Auburn NCAA Regional Press Conference Quotes

[AUSportTalk 4]

Quoting Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski

Opening Statement…

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to host a NCAA Regional.

It is something that our kids have worked extremely hard to get to this

point. We know that it is going to be a tough challenge this weekend. We

have got three quality teams in town here, all of which have had

tremendous success at different points in time. We know that it is going

to be a great venue, great event, and we are certainly looking forward

to the challenge.”

On the status of (Trent) Mummey and (Brian) Fletcher for this weekend…

“I think both of those guys have progressed pretty well. I think our

training staff and John Michelini have done a great job. Every day I saw

signs that they are getting better. Just in our short practice today,

Trent (Mummey) was moving around pretty well in center field and

tracking balls during batting practice. Both those guys swung the bat.

Fletch swung the bat pretty good during batting practice. I think they

are making great progress, and I would hope that both of them are in the

lineup tomorrow.”

On his relationship with Clemson Coach John Leggett…

“Well, obviously, Coach Leggett gave me my first opportunity to get

involved with college baseball, and I can’t thank him enough for that

opportunity. I had five years that I worked for him. It was a great

learning experience for me and helped springboard my career. I am

certainly thankful for that. Obviously having Clemson in this regional

is a tough regional. They have had great run and a lot of success year

in and year out. This is no different for them, and there is a reason

why. It is because of Coach Leggett and his leadership. We know that our

challenge lies in Friday night with Jacksonville State and that’s

where our focus is.”

Key to constructing the pitching staff…

“The biggest key is the ability to go out there and compete and throw

strikes. In college baseball, a lot of games get out of hand and one of

the reasons they do is an inability to throw strikes. That is something

that our staff has done a great job with going out there and competing,

putting the ball in play. If you make good pitches, you are going to get

people out. You make mistakes regardless of what ballpark. Some may be

more forgiving than others but I think the number one priority is the

ability to go out there and compete and the ability to throw

strikes.”

On the team’s lack of experience in the NCAA Tournament…

“I think our experience has helped us this year. I look at is this

way, when you look at this club and these guys, like Austin (Hubbard)

and Hunter (Morris) and some of the other position players that have

been through the SEC, have played in tough environments and have played

in good summer leagues, I think that their experience has helped us. It

propelled us through the second half of the season. When you start

getting into postseason play, we haven’t been in postseason play. We

haven’t been in a Regional. We haven’t been in the SEC Tournament. I

think these guys understand that the game is going to be the same. I

think the experience and leadership and the guys that have been around,

even though we haven’t been in this situation, they understand what

the expectations are. I think that our experience can certainly help us,

even though we haven’t had it in the postseason.”

On the approach to winning in terms of how pitchers are used…

“What we are going to try to do is just to win on Friday night.

We’re going to do everything that we can do on Friday night. If it

means bringing Austin (Hubbard) in early and if that’s what we feel is

the best thing to keep us in the winners’ bracket, then that’s what

we will do. It’s hard to look ahead because if you fall in the

losers’ bracket, it can be done, but you have to try to stay in the

winners’ bracket. If it means brining (Austin) in early in the game,

then that’s what we’ll do.”

On the difference of not playing Jacksonville State as a mid-week

game…

“Obviously, the ramifications and the meaningfulness of this game are

very significant. It’s in the tournament and in the regionals and in

postseason play. The stakes are higher. We know that when we played them

before, we had a heck of a ballgame with them, and it ended up being a

two-run game, and we came back in the bottom of the eighth. It was a

very good game. We know the type of ball club that they have. You’ve

done something right when you’ve won 32 games, you’ve won your

conference and have won seven or eight games in a row. They’ve hit

70-plus home runs, and they can steal bags. They have 91 stolen bases.

They’ve done a lot of things right to be in this kind of position.

I’ve told our guys that we have to be ready to play on Friday

night.”

On left-handed hitting…

“The one thing that we are trying to do, and obviously with our

left-handed hitters and our recruiting efforts, is that we are trying to

find the best student-athletes and the best hitters that we can possibly

find. If a guy is left-handed, then it’s a bonus in our park. We’re

fortunate. We have some guys who can handle the bat, not only from the

left side, but from the right side, too.”

On pitching rotation…

“We’re going to go with Cory Luckie tomorrow night, and we will

figure out Saturday. We’ll see who we match up with on Saturday. Grant

Dayton has done a great job for us all year, and he is certainly a guy

that we have a lot of confidence in. I’m not prepared to say that it

would be Grant yet. We will figure out what happens after tomorrow.”

Quoting Auburn First Baseman Hunter Morris

Opening Statement…

“Like Coach said, the guys are excited to be here at home to play in

front of our own fans. It’s a great opportunity for this program, for

this team and everyone that is a part of it. A lot of hard work has gone

into it, and I know the guys feel like we’ve earned this, we deserve

to be here and play in front of our own fans. We’ve got our work cut

out for us this weekend. It should be exciting. We have four really good

teams in here to play so we are really looking forward to getting

started.”

Impressions of Jacksonville State…

“From everything I’ve seen, they’re a very talented and

experienced team. Just like any other team, they’ve gone through some

ups and downs this season. Like Coach said, they gave us a heck of a

game toward the end of the season. We’ve got our hands full. There are

four very good teams in this Regional, and it’s going to be tough. Our

main focus is going out on Friday night against a quality, experienced

team and doing everything that we can to get the job done.”

On why the game against Jacksonville State is not a “David and

Goliath” game…

“You see it every year. Somebody beats somebody who, on paper, is not

what they are supposed to be. That team ends up in Omaha or in a Super

Regional or whatever the case is. At this point in the season, you

can’t look past anybody. Every team is here for a reason and, at

some point, they played as well as anybody else in the country. Every

team has the ability to either win or be beaten. It’s our job to come

out and play with the focus and concentration to get through game

one.”

Quoting Auburn Pitcher Austin Hubbard

Opening Statement…

“We are excited to get to host, but we all know that’s not really

the most important thing. We have got to be ready tomorrow night against

Jacksonville State and play well. I think this team has a ton of

character to get through what we have gotten through the beginning of

this year, the middle of this year. Like Hunter said, we get to play in

front of our own crowd, sleep in our own beds and we are pretty

excited.”

Progression of the pitching staff over the season…

“If you look at the last three or four weeks, our starters have been

getting us deeper in the game to six or seven innings. The back end and

middle of our bullpen have been a tremendous help. We have got better

from last year. I think our walks are way down. We are just attacking

the zone more and trying to put the ball on the ground and letting our

defense work. That’s the biggest thing I guess is just being more

aggressive towards the strike zone and knowing when and when not to

pitch to certain guys.”