Postgame Quotes: #17 Michigan 7, Kentucky 5
5/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Michigan Head Coach Rich Maloney
Opening comment... "I think that our kids played extremely well and stayed the course. Kentucky is an outstanding hitting team, and we knew that they were going to keep battling. We were fortunate that we were able to add a few runs today after yesterday's 5-1 lead. I'm just real proud of our guys; I thought we played a pretty solid game."
On the status of Big Ten Player of the Year senior 1B Nate Recknagel... "Nate is injured and will be out. That's all I can say."
On executing... "I think the kids did an outstanding job with what we asked them to do; they were almost flawless. What Adam (Abraham) did right there with that 3-1 (count on the first at-bat of the day), what we were thinking was that they wouldn't expect it. You have a submariner (Brock Baber) who often leaves the ball arm side, that was our scouting report on him. We thought he didn't want to walk him so we played a percentage. We were actually hoping that he might be able to pull it. He left it out a little bit more over the plate and fortunately he found a hole. The hit-and-run he executed earlier in the game and the one that (Derek) Van Buskirk did, we're playing to win. You only have so many moments; we tried pretty much every time we had an opportunity to move the baseball. To the kids' credit, they executed. It took a great throw in the last inning to get Jason Christian. You have to give their catcher (Brian Suerdick) a lot of credit. These kids are seasoned, they know how to play baseball and they are a team. I have a lot of confidence in them, and they have a lot of confidence in each other and it showed out there."
On senior/junior relief pitcher Michael Powers' performance... "He's done such a marvelous job. If you are going to go down, you want to go down with a guy like that. The whole team has total confidence in him. He came into a tough situation, it was unfortunate. I thought Eric (Katzman) gave us a few innings, he got us that big strikeout, which was really huge, with the bases loaded. We were hoping to get through without having to use Mike, which would have been ideal. Sometimes that's just not how it works. In terms of confidence, we're very confident that Mike could get the job done. Kentucky is a very good hitting team, but he stayed the course and didn't let it rattle him. That's what a seasoned veteran will do from experience. All of these guys know is playing in tough games. They're confident and believe in Mike and I'm real happy for him that he did such a great job."
U-M Junior Third Baseman Adam Abraham
On his mindset when Nate Recknagel suffered his injury... "Me, personally, I didn't think too much of it. I knew we had (Mike) Dufek coming in. He has had plenty of time at first base; he's had some big games for us this year. As I said to Zach (Putnam), I feel sorry for Nate, we don't know how long he's out, but at the same time you have to be happy for Dufek because he's getting an opportunity here. We're definitely going to miss Nate, but I think Dufek and some other guys are going to have to step up."
On the first at-bat of the day after yesterday's postponement... "Just joking around it's been 3-1 for a day and a half now, but you go up there with a 3-1 count with two guys on and you are probably going to see a fastball. Coach had talked to me about sending the runners and if it was close I had to swing. I see Nate (Recknagel) as not having the fleetest of feet at second, so I knew if it was close I had to go after it. He put it over the middle for me and I just tried to put the barrel on it and thankfully it went over the pitcher's head."
U-M Junior Pitcher Zach Putnam
On his frustration of being stopped by rain yesterday and the potential of being available again this weekend... "It was a little bit frustrating because I felt like I was getting into a groove when the rain started to kick in. I definitely had at least two more innings in me, maybe three. I wish I could have gotten the complete game, or at least gone into the eighth. As far as the way I feel, I'm ready to pitch later this weekend."
