I did not go to the second one yesterday, but I was there for the first one and saw all I needed to see to know Tulane would win again. Lamar just can't hit, and Tulane appears to have the best pitching depth I've seen since returning to New Orleans in 2008. Don't misunderstand me. It's too early to know how many of the Wave's arms will be good against good competition, but the number of pitchers who conceivably could get the job done is in double digits.
Here's what Travis Jewett, Grant Witherspoon and Josh Bates had to say after Tuesday's win.
Witherspoon, by the way, is a totally different person in interviews than he was the past two years. He was quiet and borderline uncomfortable when talking to reporters as a freshman and sophomore, but this year he has been the best quote I've covered in seven years of writing about this team. Colorful, insightful and interesting.
WITHERSPOON
You've had seven hits in the last two games, including four against Lamar. How were you seeing it tonight?
"A lot better. I feel like I was overswinging a little bit, getting a little too comfortable and trying to pull the ball over the fence a bit too much, but yesterday I worked on some stuff in the cage, kind of calmed it down a bit and am getting back to my old self."
The triple was to the deepest part of the ballpark.
"Yeah, it was a fastball right down the middle. It felt good. I wish it would have gone over, but I've got to get in the weight room I guess. I saw it well today."
After getting swept by a really good team in Ole Miss, how important was it to come right back and get a win?
"It was real important. They are a good team. Those (Ole Miss) are the kinds of teams we're going to have to be playing when we're in a regional. They had a good staff and a good lineup. We're going to get there, but we weren't there last weekend. You've got to take it as it is and come out with a good effort. We got a good start from Josh Bates today. That helped us out a lot."
There were some early struggles with runners in scoring position, but Bates made that issue irrelevant with his pitching.
"He was awesome. There was never a doubt. He was putting everything where he wanted--slider, fastball. I felt real comfortable in the outfield. I didn't have much action out there. He did a great job for his first start. It was awesome for him."
BATES
You gave up zero hits in five innings. How did you feel out there?
"I felt pretty confident. I wasn't really looking at the scoreboard. I just knew my defense was behind him and I was letting my defense work."
How happy were you when you learned you would start tonight? You hadn't pitched since going one-third of an inning in the opener.
"I was pretty pumped up. Obviously before the game I had a few jitters. I'm sure that's normal, but I was pretty confident because I knew these guys had my back."
Did you feel like you were in as much control as it looked like?
"Yeah, I had good control of all my pitches. I felt like I was making some good pitches. Some got away from me, but I was able to have control on my off speeds and my fastball."
There's a lot of competition on the mound. Does that put extra pressure on you to perform well when you get the opportunity?
"No, not really. I wouldn't say it puts pressure on me. I know that we have some depth, and it's good that we have depth. I'm just doing what I have to do."
JEWETT
What did you think about Josh Bates? Lamar is struggling at the plate, but you had to like what you saw.
"No question. We talk about it all the time, that brown circle in the middle of the field is the tone setter. We felt good about him coming into this one. He did just what we recruited. He's had a lot of high school success. He pitched in a really good summer program, so we knew he was capable. It was him time, his turn, and I was just proud of him. He went out there and more than anything just grabbed the ball and attacked (catcher) Acy (Owen's) glove. We're like 980-something in the fielding percentage. We're playing really good ground ball defense and we're covering in the outfield. It should give those guys a lot of confidence to put the ball over the plate because we'll have a chance to catch it. He was composed. He showed some emotion in a good way. He got some excitement in the big moments, which I like to see out of the kid. He's been working hard, and I'm glad that his hard work showed up for tonight."
You still haven't had an error by anyone other than a pitcher or catcher (that's still true after Wednesday). How nice is that?
"It's really good. You call the infield your front line of defense, and right now I feel like if it's hit on the ground somewhere, there is going to be a play made by everybody. We have a little bit of a luxury,. too. Right now we're playing Trevor Jensen at first base, and he was a junior college shortstop. We've got a bunch of good infielders on the field right now, and they're securing the ball well. We've got Spoonie out in center kind of quarterbacking the whole thing. He's moving everybody around well and taking charge out there. The guys out just in good spots and it's being caught. It should give our pitchers a lot of confidence We don't have to be afraid of the bat. We can have the ball hit the bat, so to speak. Now we want to stay off the trampoline part of it, but if you can get inside of it and outside of it, we're going to make some plays. We are just trying to stress to those guys that that's important. We saw a little better tonight."
Witherspoon said he wasn't happy with his swing in the Ole Miss series. and he had three hits Sunday. I guess he was right because he had four hits tonight. What was he talking about?
"He just talked to me a little bit about where his hands were--kind of the position. He was not really happy with where they were. He went back and saw some video of what it was like when he felt good. That's just a smart player that has a lot of investment in his success. He's going to keep working at it until he feels good. He was great tonight. I know the four hits, but it starts off with just the ability to be a complete hitter. It's two strikes and he's driving the ball the other way. He's running really well. He's taking two bases on the base paths. He's just doing good. It's important to him. If you want to be a good hitter, you have to hit a lot, and that's what he does. He understands his swing and he knows what he has to do to feel right. I'm happy for his success tonight."
Early on you really struggled with runners in scoring position. It didn't matter because of Bates, but is that a concern?
"We might have had a little bit of that problem throughout (the year) to be honest with you, to be honest with you, but I'm not going to call it a problem right now. I'm looking at it more fin a positive light. I told them you could look at the other day we left 10 on base. You can look at 10 on base or you could say, we had 10 guys on base. There's some positives to it, too. You talk about hitting and round ball and round bat and if you're always worried about the seven failures and not the three successes, then you start spinning your mind. I choose to think of it the other way, and I want the kids to know that it's seven games into the season. We're still working on our timing. We're still working on our swings. We're working on different arm angles, seeing different spin. Just the fact that we can threaten people and put people on base, we're good enough, we'll drive those runs in, we'll put balls in play better.
"I was real proud of Ty Johnson tonight, too. He struggled a little bit early, but then we kind of talked about some things and some locations and some heights, and boom his next at-bat, he did exactly what he went up there thinking to do. That's just adjustability. I do like the fact they are in scoring position, and in due time we'll get those in more than we want."
Tough break with Kobi Owen. What happened to him in warm-ups in Oxford?
"It was the last throw in from the outfield on Sunday at Ole Miss during infield-outfield. He just felt a little something in his elbow, and the picture reaffirmed what he might have thought. It's disappointing. Kobi's such a great spirit. He's a great kid. He's got some teeth for days. He smiles, and I love his spirit. I'm hoping that he can stay engaged with the team because he'll need us and we certainly need him around. The mature decision was to get it fixed and be at full strength for fall ball next year so he can be at full strength. We certainly miss him. Like I told the guys, we'll be there for him, but there has to be a next man up. The Heinrichs, the Sepcichs, we have some thoughts about playing Glancy and Mathews and some of those types of guys in certain situations. As a coach I need a little bit of feet there or trust, reps, things like that. I've got to try to find some ways to get some guys out there. We do have some pieces. We'll try to mix and match for a while and just see what hits."
Here's what Travis Jewett, Grant Witherspoon and Josh Bates had to say after Tuesday's win.
Witherspoon, by the way, is a totally different person in interviews than he was the past two years. He was quiet and borderline uncomfortable when talking to reporters as a freshman and sophomore, but this year he has been the best quote I've covered in seven years of writing about this team. Colorful, insightful and interesting.
WITHERSPOON
You've had seven hits in the last two games, including four against Lamar. How were you seeing it tonight?
"A lot better. I feel like I was overswinging a little bit, getting a little too comfortable and trying to pull the ball over the fence a bit too much, but yesterday I worked on some stuff in the cage, kind of calmed it down a bit and am getting back to my old self."
The triple was to the deepest part of the ballpark.
"Yeah, it was a fastball right down the middle. It felt good. I wish it would have gone over, but I've got to get in the weight room I guess. I saw it well today."
After getting swept by a really good team in Ole Miss, how important was it to come right back and get a win?
"It was real important. They are a good team. Those (Ole Miss) are the kinds of teams we're going to have to be playing when we're in a regional. They had a good staff and a good lineup. We're going to get there, but we weren't there last weekend. You've got to take it as it is and come out with a good effort. We got a good start from Josh Bates today. That helped us out a lot."
There were some early struggles with runners in scoring position, but Bates made that issue irrelevant with his pitching.
"He was awesome. There was never a doubt. He was putting everything where he wanted--slider, fastball. I felt real comfortable in the outfield. I didn't have much action out there. He did a great job for his first start. It was awesome for him."
BATES
You gave up zero hits in five innings. How did you feel out there?
"I felt pretty confident. I wasn't really looking at the scoreboard. I just knew my defense was behind him and I was letting my defense work."
How happy were you when you learned you would start tonight? You hadn't pitched since going one-third of an inning in the opener.
"I was pretty pumped up. Obviously before the game I had a few jitters. I'm sure that's normal, but I was pretty confident because I knew these guys had my back."
Did you feel like you were in as much control as it looked like?
"Yeah, I had good control of all my pitches. I felt like I was making some good pitches. Some got away from me, but I was able to have control on my off speeds and my fastball."
There's a lot of competition on the mound. Does that put extra pressure on you to perform well when you get the opportunity?
"No, not really. I wouldn't say it puts pressure on me. I know that we have some depth, and it's good that we have depth. I'm just doing what I have to do."
JEWETT
What did you think about Josh Bates? Lamar is struggling at the plate, but you had to like what you saw.
"No question. We talk about it all the time, that brown circle in the middle of the field is the tone setter. We felt good about him coming into this one. He did just what we recruited. He's had a lot of high school success. He pitched in a really good summer program, so we knew he was capable. It was him time, his turn, and I was just proud of him. He went out there and more than anything just grabbed the ball and attacked (catcher) Acy (Owen's) glove. We're like 980-something in the fielding percentage. We're playing really good ground ball defense and we're covering in the outfield. It should give those guys a lot of confidence to put the ball over the plate because we'll have a chance to catch it. He was composed. He showed some emotion in a good way. He got some excitement in the big moments, which I like to see out of the kid. He's been working hard, and I'm glad that his hard work showed up for tonight."
You still haven't had an error by anyone other than a pitcher or catcher (that's still true after Wednesday). How nice is that?
"It's really good. You call the infield your front line of defense, and right now I feel like if it's hit on the ground somewhere, there is going to be a play made by everybody. We have a little bit of a luxury,. too. Right now we're playing Trevor Jensen at first base, and he was a junior college shortstop. We've got a bunch of good infielders on the field right now, and they're securing the ball well. We've got Spoonie out in center kind of quarterbacking the whole thing. He's moving everybody around well and taking charge out there. The guys out just in good spots and it's being caught. It should give our pitchers a lot of confidence We don't have to be afraid of the bat. We can have the ball hit the bat, so to speak. Now we want to stay off the trampoline part of it, but if you can get inside of it and outside of it, we're going to make some plays. We are just trying to stress to those guys that that's important. We saw a little better tonight."
Witherspoon said he wasn't happy with his swing in the Ole Miss series. and he had three hits Sunday. I guess he was right because he had four hits tonight. What was he talking about?
"He just talked to me a little bit about where his hands were--kind of the position. He was not really happy with where they were. He went back and saw some video of what it was like when he felt good. That's just a smart player that has a lot of investment in his success. He's going to keep working at it until he feels good. He was great tonight. I know the four hits, but it starts off with just the ability to be a complete hitter. It's two strikes and he's driving the ball the other way. He's running really well. He's taking two bases on the base paths. He's just doing good. It's important to him. If you want to be a good hitter, you have to hit a lot, and that's what he does. He understands his swing and he knows what he has to do to feel right. I'm happy for his success tonight."
Early on you really struggled with runners in scoring position. It didn't matter because of Bates, but is that a concern?
"We might have had a little bit of that problem throughout (the year) to be honest with you, to be honest with you, but I'm not going to call it a problem right now. I'm looking at it more fin a positive light. I told them you could look at the other day we left 10 on base. You can look at 10 on base or you could say, we had 10 guys on base. There's some positives to it, too. You talk about hitting and round ball and round bat and if you're always worried about the seven failures and not the three successes, then you start spinning your mind. I choose to think of it the other way, and I want the kids to know that it's seven games into the season. We're still working on our timing. We're still working on our swings. We're working on different arm angles, seeing different spin. Just the fact that we can threaten people and put people on base, we're good enough, we'll drive those runs in, we'll put balls in play better.
"I was real proud of Ty Johnson tonight, too. He struggled a little bit early, but then we kind of talked about some things and some locations and some heights, and boom his next at-bat, he did exactly what he went up there thinking to do. That's just adjustability. I do like the fact they are in scoring position, and in due time we'll get those in more than we want."
Tough break with Kobi Owen. What happened to him in warm-ups in Oxford?
"It was the last throw in from the outfield on Sunday at Ole Miss during infield-outfield. He just felt a little something in his elbow, and the picture reaffirmed what he might have thought. It's disappointing. Kobi's such a great spirit. He's a great kid. He's got some teeth for days. He smiles, and I love his spirit. I'm hoping that he can stay engaged with the team because he'll need us and we certainly need him around. The mature decision was to get it fixed and be at full strength for fall ball next year so he can be at full strength. We certainly miss him. Like I told the guys, we'll be there for him, but there has to be a next man up. The Heinrichs, the Sepcichs, we have some thoughts about playing Glancy and Mathews and some of those types of guys in certain situations. As a coach I need a little bit of feet there or trust, reps, things like that. I've got to try to find some ways to get some guys out there. We do have some pieces. We'll try to mix and match for a while and just see what hits."
