Post Game Quotes: Louisville v. Vanderbilt, Game 2
June 06, 2010 | Baseball
June 6, 2010
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Vanderbilt University vs. University of Louisville
NCAA Regional
Jim Patterson Stadium
Louisville Assistant Coach Chris Lemonis
(Opening Statement) "Obviously, very disappointing. We felt great coming into today and we felt great with our matchups. Unfortunately the left-handed pitcher (Richie Goodenow) from Vanderbilt pitched a great game. We didn't make the adjustments to come back. I give him a lot of credit."
(On what Goodenow was doing) "Just mixing it up. There were a lot of sliders and a lot of off speed. He had us beating it in the ground and popping up the back side. He pitched all day long. He really pitched behind in the counts. The 2-0s and the 3-1s, we saw a lot of off speed balls."
(On being over confident) "I don't think so. I mean I think we're always confident. It was one of those days when we messed up and didn't make adjustments after we got behind early on. That was disappointing."
(On struggling against left-handers) "No I don't think so. Actually I think we hit left-handers better than right-handers. This was a great breaking ball guy and kept us off balance. As the game went on and we lost momentum, it got harder and harder to hit that guy."
(On if he thought Goodenow would tire out) "I thought that before the game. I thought he was going to be a one time through the lineup guy and use a couple of arms. I think when he started having so much success, they just stayed with him. He probably had the outing of his life today and was well deserved."
(On message to the team after the game) "To be better tomorrow and have a better approach. I told them to look at the scoreboard. I've never won a game without scoring a run and so you have to put runs on the board and give yourself a chance to win. We were in the same situation last year, I think both of us. It will be an exciting day tomorrow."
(On what the team has to do to put the loss behind them) "Short memory. Hopefully they'll bounce back and have a good meal. It's post season baseball and there's no tomorrow. Winner keeps playing and loser goes home."
(On the Vanderbilt and Louisville programs) "I think it's two of the best programs in the country. Great pitching, they play great defense. They're just two great ball clubs year in and year out. We started to create a rivalry with the regional games and the midweek games and our kids really get up and I think theirs too."
(On who they are pitching tomorrow) "It's a good question. I haven't spoken to our head coach (Dan McDonnell) who obviously isn't here. We'll announce it as soon as we find out and get it out there to everybody. Without Dan being here and without speaking to Roger (Williams), I'll just wait and announce it later tonight. Thomas Royse is a candidate."
(On getting Coach McDonnell back) "I gave the kids a hard time out in the outfield. I told them, they must really like him because they want him to coach one game at least. It's exciting to have him back. It probably puts everyone back in their normal roles. We feel we have one of the best coaches in the country. Obviously, it's a positive to have him in there."
Louisville OF Josh Richmond
(On Richie Goodenow keeping the team off balance) "I just think he did a very good job like Coach Lemonis said mixing it up a lot. I went up to the plate on multiple occasions I can remember thinking he was going to do one thing and then busting out something else. Like Coach Lemonis said, he is a south paw lefty and when you're a south paw lefty you have to make sure you're keeping the hitters off balance and throwing everything you can to stay away and his breaking ball was really working. I thought he did a really good job."
(On what to take away from last year's elimination game) "This is do or die for us. We got a couple great seniors and we don't wa nt to go out like this. We were in the exact same situation last year, in a big situation to take one early in the first elimination game and they got us and it went into game two. So, we're going to keep our confidence up and put this behind us and come out tomorrow and play hard."
Louisville RHP Justin Amlung
(On his perspective of the game) "I thought all-in-all I didn't make a whole lot of mistakes. I made one mistake and I think (Joe) Loftus hit the double in the gap of course, but I thought I had all three of my pitches working. I was locating very, very well. There was obviously a few calls that I would have liked that I didn't get, but I just need to be better."
Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin
"I think we have to talk about the main story and that's the guy on my left (Richie Goodenow). His performance today was maybe as good as I've seen in 28 years of coaching. The importance of it, the fact that he was down in the bullpen for most of the first game (against Illinois State), the fact that he's never pitched a game that long since he's been at Vanderbilt. He faced two (batters) over the minimum. Not much more you can say about it. He's a low-maintenance kid.
"Once we got through the first game, I thought the kids loosened up. I felt the momentum was on our side of the dugout, at least for the second part of the game. But, it doesn't get that way unless you have a stopper on the mound and we had that. He did that against a very good ballclub."
(On the offensive production): "I thought we were a little flat (yesterday) for whatever reason and I can't put my finger on it and I don't think the kids can either. We were all frustrated. I told them today there were three things I wanted them to do ... play free, play loose and have some fun. If you're going to go down or going to win, have fun. Particularly after the 6th,. 7th inning of the Illinois State game, I thought there was a difference in how we felt."
(On preparation for Monday): "Players get sick of scouting reports at this point. We just have to come out and be ready. It's the unlikely heroes that make a difference in situations like this."
Vanderbilt LHP Richie Goodenow
(Did he see this performance coming) "I was just trying to stay prepared. D.J. [Derek Johnson] does a great job with all the pitchers, just talking about routine and being prepared for anything you get."
(On this being the game of his life) "I am not quite sure about that. I just wanted to help my team win and we accomplished that. Hopefully we will get them again on Monday."
(On pitching after getting a big lead) "It definitely helps when the offense gets it going. As pitchers, we always try to pitch it like [we] have a 1-0 lead anyway. It really did not affect me in any way. I just tried to pitch out there every inning the same."
(On his emotions) "I'm a little tired. I am actually exhausted. [I] am ready to go for tomorrow. We will see how the arm feels and maybe pitch an inning or two."
Vanderbilt 1B Aaron Westlake
(On Goodenow's performance) "He has been feeling good, preparing for every game the same way. We felt confident in him, getting his ground balls. When he had those two double plays, that was probably the seal right there when we knew his going to go all the way."
(On team's confidence) "From a pitching perspective, it saved a lot of our pitchers because we ran pretty thin from the three games we had to play before. From a hitting perspective, we have a good hitting team. We have been a little down, our pitching and defense has helped us throughout the year. Getting the bats going today gives us big confidence especially against a team like Louisville."
(On facing lefty-lefty matchups) "I knew he was going to stay away with the slider, show a fastball and go back with the slider away. We look for a fastball away and if he throws an off-speed pitch you will be on time with it. That is what he did. He threw a slider and I was able to get it through the four hole. It has been a struggle this year with lefties. Working with the coaches, it is progressing and now I take it on as a challenge. I am more confident and more comfortable every day."
Vanderbilt 3B Jason Esposito
(On clutch hits in fifth inning) "From a morale standpoint, I think it picks us up and gives us confidence. We did a lot of two-out hitting. We did a lot of clutch hitting. We got guys on base, we scored them. I think that is going to carry into tomorrow. That helps us tremendously with our confidence."
(On tomorrow's game) "It is who wants it more. Both teams are going to come out and swing the bats, both teams are going to pitch and both teams are going to play defense. It is going to come down to who wants it more. The team with the most heart is going to win."
