April 1, 2014

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Junior Grayson Greiner

On mental approach to final at bat

Just going up there to get a hit, we had a man in scoring position and I just wanted to get him in. We didn’t want another extra inning game. The pitcher threw me six straight sliders, and I was seeing that pitch pretty good. The sixth one was sort of left high in the zone so I knew I was going to hit it when I saw it leave his hand. I got good barrel on it and won the game.

Junior Joey Pankake

On if he was surprised they didn’t walk Greiner

I was surprised. The way he has been hitting lately, I would not want to pitch to him. They pitched to him and he got it done.

On team confidence

We are really confident. Our pitchers did really well and I think we owed it to them to get a couple hits at the end and win the game. [Evan] Beal, [Taylor] Widener, and Vince [Fiori] all did really well today.

Junior Connor Bright

On his performance

Collecting three hits is always a fun thing to be a part of. The team played well; our pitchers were flawless again and we are playing well as a team right now.

On the how the team continues to battle

We are a close-knit group. I think the biggest thing is we that remain calm, we do not try to press or make anything happen. Everyone knows how to win and that’s a good thing.

Junior Evan Beal

On his start

I think I got off to a good start. They [Appalachian State] scratched two hits off of me in the first then I think that I just tried to pitch to weak contact and not try to punch anyone out. The strikeouts will come.

Head Coach Chad Holbrook

Opening Statement

Well, we found a way to win another tight one. I cant say I’m proud of the way we swung the bat and played from an offensive standpoint, but I am proud of Evan Beal, [Josh] Reagan, [Taylor] Widener, and [Vince] Fiori. All of those boys played really well. We got a couple hits but didn’t do too much offensively. I told the kids after the game, and this is in no disrespect to Jeffery Springs because he is a great pitcher, but we are going to see some of the best pitching we’ve seen all year this weekend and we are going to have to have a better offensive approach if we are going to have any success out in Arkansas. But, it was a good win for us. I told the guys we are half way through our 56 game regular season schedule and we are 25-3 so I can’t complain too much at what they’ve done. They’ve done a really god job and I’m lucky to have Grayson Greiner on my team; that kid never ceases to amaze me.

On his decision to pinch hit Greiner

Baseball is very difficult. You have to make a lot of decisions that might be the right decision but might not work out. I wrestled with what to do with Brison Celek. I wanted him to hit there because I knew what was coming up. I could sit here and bunt him up and then have Grayson [Greiner], but they might just walk him. So, I wrestled with it and I was lucky that they went to the mound to talk to the pitcher because it gave me a chance to collect myself. I didn’t want Grayson to play tonight and I just kind of conceded. I was more concerned about him having to go on in the bottom of the tenth and catch. So, you have to play the numbers there and the numbers say, when you’re at home you bunt. Celek isn’t the fleetest of foot; he could hit one on the nose and take a double play and put us out of the inning. I just felt like we had to bunt him up and take two cracks to win the game.