We talked to Patrick Duester, Lex Kaplan and David Pierce after Sunday's loss. Here are their comments:
DUESTER
When did struggles began
"The first inning I felt fine. I only threw like five or six pitches (actually four). I felt good the first inning, and the second inning after that until I came out I threw maybe three pitches that I was satisfied with. I can’t really explain what happened after that, but I just never established any of my other pitches."
Specific problems
"Location, and my breaking ball was just spinning out of my hand. It wasn’t the tight slider that it usually is."
Houston good at plate
"Any time you face a team like this, you have to be able to hit your spot as a pitcher and you have to be committed to that spot and be able to throw a fastball and a secondary pitch, whether it be a breaking ball or changeups, for them to chase or in the strike zone, and it didn’t really happen."
No run support
"They put the runs up first. If we get two or three in the first or second inning, obviously it’s easier, but I just never gave my team a chance to win. Obviously when they put up five (runs) after three, it kind of gets down in the dugout, but we just have to stay up."
First weekend start bring any extra pressure?
"The mentality was right. I was anxious to get back out there on the mound. I hadn’t been on the mound in a while (eight days). I was ready to go, but I just didn’t have it."
Frustration of losing series after winning opener
"Coach (Phil) Haig and coach Pierce were both stressing that this was a big game. We knew it. We just have to get the next one. We have to keep playing."
KAPLAN
On Houston pitcher Seth Romero
"He had a live fast ball and was hitting some of his spots. His breaking ball was all right, but he just really commanded the fast ball. I just saw a few pitches that I could drive and was hitting the ball well today. I put a few good swings on them."
Avoiding shutout with run in 9th inning"It’s important, but we need to come out next week and do better than we did this weekend. We started off hot and we ended up losing two straight and bad at-bats and not great pitching. It just all around wasn’t a good team effort."
Frustrating losing 2 in row
"It’s very frustrating because we need to win games. We want to play in the postseason and we want to make a regional and it would be nice to be an at-large bid. Losing this weekend is rough, so we have to come back next weekend and be strong and play well because I know South Florida is a good team, too."
Good defense all weekend
"We played good defense, which wins games. Defense and pitching win games, but obviously our pitching wasn’t there this weekend and our hitting really except for Friday."
Getting some rest with no midweek game
"We get two days off to mentally get prepared for the next weekend. We’ll come back out next Wednesday and really work hard in BP and be right for the next weekend."
PIERCE
On being tough getting down early and trying to come back
“We saw him (Romero) a little bit when we were there, but I think he’s one of the best left-handers in the country, and he’s just a freshman. He’s got a bright future; he pitched really well, attacked the zone really well, and put a lot of good stuff on the ball.”
On if avoiding the shutout with 9th inning run being something to build on
“Not at all.”
On Duester’s performance
“Yeah, he just wasn’t sharp. He’s been a little tender, that’s why we’ve been holding him back, and that’s why we had a pretty quick trigger. He just got the ball up in some situations that got him in trouble.”
On Tulane pitching staff issuing eight walks making it tough to win
“There’s no doubt about that. Some of the guys are out there when it is 6-0 because I want to see if we have anything in the tank with those guys because I’m still searching. When you are in a situation where you can potentially be in a tough tournament, you have to find guys that can help you, and that’s what we did, but some of our base on balls came from them.”
On losing this big series and getting ready for next weekend
“For us right now, I think we are in a little bit of a zombie mentality. I think exams kick-in more than people acknowledge when you’re playing a good team like that. We are going to take Monday andTuesday off, let them finish and get prepared for their exams; let their bodies and mental side of the game just kind of get away for a couple days and rest.”
On improvement after intense batting cage practices
“I just think it’s much more mental than anything, and then you get frustrated when you’re facing good stuff like today.”
On if Tulane will face two better pitchers back to back than these two Houston ones
“No. You can talk SEC, ACC; you can talk any league in the country, when those two guys are right, they are as tough as anybody.”
On looking ahead to USF…
“South Florida is good. Their Friday night guy is one of the best guys in the league. I’m really getting tired of facing everybody that has a below 2.00 ERA, but that’s what it is, and that’s what this league is. We are in the hunt and we have a shot, so that’s how we will attack it.”
On John Gandolfo needing to improve…
“It’s not just John, it’s a few players. They’ve got to understand that there’s more to just getting hits; there’s other ways to execute and help the ball club offensively, and that’s what we have to attack.”
On a great defensive weekend with no errors…
“That’s always something you can build on, because you can take pride and confidence in a great job of playing defense. We demonstrated a great double play today. It’s tough when pitchers are walking guys as well as seeing the lopsided scores, so I commend the defense.”
DUESTER
When did struggles began
"The first inning I felt fine. I only threw like five or six pitches (actually four). I felt good the first inning, and the second inning after that until I came out I threw maybe three pitches that I was satisfied with. I can’t really explain what happened after that, but I just never established any of my other pitches."
Specific problems
"Location, and my breaking ball was just spinning out of my hand. It wasn’t the tight slider that it usually is."
Houston good at plate
"Any time you face a team like this, you have to be able to hit your spot as a pitcher and you have to be committed to that spot and be able to throw a fastball and a secondary pitch, whether it be a breaking ball or changeups, for them to chase or in the strike zone, and it didn’t really happen."
No run support
"They put the runs up first. If we get two or three in the first or second inning, obviously it’s easier, but I just never gave my team a chance to win. Obviously when they put up five (runs) after three, it kind of gets down in the dugout, but we just have to stay up."
First weekend start bring any extra pressure?
"The mentality was right. I was anxious to get back out there on the mound. I hadn’t been on the mound in a while (eight days). I was ready to go, but I just didn’t have it."
Frustration of losing series after winning opener
"Coach (Phil) Haig and coach Pierce were both stressing that this was a big game. We knew it. We just have to get the next one. We have to keep playing."
KAPLAN
On Houston pitcher Seth Romero
"He had a live fast ball and was hitting some of his spots. His breaking ball was all right, but he just really commanded the fast ball. I just saw a few pitches that I could drive and was hitting the ball well today. I put a few good swings on them."
Avoiding shutout with run in 9th inning"It’s important, but we need to come out next week and do better than we did this weekend. We started off hot and we ended up losing two straight and bad at-bats and not great pitching. It just all around wasn’t a good team effort."
Frustrating losing 2 in row
"It’s very frustrating because we need to win games. We want to play in the postseason and we want to make a regional and it would be nice to be an at-large bid. Losing this weekend is rough, so we have to come back next weekend and be strong and play well because I know South Florida is a good team, too."
Good defense all weekend
"We played good defense, which wins games. Defense and pitching win games, but obviously our pitching wasn’t there this weekend and our hitting really except for Friday."
Getting some rest with no midweek game
"We get two days off to mentally get prepared for the next weekend. We’ll come back out next Wednesday and really work hard in BP and be right for the next weekend."
PIERCE
On being tough getting down early and trying to come back
“We saw him (Romero) a little bit when we were there, but I think he’s one of the best left-handers in the country, and he’s just a freshman. He’s got a bright future; he pitched really well, attacked the zone really well, and put a lot of good stuff on the ball.”
On if avoiding the shutout with 9th inning run being something to build on
“Not at all.”
On Duester’s performance
“Yeah, he just wasn’t sharp. He’s been a little tender, that’s why we’ve been holding him back, and that’s why we had a pretty quick trigger. He just got the ball up in some situations that got him in trouble.”
On Tulane pitching staff issuing eight walks making it tough to win
“There’s no doubt about that. Some of the guys are out there when it is 6-0 because I want to see if we have anything in the tank with those guys because I’m still searching. When you are in a situation where you can potentially be in a tough tournament, you have to find guys that can help you, and that’s what we did, but some of our base on balls came from them.”
On losing this big series and getting ready for next weekend
“For us right now, I think we are in a little bit of a zombie mentality. I think exams kick-in more than people acknowledge when you’re playing a good team like that. We are going to take Monday andTuesday off, let them finish and get prepared for their exams; let their bodies and mental side of the game just kind of get away for a couple days and rest.”
On improvement after intense batting cage practices
“I just think it’s much more mental than anything, and then you get frustrated when you’re facing good stuff like today.”
On if Tulane will face two better pitchers back to back than these two Houston ones
“No. You can talk SEC, ACC; you can talk any league in the country, when those two guys are right, they are as tough as anybody.”
On looking ahead to USF…
“South Florida is good. Their Friday night guy is one of the best guys in the league. I’m really getting tired of facing everybody that has a below 2.00 ERA, but that’s what it is, and that’s what this league is. We are in the hunt and we have a shot, so that’s how we will attack it.”
On John Gandolfo needing to improve…
“It’s not just John, it’s a few players. They’ve got to understand that there’s more to just getting hits; there’s other ways to execute and help the ball club offensively, and that’s what we have to attack.”
On a great defensive weekend with no errors…
“That’s always something you can build on, because you can take pride and confidence in a great job of playing defense. We demonstrated a great double play today. It’s tough when pitchers are walking guys as well as seeing the lopsided scores, so I commend the defense.”