NU-UIC game quotes

Nebraska quotes

 

Head Coach Mike Anderson

On the game...

“We were a very scrappy ballclub today.  UIC was very scrappy, too, but our kids were scrappier and did what they needed to do.  I’m glad that this game was that way (back and forth).” 

 

On expecting a close game...

“We’ve expected close games all year.  We don’t play away from teams easily.  Joba wasn’t as sharp as he usually is.  You have to give our relief pitchers credit, because they did a great job late.”

 

On Jeff Christy...

“He’s getting to legendary status around here---he’s the best .220 hitter in this program’s history.  Understand that two weeks before the year he thought he was going split time as the starting catcher.  He’s worked his tail off this year, and I don’t think there’s anyone else that could’ve done what he’s done this year.  I’m happy for him, and I was so excited for Jeff Christy when he hit that home run.”

 

On what he told the team after the second inning...

“I told the team just to relax.  We’ve been on the other side, too, as a visiting team that starts well and has a lot of energy and enthusiasm.  That usually fades, and what comes out is good solid baseball.  We just played good, smart fundamental baseball today.”

 

On Brian Duensing..

“Brian did a great job of shutting UIC down.  When I brought him in, we needed a zero on the scoreboard.  The game was back and forth and I knew that our offense would counter, but we needed someone to shut them down.”

 

Pitcher Brian Duensing

On what he had to do for Nebraska out of the bullpen...

“I knew had to come out, throw strikes, and give the team a chance to win.  UIC is a good hitting team, they do a good job of hitting mistakes, so I just came out and did the best I could and let my defense make plays behind.”

 

Shortstop Joe Simokaitis

On sixth-inning two-run single...

“The infield was in, and was just trying to put the ball in play.  They kept answering, and we needed to come up with a big hit.”

 

 

UIC postgame quotes

Coach Mike Dee:

On the game overall:
"We're disappointed we didn't win, but without question I'm proud of our kids.  They could have been distracted by so many things, the crowd, Nebraska's national ranking.  It's pretty impressive to be able to relax and be ourselves."

 

On the way the team played:

"I think we played exactly the way we wanted to play.  There were some execution mistakes that we'd like to have back, but I'm getting old now and I've never seen a perfect baseball game played."

 

On the kids playing with heart

"I'm proud that our kids played with a lot of heart and I told them to walk off the field today with pride."

 

On how hard his team played vs. NU

"We got their attention.  We literally did all the things that we set out to do.  We had a couple of mistakes mixed in, but I don't have any criticisms about how we went about things today."

 

Shane Crowder:

On the first hit of the game:

"I told (Coach) Mike (Dee) before the game that if I got a fast ball on the first pitch, I was going to take a hack at it.  Yeah, it is to set the tone a little bit and I think I did.  I showed them that we're not going to sit here and take fast balls from them all day.  Yeah, so I guess that was the game plan."

 

Ryan Zink:

On his performance

"I wouldn't say I ran out of gas.  It was more that they took advantage of my mistakes."