Alabama-Eastern Illinois Postgame Quotes and Notes
3/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 12, 2011
Head Coach Mitch Gaspard
Opening statement:
"I thought Adam (Morgan) came out sharp today and gave us a great start which was what we wanted to see from him. Offensively, this was our best game to this point. With 18 hits, we had a great approach and a lot of line drives. It was just a clean game all around. I thought we pitched it well. We defended the field well and were obviously able to get a good lead and build on it. It was a good win for us and it's something we can build on into tomorrow."
On the 1-2 pitching combination of Kilcrease and Morgan for Alabama:
"I like it. We wanted to see it this weekend prior to going to Ole Miss next weekend. We really went the other way for the good majority of last year, and then obviously this year, so we wanted to kind of look at it this weekend. It is one weekend, but it's worked well up to this point so I feel like with those two guys it's a 1-2 punch either way you go. I thought that was Adam's best outing today and so right now I think that's the way we will head into conference."
On how comfortable the pitchers appeared:
"You never know weekend to weekend, but I think right now Kilcrease is filling so many spots for us that he is really comfortable in any role we put him in. It does give Adam the opportunity to see the hitters one night and make some adjustments on how he wants to get after them the next day. For right now, it certainly worked well this weekend."
#32, Adam Morgan, LHP
On his performance and approach coming into this game:
"This whole week we've been working on our breaking ball and curveball instead of a slider, it was just working today. Our defense was amazing tonight, everybody running down foul balls and everything. It's easy to pitch when it's 8-0, a lot easier mentally. We go out there thinking we have a dog fight all the time and then when your offense hits them in the mouth and keeps hitting them and keeps pulling the runs on them, it's easy to pitch."
On the second time taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning:
"You don't really think about it, I just try to keep focused inning by inning, and when I'm out on the mound it's more pitch by pitch."
#9, Jared Reaves, SS
On the team's performance:
"We sat down today and just talked about our approaches. We just relaxed and tried to work gap to gap. Everybody was positive, and we swung it well."
On opening up an eight-run lead in three innings:
"It means the world to us. We come out, get runners on, execute and get them in. That means the world to Adam Morgan. When you come out and get him runs, he can relax and work on pitches. It's just a great feeling. Morgan just worries about making his pitches, hitting locations and ultimately getting a win."
NOTES
* Alabama had a season-high 18 hits against Eastern Illinois, notching its fifth game this season with double-digits in hits. The previous season-high was 12 hits against Northwestern State (March 6).
* The 18 hits by Alabama are the most since a 23-hit performance against Illinois-Chicago on Feb. 27, 2010. The last time UA had 15 or more hits was a 17-hit day against Elon on June 4, 2010, in the NCAA Tournament.
* The Crimson Tide scored a season-high 12 runs against EIU. It was the third game this season with 10 or more runs.
* The starting infield for Alabama was a combined to go 9-for-18 (.500) in the game, with six RBI and six runs scored.
* Junior shortstop Jared Reaves had a pair of RBI, increasing his team-leading RBI total to 21 this season. He now has eight games with at least two runs batted in this season and currently ranks second in the Southeastern Conference in RBI.
* Reaves notched his team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the season, going 3-for-4 to and extending his hitting streak to six games. He is now batting .426 (23-for-54), which is second on the team.
* Senior catcher Brock Bennett singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to seven games.
* Bennett was 3-for-4 in the game and is now hitting .432 (19-for-44) for the season, which leads the team. It was the first three-hit game of the season for Bennett and was the fifth time in his career with three or more hits.
* Bennett also had a career-high three RBI in the game.
* With a run scored in the third inning, Dugas has scored runs in 13-of-15 games this season. He leads the team with 19 runs scored and is third in the SEC.
* Junior left-handed pitcher Adam Morgan retired the first 12 batters of the game before allowing a leadoff double to start the fifth inning. It was the second time this season Morgan carried a no hitter into the fifth inning.
* Sophomore outfielder Andrew Miller was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning for a team-high sixth time this season. He's been hit by a pitch six times in the last six games.
* Junior second baseman Jon Kelton was 2-for-3 on Saturday to hit safely in the last four games since taking over as the everyday second baseman. In the last four games, all as a starter at second base, Kelton is batting .308 (4-for-13).
* Junior designated hitter Josh Rosecrans was 2-for-4, notching his third multi-hit game of the season.
