Postgame Quotes vs. Iowa
Feb. 28, 2011
Kansas head coach Ritch Price
On the way that KU scored its runs Monday:
“Not to make excuses for the pitchers, but I think today was a tough day to pitch with the weather conditions that were out there. Certainly, there were a lot more walks and more hit batters than you usually see at any point in the season. We were able to take advantage and find a way to win on a limited number of hits. I told the team that we need to find a way to play some games and get in a rhythm. I think playing the doubleheader tomorrow and playing games Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday will give us a chance to make some progress offensively.”
On Walz struggling early in the game:
“I was pleased to see that he got better as the game went on. Obviously I’m concerned about the number of walks he’s had in two straight outings. His fastball has been elevated (in the two starts). He hasn’t had as good of command of his fastball as he needs to be successful. I was pleased with the changeup he used early in the game to the left-handed hitters. He completely dominated with that. He was able to use his breaking ball to finish the right-handers off. Certainly, his strength (in the past) has been his ability to locate his fastball, but right now he’s a little up in the zone.”
On getting contributions from Alex DeLeon and Jason Brunansky:
“I was really pleased with Bruno (Jason Brunansky). We’re trying to get him to be a little bit more disciplined at the plate and to be a little tougher. To see him wear a couple of those pitches at the plate today is huge. We’re trying to increase his on-base percentage, because he’s one of the fastest guys on the team. Every time you get hit by a pitch, you save an at bat when you’re behind in the count and with his speed, he can turn it into a double with as good as he runs.”
“Right now Alex has to play every day with the injury to (James) Stanfield. He just needed a couple of knocks to get his confidence back. He’s not the only one. The big thing we’re trying to tell our guys is that we’ve only played five games, so if a guy can go 2-for-4 and 2-for-4 in back-to-back games he’s hitting over .300.”
