Game 6: Connecticut vs. Clemson – Postgame Quotes

June 6, 2011

CONNECTICUT QUOTES

Head Coach Jim Penders “I couldn’t be more proud of the way we fought and scratched and clawed. It all starts with the guy on the mound and our guy tonight (Elliott Glynn) really competed and gave us a quality start. Our catcher Doug Elliott has done a great job behind the plate for us for months now without a lot of help behind him. He caught two games today and in tonight’s game he had our first three RBIs.”

On his team’s execution in the late innings: “We executed really well, especially late in the game. (David) Fischer and Elliott did their jobs. We had a hit and run with Elliott that moved to guys over. Then in the ninth (John) Andreoli laid down a sacrifice bunt, which was his first one in a long time. Then what can you say about Ryan Fuller finding a hole? It was a memorable win not only for this team, but our program as a whole.”

Shortstop Nick AhmedOn this season’s Connecticut team: “It was tough to end the way we did last year. We had a taste of the tournament as a #2 seed in Norwich. We knew we had a pretty good team coming back and a chance to be good again.”

Catcher Doug ElliottOn what winning the Clemson Regional would mean to his team: “It would mean everything. We could not quite do it last year. Obviously Clemson has a great history and great tradition. It would be huge for our program. It is fun to play in an environment like this.”

Third Baseman Ryan FullerOn his game-winning single: “The 1-2 pitch was close. He set up outside and I definitely thought it broke outside. It was a close call. I just kept trying to get a good swing on it and I kept fouling pitches off. I finally hit on that got through. We wanted it so bad in our dugout. We definitely felt like we had momentum on our side and didn’t want to give it up.”

CLEMSON QUOTES

Head Coach Jack Leggett “It was a good ballgame, just a tough one to lose. It went back and forth. We had the lead that we needed, but could not quite protect it. Give them credit, they battled back. We had a good inning at the end with a big hit by Spencer (Kieboom) and a chance to tack on a couple of more during that inning, but we did not quite get that done.”

“We had a lot of base runners today. We had 21 base runners and just came up with just six runs. We have to do a little bit better with men on base tomorrow. We will be fine. We will be ready to play tomorrow.”

Shortstop Brad MillerOn offensive performance tonight for team compared to the last two days: “Some hits are not always going to fall for you. We had guys up there battling. We had some really good at bats taking them deep into counts. We just have some big two-out hits. You just have to keep going up there and fighting.”

On playing elimination game on Monday: This team has been through a lot. There are a bunch of veterans who have had their backs to the wall in elimination games. That is all you can ask for, to have a chance to play to advance. That is all we are really focused on. It is settled tomorrow. It will be a good opportunity for us to go out there and earn it.”

Catcher Spencer KieboomOn single in ninth to tie the game: “I was waiting to get a pitch that I could do something with. I felt like I had a good approach all weekend and have hit some balls hard. I did not want to do too much with it. He (Kevin Vance) threw me the exact same pitch that he threw the pitch before.”