The entire Tulane baseball team went to a local restaurant on Magazine Street for David Pierce's radio show on Wednesday before heading to Baton Rouge.
I did not make it Alex Box Stadium for post-practice interviews today but will be there to cover every game Tulane plays in the Baton Rouge Regional.
Here are some quotes from Wednesday:
GARRETT DESCHAMP
How excited are you
"It’s definitely exciting, a postseason berth. It’s a chance to get to Omaha, and to get that chance is awesome. We’re ready to get to Baton Rouge tomorrow and start practicing and visualizing the game on Friday night."
On UNC Wilmington's shaky starting pitching:
"We don’t know who’s pitching. All we know is they have a couple of guys who throw hard. They don’t have the best numbers, but they do have great stuff and they swing the hell out of the bat. I feel confident in our pitchers and especially our defense. The way we’re swinging the bat, if we can hold them to one or two runs, we definitely are going to have a chance to come out of their on top."
On his personal host streak:
"Unfortunately I didn’t swing the bat as well, but I did take pride in my defense. I knew I wasn’t swinging the bat so I took extra pride in the defense. I’m just happy that I can contribute what people predicted for me and what coach expected me to do offensively."
On playing the regional in his hometown:
:It’s definitely a kind of a homecoming. I have friends texting me for tickets, so it’s definitely going to be exciting having a whole bunch of people I went to high school with in the stands."
What need to do to win first game
"Just limit our mistakes and go out there and play relaxed and be the most physical and just grind the hardest—grind for outs and hit the ball."
On adjusting to second base:
"I feel comfortable whether it’s first or second. I’ve been practicing this week hard, getting the range down and stuff like that. I have to run a little bit farther, but I think I’m going to be fine."
RICHARD CARTHON
Turning point
"The turning point was somewhere between ECU and Houston. We went to ECU and lost the first two and won the next one, and then to come back and have it again against Houston, coach got into us. We decided we weren’t going to let this happen to us. We were going to make a difference. The next day we beat Houston and then we started winning after that."
On David Pierce challenging team a few times during year:
"If you’re performing under par, he’ll tell you to your face. He just really challenges you to really get over yourself and if you are struggling he’ll challenge you to do better because he knows you’re capable of doing better."
On his personal hot streak:
"It just comes down to believing in yourself and also just doing it for the guys in there. Coach said stats don’t really matter right now, it’s just helping the team win. I bought into helping the team win."
On team hitting better:
"It’s great to be hot towards the end of the season. If a team’s been hot all year and then gets cold in the playoffs, it doesn’t really serve them much justice. I’d rather be getting hot right now. I hope we stay hot."
On Alex Box
"It’s one of the greatest experiences you can ask for. There’s nothing like thousands of fans going out there, cheering you on or even picking at you, too. It’s fun. It’s going to be great. We’re going to have a good amount of Tulane fans, but we also know there’s going to be LSU fans out there not wanting us to win. We’re looking very forward to all the fans that are coming out there."
DAVID PIERCE
On pitchign rotation:
"I feel like we have four solid starters. I don’t think we have one that separates himself from the others. It gives us a lot of flexibility."
On numbers saying not good hitting team, but hot right now
"There’s no doubt. I think we’re swinging the bats as well as we’ve swung it all year, and we’re swinging it with confidence. I’d like to see us execute a little bit better in some of our hit and runs and slash plays. Maybe it will all come together in one weekend."
On Deschamp:
"When you are a senior, you have some expectations from your teammates, and when you struggle early, it’s hard to deal with. He’s handled it really well. He’s gotten to the point as of late that the numbers really don’t matter. The only thing that matters is what we’re doing right now. You can see that. He’s much more comfortable and he’s not worried about his numbers."
On what makes Gibaut most effective:
"For him to be at his best he has to really utilize his slider. Everybody is cheating to his fast ball, and it’s a lot tougher to hit when he’s got that second pitch."
On Gibaut in good place:
"He threw really well in his bullpen this week. If you look back at the (last UConn game in the AAC tourney) and study how the game unfolded, he gave up an innocent hit to left, a ball that took a bad hop and the next thing you know he strikes out the leadoff guy. We could have had two outs and a runner on and the whole inning changes. I think he got a little exhausted, and when he did, he really started trying to throw harder and do too much as opposed to taking a step back, catching his back and really pitching."
On Gibaut needing to be heavier or lighter:
"Heavier is an excuse. He should definitely work on being leaner. It’s an out for whoever says it. A healthier body is definitely where he needs to be."
IAN GIBAUT
On getting chance to wipe away memory of UConn loss:
"We obviously didn’t want to go in the tournament and go 1-2, but the big picture is we made a regional, so that’s all that matters. I felt good out there. I didn’t feel too tired. A few unlucky things happened. It was just baseball."
On wanting to get back out on mound:
"I feel great right now. I’m ready to get back out there against UNC Wilmington and against the winner of LSU-Lehigh. We’d all be excited to play LSU in the regionals. That’s what we want to do, so it’s going to be fun in their hometown."
On atmosphere at Alex Box:
"It’s going to be awesome. There’s going to be 10,000 plus and we are going to have that adrenaline pumping. It’s going to be an awesome atmosphere for everyone."
On UNC Wilmington hitting
"We are always going to pitch to our pitching strengths, whoever’s out there. After that you’re going to go to the hitter’s weakness, but every batter you are going to pitch to your strengths and then after that you are going to attack the hitter’s weakness. They were a good hitting team on March 31st and they still are, and we were able to handle them pretty good, so I think we’ll be all right."
I did not make it Alex Box Stadium for post-practice interviews today but will be there to cover every game Tulane plays in the Baton Rouge Regional.
Here are some quotes from Wednesday:
GARRETT DESCHAMP
How excited are you
"It’s definitely exciting, a postseason berth. It’s a chance to get to Omaha, and to get that chance is awesome. We’re ready to get to Baton Rouge tomorrow and start practicing and visualizing the game on Friday night."
On UNC Wilmington's shaky starting pitching:
"We don’t know who’s pitching. All we know is they have a couple of guys who throw hard. They don’t have the best numbers, but they do have great stuff and they swing the hell out of the bat. I feel confident in our pitchers and especially our defense. The way we’re swinging the bat, if we can hold them to one or two runs, we definitely are going to have a chance to come out of their on top."
On his personal host streak:
"Unfortunately I didn’t swing the bat as well, but I did take pride in my defense. I knew I wasn’t swinging the bat so I took extra pride in the defense. I’m just happy that I can contribute what people predicted for me and what coach expected me to do offensively."
On playing the regional in his hometown:
:It’s definitely a kind of a homecoming. I have friends texting me for tickets, so it’s definitely going to be exciting having a whole bunch of people I went to high school with in the stands."
What need to do to win first game
"Just limit our mistakes and go out there and play relaxed and be the most physical and just grind the hardest—grind for outs and hit the ball."
On adjusting to second base:
"I feel comfortable whether it’s first or second. I’ve been practicing this week hard, getting the range down and stuff like that. I have to run a little bit farther, but I think I’m going to be fine."
RICHARD CARTHON
Turning point
"The turning point was somewhere between ECU and Houston. We went to ECU and lost the first two and won the next one, and then to come back and have it again against Houston, coach got into us. We decided we weren’t going to let this happen to us. We were going to make a difference. The next day we beat Houston and then we started winning after that."
On David Pierce challenging team a few times during year:
"If you’re performing under par, he’ll tell you to your face. He just really challenges you to really get over yourself and if you are struggling he’ll challenge you to do better because he knows you’re capable of doing better."
On his personal hot streak:
"It just comes down to believing in yourself and also just doing it for the guys in there. Coach said stats don’t really matter right now, it’s just helping the team win. I bought into helping the team win."
On team hitting better:
"It’s great to be hot towards the end of the season. If a team’s been hot all year and then gets cold in the playoffs, it doesn’t really serve them much justice. I’d rather be getting hot right now. I hope we stay hot."
On Alex Box
"It’s one of the greatest experiences you can ask for. There’s nothing like thousands of fans going out there, cheering you on or even picking at you, too. It’s fun. It’s going to be great. We’re going to have a good amount of Tulane fans, but we also know there’s going to be LSU fans out there not wanting us to win. We’re looking very forward to all the fans that are coming out there."
DAVID PIERCE
On pitchign rotation:
"I feel like we have four solid starters. I don’t think we have one that separates himself from the others. It gives us a lot of flexibility."
On numbers saying not good hitting team, but hot right now
"There’s no doubt. I think we’re swinging the bats as well as we’ve swung it all year, and we’re swinging it with confidence. I’d like to see us execute a little bit better in some of our hit and runs and slash plays. Maybe it will all come together in one weekend."
On Deschamp:
"When you are a senior, you have some expectations from your teammates, and when you struggle early, it’s hard to deal with. He’s handled it really well. He’s gotten to the point as of late that the numbers really don’t matter. The only thing that matters is what we’re doing right now. You can see that. He’s much more comfortable and he’s not worried about his numbers."
On what makes Gibaut most effective:
"For him to be at his best he has to really utilize his slider. Everybody is cheating to his fast ball, and it’s a lot tougher to hit when he’s got that second pitch."
On Gibaut in good place:
"He threw really well in his bullpen this week. If you look back at the (last UConn game in the AAC tourney) and study how the game unfolded, he gave up an innocent hit to left, a ball that took a bad hop and the next thing you know he strikes out the leadoff guy. We could have had two outs and a runner on and the whole inning changes. I think he got a little exhausted, and when he did, he really started trying to throw harder and do too much as opposed to taking a step back, catching his back and really pitching."
On Gibaut needing to be heavier or lighter:
"Heavier is an excuse. He should definitely work on being leaner. It’s an out for whoever says it. A healthier body is definitely where he needs to be."
IAN GIBAUT
On getting chance to wipe away memory of UConn loss:
"We obviously didn’t want to go in the tournament and go 1-2, but the big picture is we made a regional, so that’s all that matters. I felt good out there. I didn’t feel too tired. A few unlucky things happened. It was just baseball."
On wanting to get back out on mound:
"I feel great right now. I’m ready to get back out there against UNC Wilmington and against the winner of LSU-Lehigh. We’d all be excited to play LSU in the regionals. That’s what we want to do, so it’s going to be fun in their hometown."
On atmosphere at Alex Box:
"It’s going to be awesome. There’s going to be 10,000 plus and we are going to have that adrenaline pumping. It’s going to be an awesome atmosphere for everyone."
On UNC Wilmington hitting
"We are always going to pitch to our pitching strengths, whoever’s out there. After that you’re going to go to the hitter’s weakness, but every batter you are going to pitch to your strengths and then after that you are going to attack the hitter’s weakness. They were a good hitting team on March 31st and they still are, and we were able to handle them pretty good, so I think we’ll be all right."