Clemson vs. Miami Postgame Quotes

June 1, 2001

Miami Post-Game Quotes

Head Coach Jim Morris

On the performance of starting pitcher Tom Farmer: “He didn’t have his normal assortment of pitches today, but he did have a good fastball and a good breaking ball. I thought the strike zone was tight and you had to challenge hitters and they have a good club.”

On the importance of winning the first game: “It’s huge because it puts the pressure on them. No question about that. It happened to us last year and it’s hard to come back, but we also know that if they win tomorrow night it switches the momentum right back.”

On closer George Huguet’s performance: “Well, George has been doing that for us for three-fourths of the year so he’s the guy that’s gonna get the ball in that situation. He’s been doing it the last two months and so he’s the guy we look for in that situation. He has the confidence of our team and has the composure to handle the situation. He’s done a great job.”

Pitcher George Huguet

On the controversial last out: “I had to grab it with my barehand, because I didn’t have time to use my glove. I was just watching the ball, so I couldn’t tell if he was safe or out. I was just concentrating on what I was doing. I didn’t get a look at it, but I think my foot touched the bag before his.”

Shortstop Javy Rodriguez

On breaking the single-season stolen bases record: “The best thing about breaking the record is that I did it with a win and that’s what I’m most proud of right now is winning the first game and concentrating on going back to Omaha. “

On coming back from a 3-0 deficit: “All year we’ve been coming back, this team is great at that. We come back. We play with a lot of heart. That’s the way we play baseball.”

Clemson Post-Game Quotes

Head Coach Jack Leggett

“I thought we played well enough to win defensively. I thought we hit well enough to win. We just struggled holding them down in the third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth innings and that was the difference in the ballgame, I thought. We had trouble shutting them down offensively. Every time we started to get back in the ballgame, we had trouble getting over the top. We’ll just have to get over this and come back tomorrow.”

Was he surprised at the high-scoring game? “I thought it would be a different type of game than it was, but it didn’t work out that way. They did a good job making the adjustment to Steve (Reba) and then we just didn’t have much luck putting them away with two strikes and I think that was probably the difference.”

First baseman Michael Johnson “I was hoping the home run would just get us back in the ballgame and give us a chance to tie it up. Turned out it didn’t and it didn’t really matter. We’ve been in this situation several times this season. We’ve just got to go back to the hotel and put it out of our mind. Tomorrow’s a new day and we will start all over tomorrow.”

Pitcher Steve Reba “I really didn’t throw the ball well, obviously. I didn’t make pitches when I needed to make pitches. It’s a disappointing performance and I just didn’t make big pitches tonight. My stuff felt good tonight. I thought we made good adjustments and I had pretty good approaches to the plate. I just didn’t get the ball where I needed to tonight.”