Baseball Quotes on NCAA Field

May 31, 2010

OU Head Coach Sunny Golloway
On the draw:
"After seeing the draw for our Norman Regional, we are going to have a great field when you think about the teams that are coming in here. We played the Cal Bears last year and we know they have a quality club. Their coach does a great job. Then you think about North Carolina and the tradition they've had of getting to the championship game in Omaha. Just a real competitive team competing in the a touch ACC conference. Then Oral Roberts University, a team that I am very familiar with and their coaching staff. Rob Walton was my assistant over there for five years and we went to five straight regionals. He's taken over and done a great job. I think we have an outstanding field and we are looking forward to competing."

On another opportunity to host again after losing in 2009:
"I talked to our guys about last year. The last two regionals we've hosted in the, what this is our third in the last five years, had great fields. Four years after advancing to the Super Regional and last year we had a great field. We just happened to run into a hot team and sometimes that happens. Who knows who the `hot' team is going to be coming into this. You plan on being that `hot' team and do everything to prepare but sometimes things happen that are out of your control. I told our guys, I don't want them thinking about last year. I want them to have a short memory and play this year with a tremendous amount of confidence. And don't be worried about an upset. Just go out and do what you do best and play hard and play smart."

On finishing the season strong:
"We are playing our best baseball of the year. After the Big 12 Tournament, winning two out of three, we treated that just like a Big 12 (conference) weekend. We called it a success. We were disappointed not to play in the championship game this year but that's just how it fell this year. There have been teams that played in the championship game with a 2-1 record many times. The most impressive thing, I think, for us going into this is we have won nine out of our last 10 games. We clearly have to be playing pretty good baseball and we've played that against really good competition in our league so we will go into our regional first game with a lot of confidence and have high expectations to win, play hard and represent the University of Oklahoma in a first class manner."

On facing Oral Roberts in the opener
"Well I haven't had a lot of time (to think about facing ORU), I do know the last time Oral Roberts and OU competed in a regional I was wearing the other uniform and that was at Bricktown (in 2000). It seems like a long time ago. We won't concern ourselves with that. It's not going to be Sunny Golloway competing against his formal school and it's not going to be Sunny Golloway and Rob Walton, good friends competing. It's going to be our athletes playing their athletes and playing hard and to the best of their ability."

On the benefits of a home field advantage:
"When you think about regionals, if you are going on the road, you want to go somewhere where it's fun and festive, but there are some places that make it very difficult to play. Some fans make it very difficult and they clearly can be an influence to the opposing team. We want that to happen at L. Dale Mitchell Park. We want Sooner fans to pour into this stadium and have sellout crowds and really make a statement. I feel like our team has clearly done what they need to do on the field, between the lines, and represented our program. I think at this point, we really have to push hard and get all the Sooner fans to fill the ballpark. We've seen that before. I can remember in 2006, when we were playing Wichita State on a Monday for the championship, this place was rocking. I mean they (fans) were on the berm all the way around. That is what we really want. Each game means the world to us at this point. I am hoping our fans will really pour in here and support our student athletes and I think they are going to. And that starts Tuesday night when we have our fan appreciation/year of the fan night. "

Sophomore third baseman Garrett Buechele
On the team's play as of late:
"We played a really good game, Saturday against Kansas State, and had all aspects of our game going ... pitching, hitting, defense. And that's what our team does. We are a really sound ball club and look to carry it over this weekend."

On playing at home:
"It's one of the goals we set it out at the beginning of the year it's just really nice to see us accomplish it. I think everyone is really excited to stay in our beds for the most part. Hotel beds are cool and all, but there is nothing better than being in your own bed at home. It will be nice being in our routine. It will be good for our team. "

Junior pitcher Zach Neal
On the field:
"We are excited about them. We play caliber teams every week in the Big 12 and it's just another weekend for us. They are all good schools."

On playing at home:
"It's big to play at home. We know how to play in this ballpark, nobody else really does. Pitchers know how to pitch and hitters know how to hit, that's just the comfort of playing at home and sleeping in our own beds at night. That's just a big plus for us."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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