Quotes and Notes - Tennessee Game 1
3/15/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 15, 2013
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery 
HEAD COACH Mitch Gaspard
Opening Statement:
"I thought that Charlie Sullivan was outstanding tonight. The first couple innings it took a little bit for him to get going but then he found a really good rhythm there in about the third inning. He had a lot of good pitches and worked ahead in the count. The ability to get a complete game on a Friday night is big help as you move into the weekend…with the bullpen being rusted. Offensively, I thought the big hit by Ben Moore in the second to put us up 4-1 really kind of relaxed things and got the hitters going. We also had really good offensive pressure throughout the ball game. Brett (Booth) had some good hits. It was good to see our offense have some confidence, to get us moving and get nine innings. I thought it was one of the better games we've played for nine innings. We were solid, pitched well and played really well defense. Offensively, we had a good plan all night long."
Thoughts on one game turning everything around
"We played good tonight. It is just one game, and that's what I told the team. This is one game and enjoy if for tonight, but in the morning realize that you have to come back and you got to perform the same way. It starts on the mound. Jon Keller has to come out and pitch with that same competitive fire that Charlie (Sullivan) did tonight. We also have to stay with a good approach offensively. There is some talent on this team, and I felt like it was just a matter of time before we get going. I think one thing we may see here is looking forward is that really tough schedule might start weighing in our favor as we move through the next few weeks."
Thoughts on the decision to pinch hit Wade Wass
"We got the green light yesterday. The doctors cleared him, and he's ready to go. He took BP with the team and felt pretty good. I told Wade (Wass) before the game that if the situation presents its self, you tell me if you're ready. I think it was nice to get that first one out of the way. We'll see how he feels tomorrow, but I think here real quick that he's going to be in the lineup. It was nice for him to get out there in a comfortable spot tonight and get the first at-bat under his belt."
PLAYER QUOTES
#29 Charlie Sullivan, RHP
On tonight's game
"I had a tough first inning and I felt like I was cutting myself off a little bit. I had to come in and talk to coach a little bit. Like it is every week with fastball command. Pitch off a fastball and then get ahead with it and it makes your secondary stuff look that much better. For me, it's always fastball command."
On what he was expecting:
"I think Tuesday was a letdown to all of us and we knew we could play a lot better than that. Wednesday we fought through some adversity and won that game. We just wanted to take that momentum into this game. That's what we can do every night no matter who we're playing. We've got the guys on offense, defense and the pitching staff. We've got the guys to do that every night."
On the defense
"Those guys up the middle. Kenny Roberts, Kyle Overstreet, Mikey White, Andrew Miller was about two inches from falling over that fence from catching that ball. Throwing that many strikes it keeps the defense on their toes. Brett Booth did an unbelievable job behind the plate tonight calling pitches and throwing runners out. Brett (Booth) held them all night long. I can't say enough about my defense, without them I wouldn't have done any of that."
#5 Brett Booth, C
On Charlie Sullivan's game tonight
"He was commanding the fastball tonight. In the first inning he had a little struggle and couldn't find his command. After that he quit thinking and got on the attack and pounded the zone with the fastball. Staying down in the zone, that's the second week where he just really commanded his fastball and got after people. If you can hit it…here it is, and when you do that you look up and you've been through six or seven innings and you've only threw about 70 pitches. That's why you go nine innings."
On scoring runs early
"That was big. In the second inning Ben (Moore) got the bases loaded. Ben (Moore) got that two out double. When you get a big hit like that it breaks the game open and lets everyone kind of relax. We found a rhythm and after that we started putting pressure on them every inning. The big thing about tonight is that we got that big hit. A bunch of people stepped up, Kyle (Overstreet) stepped up the other day, Ben (Moore) stepped up today and Austen (Smith) had some big hits. When you start stepping up like that it's going to be a really good offensive.
On the defense
"When you got a guy out there that you know is going to pound the strike zone you're going to have a lot of contact and have to make a lot of plays. That's what happens. The defense behind him starts making plays and before you know it they're diving all over the field because you're on your toes and every pitch is in the zone. You know he is going to compete for it."
Player Notes
*Cameron Carlisle made his first start off this season and also recorded his first hit of the season.
*On his second double of the season, Ben Moore drove in three Crimson Tide players. It's the third time this season and fourth time in his career he's had three RBI in a game.
*Moore finished the game 2-for-4 for his sixth multi-hit game of the season and 23rd of his career.
*Kenny Roberts recorded his third multi-hit game of the season and eighth of his career.
*Brett Booth has now thrown out 12 runners this season which are the most in the SEC.
*With a 3-for-5 night, Booth recorded his fourth multi-hit game of the season and 31st of his career. It was his sixth three-hit game of his career.
*Booth also recorded his second double of the season.
*With one stolen base in the game, Ben Moore leads the team with eight stolen bases and is 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts.
*Georgie Salem recorded his second double of the season.
*Wade Wass made his career for debut for the Tide when he pinch-hit in the eighth inning.
*Charlie Sullivan went a full nine innings, which is the first complete game this season by a UA pitcher.
*Sullivan threw a three hit complete game. The last person to do that was Tucker Hawley on March 6, 2011.
*As a pinch runner, Daniel Cucjen scored his first career run for the Tide.
