APPALACHIAN STATE 5, No. 23 OKLAHOMA 4

NCAA DIVISION I BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - CHARLOTTESVILLE REGIONAL

JUNE 2, 2012 • CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. • DAVENPORT FIELD

POSTGAME QUOTES

 

Appalachian State

Coach Chris Pollard

Opening statement:

"First off, I'm really proud of our guys. Ryan (Arrowood) pitched an incredible ballgame and really set the tone from the first inning. Our team played a great ballgame defensively and I thought we did a tremendous job with our situational hitting. Every time we got guys on, we were able to push them around and every time we got guys on third base, we were able to figure out a way to get them home. I thought we competed really, really good. I also thought that that was a very good club we faced. Jordan John was one of the best arms we've seen in the past couple years...maybe the best changeup we've seen while I've been at Appalachian. He's a guy that has a bright future ahead of him along with [Arrowood]. But it was a really good game. I thought we did enough there to survive, but it really boils down to Ryan Arrowood setting the tone with a tremendous start."

On taking Nathan Hyatt out:

"It wasn't a hard decision taking him out. The hard decision has been whether to use Nate in the eighth or not. His best production has been when we bring him in in the ninth and exclusively in the ninth. What has been hard for him has been when he has to come over and sit...the longer the inning the harder it is for him to get loose when he comes back out. As great as a job as he has done in the closer role, we have to put him in the best position to be successful and the best position may be staying exclusively with the ninth inning."

On the bottom of the order:

"The one thing about [Jordan] John is he is very tough against right-handers. Because of his change-up, which is one of the best I've seen since I came back to Division I baseball, it makes him really difficult for right-handers to pick up. Our left-handers thought they were seeing the ball really well against him."

Ryan Arrowood

On what pitches were working for him tonight:

"From the start of the game, everything felt like it was working spot on. I was locating my fastball from the get-go, and the curveball was definitely on today."

Jeremy Dowdy

On catching for Arrowood:

"There wasn't a whole lot that wasn't working for him tonight. I was really impressed with both of his breaking balls-his slider and his curveball. I was really pleasantly surprised with his changeup that he was really able to get into the zone. It is really effective for him when he can get it over a 2-0 count when the hitter is looking to drive a fastball and it changes the whole at bat. He got deep in counts but he never really gave in and he battled back."

Trey Holmes

On the production in the bottom of the order:

"I thought we swung well in the bottom of the order. Being in the bottom of the order you get to see what the other guy's throwing for the first six batters of the game. I just kind of took advantage of things."

 

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Coach Sunny Golloway

Opening Statement:

"We have to tip our cap to Appalachian State. I've been in that position. I talked to their coach about getting to that first regional and how difficult it is. That's their first win in a regional in a long time so you have to commend them. More importantly, I think the way [Ryan] Arrowood pitched was outstanding. He was really moving right along. The game was going really quickly. I didn't think his pitch count was near what it ended up being. We thought that if we could keep it close, it would be tough to finish it off because I had been in that position before when I was at Oral Roberts University. When you're trying to get that first win at a regional for the first time, it can be very difficult, but if you look at the end [of the game], we just didn't keep it close enough. It was tough for them to finish it off but give them credit. They were able to do it."

On Oklahoma's rally late in the game:

"When you're down like that you have to make them throw strikes. We huddled our team up, and even though it was a 5-1 deficit, we really believed that we would be able to come back and win the ballgame. We have an approach where you just give it to the next guy, whatever it takes - just be tough in the box, get on base, and give it to the next guy. We did a good job of doing that. There were just too many things that happened early on. Did we feel like that we could come back though? Absolutely."

On the team's mentality entering the game:
"We were really loose entering the game. I think the guys had a great approach as far as the game went, but we didn't have a great approach against [Appalachian State's] Ryan [Arrowood]. Early on, he's going to be a little nervous and we needed to get after him. What we needed to do was make them play and handle the pressure of being in their first regional."

On playing in an elimination game tomorrow:

"Instead of just winning two to move on, we have to win two each day, and we are fit to do that. I wouldn't be surprised - matter of fact I would be a little shocked if we aren't playing for it in the end. No disrespect to anybody else but that is just how we are built."

On Oklahoma's pitching rotation moving forward:

"I have a power right handed arm. I have a power left handed arm. Then I have another power right handed arm and a couple of more really good left handed arms. It doesn't matter. You tell me who you want to see first and we'll roll them out. We have some good arms to throw. We'll throw Jonathan Gray in the first game. We'll throw Dillon Overton in game two and Damien Magnifico in game three. There is a good chance that you are going to see Steven Bruce - a really good arm - in game four. Do we have to play five? Only four, right? We'll stop there. Overconfident I'm sure, right?"

Oklahoma Pitcher Jordan John

On whether he felt tense on the mound:

"I didn't feel like that at all. I rushed the throw on the ball hit back to me and other than that I felt fine."

Oklahoma Shortstop Caleb Bushyhead

On Arrowhead's pitching:

"As Coach Golloway said, he really was on point this evening. He was throwing a good mix of pitches and keeping us hitters off balance. Our approach really wasn't really that great. We were going up there and attacking it, thinking we could do a lot more than we were really capable of. We beat ourselves but you do have to give him credit. He threw the ball really well this evening. Later in the evening, we caught ourselves chasing a lot more pitches. In my opinion, that really hurt us but you have to give him credit."

On the team's approach for tomorrow:

"We will have the same approach we've had all year: one game at a time. You have to go out and win that game, that day, and honestly, our team is set up to play just like this. We have a really deep bullpen and a lot of starters. We've said it all year, 'win one of the first two and then our arms later on will beat the other guys' arms later on in the tournament.' It hurts losing tonight but we are going to come back out optimistic tomorrow, knowing that we have a chance to win this thing.