Game 1: Post-Game Quotes and Audio

June 3, 2006

Clemson Regional Post-GamePress Conferences Media PlayerEvent Download the Free Real Player.Clemson(5:38)Download the Free Real Player.UNCAsheville(3:19)

UNC Asheville Quotes

Head Coach Willie StewartOpening Statement “I couldn’t be more proud of the way our guys played. I thought we went out there and played a pretty good ball game. I think Chris pitched spectacular. He made one mistake and Clemson made us pay for it. You have to give them credit for being such a good ball club. They are the number one seed and, today, they showed why.”

On Clemson pitcher Sean Clark “We’d had plenty of reports on him. We knew he was going to throw three pitches for strikes. We knew he was going to try to work ahead in the count. We have to tip our cap to him. He did a good job of getting ahead of our hitters and putting us in a defensive position all day long.”

On pitching Chris Nigro after the rain delay “Just from being around Chris all year long, I had a pretty good feeling that he could come back from the delay. I didn’t have to worry about how he was going to feel.”

On Nigro pitching a complete game “It saves our bullpen tremendously. Going as deep as he did, the whole game, it allowed us to save a stronger bullpen going into the next game.

Pitcher Chris Nigro” “I felt pretty good out there. Everything seemed to be working early. I threw that one mistake, just left it up there, and they made me pay for it. Other than that, I felt I was throwing three pitches for strikes. I had a few walks that hurt me. After the rain delay yesterday, I felt fresh today. We didn’t win the game, but I felt I did a pretty good job and the defense played well behind me.”

Clemson Quotes

Head Coach Jack LeggettOpening Statement “I’m glad to get that one behind us. UNC Asheville did a nice job; they pitched well. We didn’t get much going offensively, but we played good defense and our pitching was superb. Sean (Clark) did a tremendous job, giving up just three hits over the last eight innings. It was an outstanding effort out of him. I guess we’re beginning to expect that. Stan (Widmann) came up with a huge hit for us. I’m just glad to get it out of the way. We have another test tonight against a different type of team.”

On the difference in Sean Clark “He probably wasn’t getting as many opportunities before, but he is taking advantage of it now. He is throwing strikes. He did a great job of keeping (UNC Asheville) off balance today. I thought his change-up was really good today, and he locates his fastball really well. He did exactly what we needed him to do.”

On the offensive “It was probably a combination of all three things (not playing for a week, the rain delay, the UNCA pitcher). When we’re used to playing Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we get in a rhythm. Then when we had five or six days off, it’s difficult to see that live pitching and get the timing right.”

Associate Head Coach Kevin O’SullivanOn talking to Clark on the mound “I just told him to get ahead in the count and not give the guy anything middle-in, something to pull where they could tie it up with one swing of the bat. We wanted them to have to string together a couple hits in order to tie it up.”

Starting Pitcher Sean Clark “Today I threw the change-up more. I think I threw it more than I had last weekend and in the past. Some of the lefties were looking fastball and the change-up kept them off balance. The curveball was also working well, so I was able to keep them guessing.”

Shortstop Stan Widmann On his first homerun of the season “It felt great! I was ahead in the count, so I was looking away. That’s the scouting report that we had, so I just took a swing.”