Quotes From Game 2 of TCU-Houston
TCU Relief Pitcher Trent Appleby:
On the win: “I mean, this is a huge win. We can build off of this. Coming back from 9-2 to a win, it just shows our pride, we weren’t going to give up. This is a turning point for us.”
On the team’s attitude when down by seven runs: “It was actually kinda weird. Everyone seemed to believe that we were going to come back and win. Even when it was 9-2, no one was going to give up. It just shows the character of this team.”
On his performance: “My fastball was moving a lot. Sometimes it takes a few pitches to figure it out and get my feel. Once I got comfortable, I was able to control my fastball and get groundballs.”
On the impact of this game: “We’re focused on winning this series. Hopefully when we look back to tonight’s game, we look back after winning 15, 16 in a row.”
On Jason Coats’ bases-clearing double: “[Jason] hasn’t been really struggling at the plate, but he’s just been hitting it straight to people. I don’t know how many hard hit balls have been caught when he hits, but it’s nice for him to break out of that.”
Coach Jim Schlossnagle:
On the comeback: “I thought the game was all about pride. When you’re down 9-2, I got the team out in front of the dugout, talked to them and we scored seven runs. We said ‘Hey, we can’t control what happened in the past’. If there was ever a day to come back and win in this ballpark, it was today.”
On Trent Appleby’s performance: “I thought Trent was great, it just took a while for him to get his stride. When he found it, it was great.”
On the impact of this game: “We still made five errors and we didn’t have great starting pitching, so it’s hard to say. It certainly tells you a lot about the club when you’re down by seven, but find a way to win.”
“We’ll find out. The past doesn’t equal the future, but we’ll see. Time will tell.”
On the identity of the team: “At the end of the season, we’ll either look back and laugh, or we’ll say ‘This is what defined us.’ Every team is different and that’s what I’ve been trying to tell these guys. This is not the 2009 team, this is not the 2010 team, this is the 2011 team.”
On Matt Purke: “He wasn’t tired, he said he felt fine. I think he took a lot of time off and what I think you’re seeing is a guy who’s preparing for the season within the season. He’s finding himself, he’s finding pitches, he’s finding a rhythm.”
TCU Outfielders Jason Coats and Brance Rivera:
On Coach Schlossnagle’s pep talk in the 5th:
Brance: “He just say to not worry. [Houston] is scared to get to their bullpen, once we get there, there’s a lot of runs to be scored. We got their starter out and you saw what we did there.”
Jason: “Um, exactly what he said.” (Laughter)
TCU Right Fielder Brance Rivera:
On his 4 for 5 batting performance: “I just stepped in there and tried to get a good swing off. I haven’t been barreling balls off recently, I tried getting the ball on the barrel today.”
On what the game means for the season: “It’s a big win for us. We were down and this game showed we can battle back. It’s a good turning point for our team, because it shows that we won’t give up.”
TCU Left Fielder Jason Coats:
On this go-ahead bases clearing double: “It was the first time we got the lead back from being down, so I think everyone got back into the game, got re-energized. We just kept rolling from there. I was really excited that I finally got us a big, big hit.”
“It was a great hit. Gave me a lot of confidence for tomorrow’s game, it felt good. It was an inside fastball that I was waiting on, just drove it down the line.”
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