Postgame Quotes
March 20, 2011
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 7-5, Oklahoma State 2-4
March 20, 2011 – Lawrence, Kan.
Kansas Head Coach Ritch Price
On the doubleheader sweep:
“I’m really proud of how we mature we were this weekend. We showed some toughness and we grinded through all three days of the series. I think it shows the progress that we’ve made in the last four weeks. We’ve played a really difficult schedule to prepare for this weekend and I think you just saw the benefit of it.”
On the offense’s ability score in clutch situations:
“We’ve played in a lot of close games and really struggled swinging the bats. Today, we broke out with the bats; I think we had seven two-out RBIs in the game one win.”
On the contributions from some of the players who had been struggling:
“That’s been the tough thing for us. Today was crucial. (Jimmy) Waters broke out today and got the clutch RBIs; (Casey) Lytle got a couple of hits; (Brandon) Macias had a couple of hits and then (Zac) Elgie had a big day as well. Chris Manship, who only had one hit before last weekend, came through with clutch hits to knock in runs in each game. Those upperclassmen all have to contribute in order for us to be a good offensive club.”
On bringing in Colton Murray in the sixth inning:
“I had no worries, what-so-ever (bringing him in). The seven innings that he pitched at TCU the opening weekend set the table for what happened today. It showed that he is capable of pitching more than two innings and that’s how we intend to use him if he hasn’t pitched on Friday or Saturday of a series. We’re going to bring him in and make it a two-man game on Sunday, because he’s got our best arm.”
Senior outfielder Jimmy Waters
On the doubleheader sweep:
“Obviously, this was really big for us. It puts us in great position in the league and puts us over .500 after the first weekend. We knew going into today that it was going to be a grind and we had to be at the ballpark for a long time, but we were able to pull off two wins against a pretty good team.”
On the three-run triple in the first game:
“I was on deck, and I was just hoping that (Casey) Lytle was going to get on, because I wanted an opportunity to try to salvage some of the slow start. I put a good swing on a changeup that hung. I’m just really happy that the ball fell in for me, because I thought I hit it well enough to get out of the ballpark. It just fell in the gap. It was a big hit for us and a big blow for them.”
On himself, Chris Manship and Zac Elgie who all had big games:
“It just shows that nobody is really panicking. The season is a grind. You just have to go out there and try to redeem yourself each day. Every day is a new day and with this being the start of conference play, it’s really a new season. The Big 12 Conference is what matters. (Coach Price) always says that he doesn’t even look at the non-conference stats, because you have to be a man to play in this conference. People stepping up and contributing is what it’s going to take to finish above .500 in this league.”
