June 1, 2007

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Post-Game Quotes: Game 1 of NCAA Austin Regional
UC Irvine 13, Wake Forest 0
Friday, June 1 • The Dell Diamond

Wake Forest Head Coach Rick Rembielak

On the missed opportunity in the first inning:
We ended up creating an opportunity for ourselves, and with the type of guys we are facing, we had to make sure we combated that. I think their approach is no matter what, if you get into a position like that with that type of pitcher, you can always get yourself out of a jam with a ground ball, and that's exactly what happened to us. The execution in the first inning was not good for us, whereas for them, it was the way it should be done.

On UC Irvine's speed and execution:
You can see there is a game plan on the bases and everybody is expected to do their job, whether it's drag bunting, hit and runs, making contact, you can see the approach of getting guys in scoring position immediately and then putting the ball in play which is key. They are a disciplined ball club and have a game plan offensively and on the mound, but it's also clear those guys enjoy playing and are having fun and what we define fun as is execution.

Wake Forest first baseman Allan Dykstra

It's double elimination so we still have a chance to win tomorrow. We just have to stick with our approach. We decided yesterday that we have a whole team approach, but only a couple of guys followed it, so we just have to start over right now and look to our game tomorrow.

Wake Forest centerfielder Ben Terry

They really executed early on, which is how they got those guys on. When you get guys on, all it takes is one single to get runs on the board. So it's rough seeing the balls sneak in, but at the same time they got the guys on and they executed.

UC Irvine Head Coach Dave Serrano

On the victory:
For the first victory in UC Irvine history in regional play, I don't think we could have scripted it any better. It was a pretty good baseball game by our team. We pitched, hit and played wonderful defense. That's the good thing; the bad thing is we're not going to sneak up on anyone now, because I think people now know a little more about UC Irvine.

On the double play ball in the first inning:
You can be as prepared as possible, but when you come into this kind of atmosphere, you're always going to have some anxiety and tightness and wonder what's going to happen, and I'm sure that's what was going through a lot of minds in our dugout when they loaded the bases with one out. Wes [Etheridge] made that adjustment and got the double play ball. That took a lot of pressure off of us.

UC Irvine pitcher Wes Etheridge

On the blood blister on his pitching hand:
I think I got it in the fourth inning, and it started to bleed. It hurt a little bit, but I think it helped me out because I wasn't thinking about anything but pitching. I felt it and it hurt, but for some reason the ball was going over the plate and they were swinging and missing and that's the goal.

UC Irvine second basemen Cody Cipriano

On if the pressure is off of them with the win today:
There is always room for improvement and you can always get better. What we set out to do the first day is to say that we were going to get better everyday. It was a pretty good game and hopefully we can build off of it.

UC Irvine DH Jeff Cusick

On the hits falling in the right spots today:
That's just how baseball is. For how many times that happened today, I can remember how many times people have crushed balls and they just went right at people. Like I said, that's just how baseball is and you can't change it.