ECU-Tulane Quotes
May 24, 2006 | Baseball
May 24, 2006
EAST CAROLINA QUOTES
HEAD COACH BILLLY GODWIN
On first-round win over Tulane
"Coming off a tough weekend (sweep at Memphis), it was certainly a good win for us today against a quality program like Tulane. I think these two guys beside me (starting pitcher Brody Taylor, catcher Jake Smith) are the main reasons why we were able to do that. Brody went out and gave us another solid outing and Jake's home run was huge when we scored those three runs (fifth inning)."
On playing high-RPI team like Tulane in first round (post-season chances)
"To be honest, I told them that we have to win the tournament (to advance). That's what we need to do. We need to play like our backs are against the wall. If we're going to get into the NCAA Tournament and keep our string of seven straight regionals alive, we need to win this tournament. I don't want to rest my hands in playing deep or anything like that. If we win it, there's no question that we'll go. That's what I relayed to them and they came out very focused and responded well.
On strength of Conference USA (potential matchup vs. Houston)
"Conference USA is such a great conference. Houston's got another outstanding club. I thought all year that we played with everyone in this league. I think if stay within ourselves and play well, we can match up with anyone
STARTING PITCHER Brody Taylor
On pitching performance
"I had a good feel for the hitters today, knowing how to pitch against them and then I fell into a comfort factor during the game, I didn't try to overthrow or do too much because my game is to just go out there and pitch and try to throw strikes.
On getting out of the first inning allowing only one run
"It was real big , because I think if that they would have scored more runs, it would have put us in a big jam and put a lot of pressure on us to come back from a big deficit early. I was just happy to get that ground ball double play."
On handling Mark Hamilton
"I worked hard on keeping the ball away from him but also making him respect me on the inner-half of the plate at times. I think he and I are a good matchup with my breaking ball, working away from him (strikeout and near-home run to rightfield both came on breaking balls)."
CATCHER Jake Smith
On his hitting performance
"I didn't get many good swings early, but the key was seeing and reacting to the slider I hit. I didn't know it was going out but it kept going. I just tried to stay confident with my approach and try to stay in the middle of the field."
On Tulane starter Sean Morgan
"Sean did a good job on us all day. He's a great competitor but we just stayed with our game plan and that kept us in the game. The first inning was real big. It gave us a lot of confidence to score right after they did. It was a back-and-forth battle but you have to appreciate the job Brody did and Shane for shutting the door."
