University of Tennessee Athletics
NCAA Knoxville Regional Game 1 - Postgame Quotes
June 03, 2005 | Baseball
June 3, 2005
WINTHROP
Head Coach Joe Hudak
"This was the type of game we expected. We stayed in the game and got a lead early, which is what we wanted to do. We had a lot of confidence in Kevin (Slowey). He had 13 strikeouts and no walks. This was a great win and what we came to do. Mike Pelfrey is a good pitcher and Wichita State is a good club. We are a good team as well. Top to bottom we have a pretty good ball club.
"Our plan going in was to swing and I felt our guys did a good job. We thought if we got Pelfrey past the 100-pitch mark he may start to lose it a little, which he did. We talked about winning the ball game late and that's what happened.
10 - Daniel Carte
On the home run:
"I just tried to drive the ball into the middle and it got in the air and fortunately it carried the ball out.
"We knew (Mike Pelfrey) was one of the better pitchers in the country and we had to take every pitch like it was our last one. We knew we couldn't give up because runs were going to be few and far between today."
30 - Kevin Slowey
"I felt good today. We wanted to jump on them early and that's what we did. Coming in as a two seed we knew we were facing one of the best pitchers in the country so it felt like we were a four seed. You've got to give a lot of credit to our offense; we worked them every single time at bat. I think we wore them down a little bit."
WICHITA STATE
Head Coach Gene Stephenson
"I said all along this is the poorest offensive team we've had here in 28 years. We failed to make adjustments. I thought Mike (Pelfrey) pitched a good game. To strike out 13 times and eight or nine times looking was an absolute atrocity. To Winthrop's credit, they battled hard and put the ball in play.
"(Kevin) Slowey has great control. Mike has a great level head. He's a great competitor. He's the most consistent pitcher we've ever had here as a starter.
"It was great to see (Tennessee head football coach) Phillip (Fulmer, who was an assistant coach at Wichita State from 1974-78). He's a great baseball fan. I'm a great football fan. Tomorrow's another day. I hope we'll be a better team tomorrow."
41 - Mike Pelfrey
"You just have to tip your hat to Slowey. I hope it will come out better tomorrow. For the most part I've always been able to spot my fastball. Coming into this season I've been working on my breaking pitches."
2 - Nick McCoola
"We just didn't take advantage early. He (Slowey) worked away on our hitters. There's always tension coming into a regional, but baseball's fun. Usually after the first two or three innings we get all the jitters out, but we just never got adjusted today."
18 - Damon Sublett
"I think we had to go up there and be aggressive. We knew he (Slowey) was going to come after us with the fastball. We just didn't adjust today. Mike pitched great today, but sometimes the team gets into the mindset that Mike's throwing so we only need a couple of runs."
