June 18, 2003

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NCAA College World Series (at Omaha, NE)
Game 11 - Stanford 5, Cal State Fullerton 3

STANFORD

Head Coach Mark Marquess
(Opening statement): "What can you say. It was a great college baseball game. For us it was the pitching of John Hudgins and the two home runs by Carlos Quentin. John threw a complete game versus one of the best teams in college baseball on four days rest. He was masterful. As typical with John, he got stronger as the game went on. Carlos' home run in the eighth inning was huge. It was a big blow by Carlos. It was a great atmosphere and great game by both teams. They're hard to beat. That's the first time we've beat them this year."

(on pitching plans for Thursday's Bracket One finals rematch): "I'd like to throw John Hudgins again tomorrow, but that's probably not possible. Nobody was going to warm up in the bullpen today. No matter what his pitch count is, he gets stronger as the game goes on."

Starting pitcher John Hudgins
(on shutting down Fullerton after the Kyle Boyer foul ball that cleared the wall down the left field line): "I threw a change up on that pitch to Boyer. I was hoping he got out in front of it enough that it wouldn't stay fair. From there, I just loosened up. As the game went on, I felt better and was able to execute pitches better."

Catcher Ryan Garko
(on John Hudgins' pitching performance): "John did a great job today. He threw strikes and got the leadoff hitters. We sat down in the bullpen before the game and came up with a game plan and he executed it.

(on beating Cal State Fullerton for the first time this year) "It was big for us. We had nothing to lose. Usually with Stanford baseball, we're not put into that position very often, and I think we liked it. The first step was to beat them once. Now we have to do it again tomorrow."

Rightfielder Carlos Quentin
(on his home runs): "I was happy to contribute to the game. I got the green light from coach on a 3-0 pitch (on his second homer in the eighth inning). Any time you can contribute to the team, you feel good about yourself."

CAL STATE FULLERTON

Head Coach George Horton
(opening statement): "It was another great baseball game between two great clubs. We did enough on the mound and defensively to be successful, but didn't do enough offensively. Obviously, John Hudgins had a lot to do with that. You have to tip your cap to him and their defense. They made it very difficult for us."

(on the decision to start Wes Littleton): "Ryan (Schreppel) hadn't been throwing well on the side and our trainer told me that he had some tightness in his shoulder. That made it an easy decision to hand the ball to Wes."

(on playing Stanford once again tomorrow): "I read that nobody's beaten Stanford six times (in one season), so I knew it would be difficult. To win a national championship, you have to do something special and beating Stanford five out of six times would qualify as something special. I don't think us beating them earlier in the year had anything to do with today's game, and I don't think today's game has anything to do with tomorrow. I'm not much of a believer in the law of averages."

Designated hitter P.J. Pilittere
(on the team's emotional status after the loss): "We would have liked to have won today but winning the first two games out here got us in a position to play tomorrow despite losing today. We don't have to be too down about losing today, and we can't allow that to happen because we have to come back tomorrow and try it again. We are a team built on execution and when things aren't going right, the rest of our game isn't going right. Usually we pick each other up, but it didn't happen today. We feel good about tomorrow though."

Starting pitcher Wes Littleton
(on his performance today): "I didn't do too well once I got tired in the late innings. I left my pitches up, and I couldn't get my changeup over. I just tried to keep us close. It just didn't work out the way I wanted."

Rightfielder Shane Costa
(on his team's confidence going into tomorrow): "We are going to come out and play hard. We must come out with confidence just like Stanford will. It's all about one game right now."