Quotes: Oklahoma vs. Kansas State

Quotes: Oklahoma vs. Kansas State
Location: Oklahoma City - Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark
Result: Win, 13-7
Attendance: 3,748
Date: May 25, 2016

Oklahoma Head Coach Pete Hughes
Opening statement:
“It's back to the wall day and you don't know how your team is going to respond to that. I know who we have in our clubhouse this year. I think they are kind of special. We all want to win more games, but as long as you have the right kind of character you can handle a whole lot of things during the course of the season. Especially play in the 9 a.m. game. You're not supposed to play baseball at 9 a.m., but if you lose then you have to play baseball at 9 a.m. and we got the bad draw in round one. Our guys came out with energy and they executed. They didn't get down or pack it in after yesterdays' shut out, but then to go down two to nothing in the first, we had some seniors and some veteran guys step up and give us a chance to win. The story of the game was offense and everything was easy when you're scoring and that's the offense we've been the last 15 games. It helps Alex pitch more relaxed and helps our pitch calls, every defensive play isn't life or death. It was situational hitting and it was a good start for Big Al and he's a good leader and that's the storyline for today.”

On the energy of the game:
“It was the offense that energizes everything and I've been saying that the last 15 or 16 games, we're swinging the bats and that brings the energy. That's the nature of baseball.”

Alec Hansen, Jr., RHP
On what adjustments he made after early struggles:
“I know a couple of adjustments I can make while I'm on the mound, and I think I made those while I was in the wind-up. I tried to stay relaxed. There are two ways it could go. It has gone bad before, and its win or go home. I had to give it my all. I was rushing my wind-up, and then by the third inning, I kept it low in the zone and found a good rhythm.”

Alex Wise, Sr. OF
On how big the four-run second inning was:
“It was pretty big, for sure. We started off a little shaky as a team, and then went out and got four runs. We wanted to give Alec (Hansen) some confidence to go out there and be productive. He went out and did a great job competing for us.”

On Kansas State walking Cade Harris to get to him:
“You look for those moments, especially as a senior. At-bats these days are running short being a senior. I wanted to get a good pitch, looked to drive it, and help my team get a couple runs in.”

On how important Hansen's outing was for the team:
“It was huge. I think we have to win four more games in order to win the championship so preserving our bullpen as much as we can was huge.”

On differing results against a second-consecutive left-handed pitcher:
“I think we just had more discipline at bat today. We laid off a lot of stuff in the dirt. We hit pitches we could hit, and we didn't go after the pitches we couldn't hit. We had a couple big innings that got our confidence high. Our team went stagnant a bit after a couple big innings, but we brought it back and managed to add some separation late in the game.”