Alabama-Eastern Illinois Postgame Quotes and Notes
3/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 13, 2011
Head Coach Mitch Gaspard
Opening statement:
"We had back-to-back good outings from Tucker Hawley. He went nine innings last week and was in position to do that again today by throwing a lot of strikes and keeping the ball down. Really overall I thought it was a good weekend, we really got going yesterday offensively and even today I thought we hit some balls pretty good and pressured the defense a little bit more. Overall, this really wraps up the preseason as we start moving forward with a big week for us coming up with Auburn on Tuesday then opening up conference play at Ole Miss next weekend."
On questions about this season and if they've been answered:
"The first thing is when you pitch well a lot of questions start to get answered, so we have certainly improved in the first 16 games. I think we are moving in the right direction right now, and the key for us, with four on the road, is if we can take clean baseball on the road, and that's where our struggle has really been. We've played fairly sound at home, but when we went on the road we haven't played at the same caliber. This is a big week for us, but we've certainly improved along the way. I think we are finding our team and what guys need to play where. We are moving in the right direction right now."
On team confidence after the wins this weekend:
"Anytime you can sweep, that is certainly going to build self confidence. The biggest thing for us is certain individuals are playing better and their confidence is a little higher which is going to help the team. We knew going into the season that we have to pitch well, that's our strength. It was really good to see three quality starts this weekend. The bullpen came in and did a nice job. We are starting to show the little signs as a team offensively that we can collectively put more at-bats together outside of just two or three guys in the lineup."
#44 Tucker Hawley, RHP
On performance today:
"I gave it up to Pilkington to come in after the seventh, but Gaspard told me I had one more (inning) so I took for go one more even though I felt like I was done. I'm not upset with his decision to keep me in at all."
On what they talked about before this weekend and what they wanted to achieve:
"I just wanted to work all week on throwing the ball down, throwing low strikes and being aggressive, attacking the hitter and attacking the zone, letting the defense work. When you do that you should have a good outcome."
On going 17 straight innings without giving up a run:
"I try not to pay attention to it. I don't want to go out there and start thinking about that and lose focus. I just go out there and focus on executing the pitch and whatever happens, happens."
On pitch-to-pitch mentality:
"They preach pitch to pitch, go out and execute the pitch that's called and move on to the next one. You try and set guys up, but you still want to attack the zone and work ahead in the count. When you get behind in the count, that's when you start getting hurt."
#9 Jared Reaves, SS
On playing well at home:
"You always want to put on a good show for the home fans. That one stretch where we got swept was just because we weren't playing well. We changed our approach, and we always seem to do good at home."
On everyone getting a hit today:
"That's great for us. Next weekend we go to Ole Miss and it's SEC time, so it's nice to see everyone in the lineup coming through, producing and executing and that's a real positive thing to see before we start conference play."
On pushing each other on the team:
"I've been a big fan of Brock (Bennett) since the first day we met. We always have a competition with each other, something like seeing who can get the most hits. Ultimately, our goal is to get this team to win."
NOTES
* Junior center fielder Taylor Dugas led off Sunday's game with triple and has now reached base 10-of-16 times to lead off a game this season. With the triple, Dugas extended his hitting streak to six games.
* With a run scored in the first inning, Dugas has scored runs in 14-of-16 games this season, and has scored eight times in the first inning. He leads the team with 20 runs scored and is third in the SEC.
* Dugas added an RBI single in the sixth inning, notching his seventh multi-hit game of the season and 64th of his career.
* Dugas ended the series with a .417 average (5-for-12) with two triples, three RBI and four runs scored.
* Senior catcher Brock Bennett had an RBI single in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games.
* Bennett is now hitting .408 (20-for-49) for the season, which is second on the team.
* Bennett finished the series with a .462 average (6-for-13) with five RBI and a run scored.
* Freshman Case Nixon made his first career start as the designated hitter, and was 1-for-3 in the game with a walk and a run scored. Nixon is now batting .500 (4-for-8) on the season.
* Sophomore starting pitcher Tucker Hawley threw eight scoreless innings to increase his consecutive innings pitched without allowing a run to 17 straight. Hawley threw a complete game, three-hit shutout in his last start against Northwestern State (March 6, 2011).
* Junior shortstop Jared Reaves notched his team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-3, and extending his hitting streak to seven games. He is now batting .439 (25-for-57) to lead the team.
* Reaves was 6-for-11 (.545) in the series, with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored.
* Following Jon Kelton's single in the eighth inning, every player for Alabama that had a plate appearance had at least one hit on the day.
* After winning all three games against Eastern Illinois, Alabama swept its third series of the year (Alcorn State and Northwestern State).
* Alabama is now 11-1 when playing at Sewell-Thomas Stadium this season.
* The Crimson Tide outscored the Panthers 20-3 in the series, while hitting .368 (39-for-106) on the weekend.
* The Tide pitching staff held EIU to a .167 average (16-for-96) for the series, while allowing just three runs (two earned) for a 0.67 ERA in the three games.
