Feb. 21, 2015
Head Coach Chad Holbrook
Opening Statement…
“It was a really good day for us. Anytime you win two games is good, especially against a quality Northeastern team. I thought they had two quality arms that we saw from a velocity standpoint. I know they haven’t been outside much because of the weather they’ve had, so we’re probably a little bit ahead of them from a preparation standpoint. The stuff their pitchers Berger and Hill had, that was a good challenge for us, and I loved the way our players responded. I thought we played very clean baseball for the most part, no errors the first game. We had some good two out hits, we had some quality at bats, hit the ball hard, a couple home runs. I’m pleased with the way our team played today.”
On Jack Wynkoop’s Performance…
“He was very efficient, he threw 84 pitches in eight innings. He threw strikes. That’s what he can do if he gets in a groove. That’s how he’s pitched all fall, and with the exception of how he pitched against the College of Charleston, I know College of Charleston had a lot to do with that, but his stuff today was a lot better, and how it’s been through the school year here. His breaking ball had break, it snapped, his change was good, and he located his pitches. Just a very clean efficient outing. One of the thoughts in our mind, of pitching him first, he can keep the bullpen fresh for the next two games, because he can be so efficient. He gets in a groove, like he did today, you can look up and eight innings are in the books, and he’s thrown 85 pitches, and you don’t have to use the bullpen, and that can set you up for Game two and Game thre. He just had a real good outing.”
On team’s expectations moving forward…
“I said to some of the guys after the game, this is how I thought we would play. I thought we had a group of guys in there that gave us quality at bats. I thought we looked like a strong defensive team. We have to continue to grow from a pitching staff standpoint, not from a talent area, but just developing roles. Who’s going to get the last out? Who’s going to come in in the seventh? Who’s going to throw the best under pressure? Those are just things we’re figuring out. I thought the way we played today, that was who we were. And when we play well, that’s how we will play. I told [Northeastern Head Coach] Mike [Glavine], this is the best we’ve played all year. We hadn’t played this well up until this point, so that was good to see. I hope we can be consistent, but this was just one day. We can’t get all giddy about ourselves. It’s just one day, but if we can play consistently like that throughout the year, we can have a darn good team.”
Players Quotes
South Carolina 1B Kyle Martin
On team’s approach…
That’s the approach we have been taking so far. We have the idea they’re going to come out after us and throw strikes early and we just started swinging at some fastballs and getting some good pitches and putting some good swings on them.
On strength of team early in the season…
One through nine, we can hit hard. We’ve got a great pitching staff that can throw strikes and get outs. As long as we can keep the ball rolling we’re going to have a good season.
South Carolina CF Gene Cone
On personal performance…
It felt good obviously, that was my first career home run. Today I was able to get some good pitches to hit and put some good swings on some balls.
South Carolina SP Jack Wynkoop
On team’s performance…
I was just trying to mix my pitches and let my defense work behind me. The defense did a great job today and Gene [Cone] and [Kyle Martin] set the tone in that first inning. It felt like we had some momentum going the whole time and ended up getting the win.
On recovering from last weekend’s loss…
I’m glad I bounced back OK and went out and got the first game win today.
On carrying strong play throughout season…
We did everything well today and hopefully we will be able to continue that for the rest of the season.
On if he talked with Coach Holbrook about pitching the ninth inning…
Nope. Coach Meyers asked me if I was ready to go and I said “yeah” and then we had that long inning and he ended up taking me out.
On importance of tomorrow’s series finale against Northeastern…
I think that’s important. We definitely want to go out and get that win tomorrow and sweep the series and then we’ll focus on next week but yeah, tomorrow is a big game.
