Alabama-Northwestern State Postgame Quotes and Notes - Game 3
3/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 6, 2011
Head Coach Mitch Gaspard
Opening statement:
"Tucker Hawley was just outstanding today. I told the team that sometimes it takes one guy to get out there and get us going, and I think Nathan Kilcrease did that for us with a great start last night. Tucker took the lead from Nathan and went out and was really dominant with all three pitches. He located down in the strike zone, had a ton of first-pitch strikes, and a lot of first-pitch outs which allowed us to keep him in the ballgame. Typically, this early you don't see a guy go for a complete game but we had him on 100 pitches and he closed it out with 102. I thought on the offensive end we found some rhythm with a lineup that worked. I thought (Jon) Kelton, a guy from last year with a lot of experience, came back around today and had a big day. Hopefully that will get him going. Overall, it was a good weekend for us, we needed to bounce back after losing four, and a lot of times it's tough to get it back going again. The last couple of games we did enough to get the win and I thought we were pretty solid out there today."
On Tucker Hawley's performance:
"I thought it was the best since he got here. I've seen him throw a little harder, but as far as starting the game and going wire-to-wire, I thought he was outstanding. Through all nine innings he never really got in any trouble out there. It was a really good outing for him."
On throwing a lot of strikes:
"That's important for every single guy we run out there. That's the key, you have to throw strikes, and you have to throw good strikes. For us, our problem last week wasn't just that we didn't throw strikes, but where we threw our strikes; we left a whole lot up in the zone. Today, we really worked the edges and we were able to throw all three pitches."
On the upcoming week:
"Big week for us this week. We have Troy coming in here on Tuesday, and then we go out to Georgia to play the University of Georgia on Wednesday, and then we have a weekend series. So this will be our first five-game week. That means more opportunities for other guys to pitch and get out there. I think we need to build on the momentum that we have, we are starting to show a little more solid play. We are always searching for that right lineup, but today was a good start. I thought we got nine guys in there that we are pretty comfortable with that have a good track record swinging the bat, and we had some young guys who looked like they are starting to turn the corner a little bit."
#10 Jon Kelton, 2B
On today's performance:
"It's really nice to be back in the saddle. I came here as a second baseman, and it comes naturally to me. On the offensive end, I think I just relaxed a little bit, stopped pressing, and some good things happened."
On whether going back to second gives him more confidence offensively:
"I've just always really enjoyed the infield. I've gotten to where I love the outfield too, I don't really care either way. I really like second base, though, I'm comfortable there. I've played there all my life. It was a lot of fun today.
On the series sweep:
"Last week was a bad weekend, we had a lot of bad things going on, but they were things we could correct. I think it was just good for everybody confidence-wise. This is a good team, and we are going to gel together and keep improving. This was a great start for us."
#44 Tucker Hawley, RHP
On his complete game performance:
"I just went out there and had all three of my pitches going in the pen, and that carried over to the mound. I executed my pitches pretty well, and Brock Bennett and I were hooked up pretty well on the same page. The defense played very well behind me and made some great plays."
On his pitch count and command:
"We worked on command of my fastball all week. We got everything all cleaned up. I got a little too amped up on that last guy and ended up walking him, but it felt good today."
On what it means to throw a complete-game shutout:
"It feels great. That's the first complete game I've ever thrown, not to mention a complete game shutout. So that's great."
NOTES
* Sophomore RHP Tucker Hawley had his first career shutout and first career complete game for Alabama on Sunday. It was the first shutout by an Alabama pitcher since Miers Quigley did it against Jacksonville State on March 26, 2008.
* Hawley also set a career-high with nine strikeouts and gave up just three hits in his nine innings of work. His previous career-mark of five innings came in his first start this season, against the Alcorn State Braves.
* Junior shortstop Jared Reaves reached base on all five plate appearances, walking three times while going 2-for-2 with a run scored. Over the course of the weekend, Reaves was 4-for-7 with two runs scored and two RBI.
* Alabama had double-digit hits in all three games of the series this weekend (10 on Friday, 10 on Saturday, and a season-high 12 on Sunday). Alabama previously had 10 or more hits once this season, in the season opener against Alcorn State when they had 11.
* After four hit batters today, Alabama hitters have been hit by 19 pitches this season in 11 games. Freshman left fielder Austen Smith and sophomore third baseman Brett Booth both were hit by a pitch today and lead the Crimson Tide with four apiece.
* Redshirt freshman Charley Waldrep got his action in an Alabama uniform when he drew a walk in the eighth inning for Alabama.
* Smith and junior center fielder Taylor Dugas were the premier run producers for the Crimson Tide, both collecting four RBI on the afternoon.
* The Northwestern State Demons issued 14 free passes to Alabama batsman today. In addition to the four hit batters, Demons pitchers also gave up 10 walks.
* Coach Mitch Gaspard is now 3-0 against Northwestern State in his career. Gaspard was an assistant coach for two years and the head coach for six more with the Demons.
