Game 6: Quotes

May 31, 2009

ARKANSAS HEAD COACH DAVE VAN HORN
Opening Statement:
“I am just so proud of the team, what an effort they gave us. You could probably see it from the stands. I'm talking big time hustle and want. These guys gave us everything they have and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. What a performance by (Drew) Smyly. Andy (Wilkins), what a tournament. It was just a great weekend for the team and for the University of Arkansas. I have to throw this out, our fans were incredible. Our players were fired up in the dugout when they heard our fans early in the game. It was unbelievable.”

On pitcher Drew Smyly:
“To be honest with you, it was kind of a gut feeling. When Drew throws strikes, he's hard to hit. He doesn't have what you call classic arm action. He's a little funky. But when he's on a roll he can be pretty good. Early in the season, he was pretty good. Then he went backward . There were two games this year where he didn't make it out of the first inning. Today, he was lights out, change up, breaking ball, explosive fastball, in and out. He really kept them off balance. I'm just really proud of him, he did a great job. Maybe he's that big-game guy that every coach likes to have, right now I'm going to say he is.”

On his team's mentality:
“The guys really wanted it. There's been too much frustration offensively. We knew we could hit, just for some reason it didn't click. It was cleansed in that eighth inning against Washington State, it was like starting over, we just took off. Honestly, when we won that game, the team knew we were going to win this tournament. Sometimes in coaching you can see it in their faces, and I saw it. What an effort. You had to be in the dugout to see what I saw, I saw some intense guys.”

On his team's hitting performance:
“Obviously, I didn't expect to hit like we hit. I was hoping for 10-12 hits a game, 7 or 8 runs a game and we'd be good to win all three games. I'm just proud of them. We knew it was in there. We kept telling them 'it's all about getting hot at the right time.' These guys had been pretty frustrated, we've been frustrated, our fans have been frustrated. We just broke out, and it's not like we faced some guys who couldn't pitch. We faced some guys with good arms, guys that can pitch.”

ARKANSAS SOPHOMORE FIRST BASEMAN ANDY WILKINS
On his team's hitting performance:
“I think the offense is really comfortable with the play right now. You can see it when everybody steps in the box. There's just that air of confidence, I think that everybody has that mindset that it doesn't matter what you're throwing, we're going to hit it and we're going to hit it out of the box and maybe out of the park. Somewhere down the lineup we're going to hurt you and hurt you bad.”
On the team's mentality entering the regional: “We came out here to Norman with the goal of taking care of business and getting out of the Norman Regional. Our goal was to get out of here and get to the Super Regional. We have to get two more wins, we have to get to Omaha. Anything less than that I think would be settling. We have to take care of Florida State first.”

ARKANSAS FRESHMAN PITCHER DREW SMYLY
On pitching against Oklahoma:
“I told Coach (Dave) Jorn last night that I wanted the ball and he said they weren't sure yet. They told me today. I just wanted to come out and throw strikes. I know when I throw strikes I'm good, I always beat myself they don't really beat me. When I hit the first batter, I was just thinking settle down, throw strikes, you can get out of it. They punted it right back to me, got him out at second and it just went on from there.”

On coming back after last year's surgery:
“It's great. This is probably one of the best games I've ever played in my life. After taking a whole year off for arm surgery and all the rehab I've done, it's pretty exciting. I was just trying to get one hitter at a time, hitting my spots. I didn't want to walk anybody. When he got the hit it didn't really bother me. It was one of the best games I've pitched all year.”

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OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH SUNNY GOLLOWAY
Opening Statement
“There is a lot of disappointment right now. I think our players will reflect on a lot of first. I think really a good season and strides in the direction we want to go. When the rug gets pulled out from under you and you believe in your heart you are going to end up in Omaha like our players do, I truly believe when they lay their head down at night they believe they are going to dog pile in Omaha and they work towards that every day. I feel for our players. We have some outstanding men at the University of Oklahoma and, in time, I told them they would reflect on a great year. I know there is a lot of pain tonight and we'll work through it. Tomorrow we'll get up and start thinking about next year's club, the draft, who you are going to get back and you who you are going to be able to see on campus as your recruits and you move forward.”

On Arkansas pitcher Drew Smyly:
“He pitched really well. I think that is apparent in the box score. I know through experience, and our players have learned through experience, that it is about getting hot at the right time. We didn't. I think we played a team that was getting hot in all phases of the game. On the mound, running the bases -- they put a lot of pressure on you and I think it was very apparent they are swinging the bat very well right now. That's what it's about -- getting hot at the right time.”

On hitting peak before Big 12 tournament:
“No, I think we really played good baseball all the way back to the series against UCLA. I don't think we really peaked out at any time. I thought there were signs of us being a really good baseball team, but we had to continue to put it together. We will reflect better down the road when there aren't as many emotions running.”

On Arkansas getting an early lead:
“I think it will prove true looking at all the scores around the country -- the team that has to be beaten twice when they get off to a big start -- it's tough. You saw that today. The swings are looser. It's not so much about balls and strikes. It's just about really getting that barrel started. It's just a lot easier. We understand that one thing about baseball is that swings change when you are behind and you have to be mentally tough and I thought that was very apparent today.”

FRESHMAN THIRD BASEMAN GARRETT BUECHELE
On battling against Arkansas pitcher Drew Smyley:
“He got ahead with the fastball. He timed away with the fastball and he had a deceptive changeup. You just couldn't pick it up real well early in the night. When we got behind I think we just put a little too much pressure on ourselves and changed the game plan a little bit, and he just kept working well.”

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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