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TCU Baseball Pre-Tournament Press Conference Quotes

Posted: 7:17 PM May 31, 2012
Reporter: Texas A&M Sports Information

HEAD COACH JIM SCHLOSSNAGLE
“We’re really excited to be here in College Station. Certainly it’s a place we’ve been several times over the course of the last eight or nine years. It’s an amazing ballpark, it’s my first chance to see it. I’m honored to be here and I’m excited about our club. I’m excited about the way we’ve played the last 25 or 30 games. I feel like we have had to overcome a lot over the course of the season, as most teams have. I’m looking forward to hopefully playing our best baseball this weekend.”

Is there a comfort level in playing in College Station?
“Anytime you’ve been somewhere, it helps that you’re more familiar with it. We haven’t been here this year.We were here last year. I think when you have a roster loaded with a bunch of Texas kids who have played here, maybe in summer ball or for TCU, it’s certainly better than going somewhere you’ve never been. Although the environment will certainly be different.”

You’ve played Ole Miss a bit of late, what do you know about their program and this team?
“I know a lot about their program. Mike Bianco and I are longtime friends. I was an assistant at Tulane when he was an assistant at LSU. I have great admiration for him. He’s a very dear friend of mine, our families are close. I have a good feel for his program and what it is all about. In terms of the team, it’s good we’ve played them before—good for them and good for us. I’m sure he’d probably say they are a much different team than the second week in February, and I know we are. I don’t enjoy playing friends but I certainly enjoy playing great programs, and that’s what they are.”

On the matchup on the mound on Friday…
“It’s going to be interesting. There is a big difference in style. We’ve had a lot of elite pitchers come through our program. We’ve had se v eral guys with million‐dollar arms and high draft picks, and Preston has had as good of numbers as them—maybe better. He’s definitely one of the elite guys in our program, he just does it in a different way. Hopefully he can keep that going for a few weeks.”

How much does the loss of Jason Coats change stuff for you offensively?
“We’ve been dealing with it for over a week. We played the conference tournament without him. No question it’s a blow, but we’d like to think no one player is bigger than the program. It doesn’t really change a whole lot. We had three freshman position players make the all‐tournament team out there (last week). I feel okay that we’ve picked that up. He’s a guy that has played three regionals, two super regionals and the College World Series, and has hit thir d in our lineup since the day he walked on campus. It’s the experience that’s hard to replace more so than the physical stuff.”

On NCAA play being a fresh start…
“To me you spend 56 games getting to this point and having your team ready to go. Now all bets are off. It’s who plays the best baseball, who gets the two‐out hit, who makes the big pitch. You do get a fresh start, you feel rejuvenated. We didn’t lose six of our last seven, but we didn’t play well either. We’re pretty embarrassed by the way we played last week and we’re pretty excited about the chance to play again this weekend.”

JUNIOR C/OF JOSH ELANDER
On what made Bobby Wall successful against TCU ea r lier in the year…
“Bobby had great stuff. He didn’t have the greatest command but he threw a lot of strikes and made pitches when he had to. The bottom line is he beat us that night He’s a little bit different now than he was then, but we just have to have a good approach and stick with it.”

FRESHMAN P PRESTON MORRISON
What made you successful in your outing against Ole Miss earlier in the year?
“I guess I obviously was nervous at the beginning, but I settled down and threw strikes and let my stuff do the work. I didn’t try and overthrow. I let them get themselves out basically.”

Is this the kind of thing you live for, facing Bobby Wall and an SEC team in an NCAA environment?
“It’s definitely exciting. I’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”