April 4, 2008

Recap |  Final Stats

TULANE HEAD COACH Rick Jones

Overall thoughts on the game
"We had this happen a couple of times where we had to come back in the ninth from a tied game or either down a run. We had the one-out walk from Scelfo and then the great at-bat from Seth. Aja fought through and got the walk, and then Scotty did exactly what you have to do there which is put it in play. We didn't take advantage of some opportunities early to stretch the lead. We needed it today. Both teams had some opportunities, but they were able to get out of some jams and we were able to get out of some jams. It came down to the end there, and it was a one-inning deal."

On if he thought Scott Powell's fly ball was deep enough to score the runner in the ninth
"We're tagging and scoring there. I've got a good runner at third base. We're going to make them make a play there and they've got to have a good catch and a good throw and a tag. You don't want to have a force play at the plate, but we're going to try and make them make a play there."

On tempers flaring at the end of the ballgame
"It's unfortunate. There are two sides to every story, but we felt a lot of tension even before the game. I don't know where it came from. I've been doing this 33 years and I've never seen that during pregame. So I brought my team in immediately and said we're not going get caught up in this. We cannot afford suspensions and what have you. This is not what we're about. Everything was great until the end there. But tempers are always going to be short and emotions are always going to be played when you have a game like that that goes back-and-forth in one inning on both sides. Fortunately, it was diffused. We won't have any kind of retaliatory mentality. That's not our mentality and it never will be. It certainly can't be. That's not something that is part of college athletics. I want to be real clear about that. That is not part of college athletics. We don't want to be a part of that. It was diffused and we're going to move on."

JUNOIR PINCH HITTER Scott Powell

On his pinch-hit appearance in the ninth
"Coach told me as Prince was going up to bat, `You're hitting.' I was trying to get my mind set and when I stepped to the plate I got a feel for him. The first pitch was low, it was a slider and I got a feel for it. I got the two strikes and was just trying to get the ball into the air somehow - either get a hit or get it in the air far enough since I saw the outfielders were in. I got a slider over the plate and I got just enough of it on the bat to get it deep enough."

On the hostility at the end of the game
"It kind of started before the game to be honest. It's conference and it's always going to be really tough. Over the last couple of years (the rivalry) was getting a little more heated, especially this year. In the beginning, during BP really, we knew we were going to have a fight on our hands."