots and changing speeds. It’s really neat to see. It was clean today for him. If I had asked him to finish the game I think he would have.
Freshman Left-Handed Pitcher Wil Crowe
On the offense giving him run support
First inning runs are huge, they get you comfortable. And you do not have to stress about getting everyone out. You can give up a hit here and hit there and just try to get a ground ball.
On what it means to get first SEC sweep and improve the conference record
It’s huge. It doesn’t happen often, since everyone in the league is about the same. There is a fine line of who is going to win and who isn’t so it’s huge to get three [wins] and put ourselves a little bit above .500
Junior Catcher Grayson Greiner
On taking control early and Tennessee feeling deflated after yesterdays games
Our goal was to jump on them early and if you jump on them early after their two losses yesterday, you kind of feel in control. We got some runs early and felt like we were in control the whole game. We finally won a regular game without having to comeback in the 9th inning and we finally played a complete game. Our pitchers pitched well, hitters hit well, and defense played well.
On his standing ovation in the first inning
I didn’t expect that at all, it really took me by surprise. I have never got a standing ovation before so it was pretty cool. Obviously last night’s hit [walk-off grand slam] was a big hit, it earned us the series win. It [the standing ovations] really meant a lot to me. These fans are the best in the country and we really do appreciate them.
On Wil Crowe
I thought today was his best performance of the year; he was unbelievable today. He attacked the zone and I thought all of his stuff was on point. He kept [Tennessee] off balance and he has that good of stuff where if he is ahead in the count he is pretty hard to hit. What he has been able to do this far in the season is incredible. We feel like every time he has the ball in his hands on Sunday we have a chance to win.
