June 10, 2006

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Clemson Regional Post-Game Press Conferences
Media Player	Event
Download the Free Real Player.	Clemson (11:02)
Download the Free Real Player.	Oral Roberts (5:53)

Clemson vs. Oral Roberts
Clemson Super Regional – Clemson, SC
June 10, 2006

Clemson Head Coach Jack Leggett
Opening Comments
“The first thing I want to do is commend Oral Roberts because I think they have a fine baseball team.  These were probably two of the toughest ballgames we’ve played back-to-back all year long.  They showed a lot of resolve last night and a lot today.  Fortunately, our kids matched it.  We played extremely tough.  You probably saw two of the hottest teams in college baseball on the field this weekend.  That’s why the games were so close.  We want everybody to know how much we appreciate their effort.  I’m really proud of our team.  I’m very happy for our seniors, assistant coaches, and athletic administration.  The university itself is a great support.  This win also goes out to our fans.  They were outstanding the whole season.  To see them out in the numbers that they were at the Regional and Super Regional is a credit to the kind of fans we have here at Clemson.  I have a good friend, Keith LeClair, who has listened to every word at home.  This one was for him too.”
 
On his goals for the team in Omaha
“Our goal is obviously to win the national championship.  We’re going to enjoy this and come back to practice at 2:00 on Monday.  We’ll get out there and get ourselves ready to go.  We’re playing a very good team (Georgia Tech) that we’re very familiar with.  They’re an excellent offensive team and I’m sure they know they are looking at us and know they have a great challenge ahead of them too.  We’re going out there to win.  We’ll get refocused and get squared away about when we’re going to get out there.  Then we’ll get zeroed in on what we have to do to get the next prize.”
 
Clemson Shortstop Stan Widmann
On the go-ahead RBI
“I wanted to protect; I didn’t want to strike out looking.  He just gave me a pitch over the plate that I could handle.  I just put a good swing on it and somehow it got through.  They had me guessing the whole weekend.  When I was thinking slider, they were throwing fastballs.  When I was thinking fastball, they were sliders.  I was thinking pretty much ‘see the ball, hit the ball’ at the point.  It looked like the shortstop was going to catch it, but somehow it was out of reach.”
 
Clemson Designated Hitter Herman Demmink
On the team’s toughness
“This team has shown that kind of character all year.  It’s been evident in the past few games.  Once we were down 4-0 and we were still in the third inning, coach pulled us aside and reminded us that we played a tough ballgame yesterday.  It was big for us to have Taylor (Harbin) come up and get a three-run home run.  Luckily, we came out on top.”
 
Clemson Winning Pitcher David Kopp
On the postgame celebration
“I can’t describe the feeling.  It was amazing.  I wanted to go out there and put the team in a situation to win the ballgame.  When Stan (Widmann) came up with his hit, I wanted to go out and attack their hitters and throw strikes.  I let the defense do the work behind me.  It was an unreal feeling (pile-on celebration); something I’ll be able to tell my kids about someday.”
 
On staying in to pitch the final two innings
“When I got the double play in the eighth inning, I went in the dugout and Sully (pitching coach Kevin O’Sullivan) said ‘go get it for us’ and that’s when I knew it was my time to go out and get three outs to Omaha.”

Oral Roberts Quotes
Head Coach Rob Walton
Opening Statement
"It was another battle. Chris (Ashman) really battled today. He has a bad blister on his finger and each inning we were trying to take care of it. He was just trying to give us everything he had. He is a gutsy kid and has great character and heart. With Nick (Jones) unhealthy last night, we had a little bit of bad timing from a pitching standpoint. I was really proud of both of them for the way they competed. They took the mound and just gave what they could. I was really proud of that effort."

"The things we've been doing offensively and defensively are what we've been doing all year long. We have really played well. We've just been a little unlucky with some health issues on the mound. Other than that, they were two great ballgames. That is a very, very good club in Clemson. Give them a lot of credit. We just came up on the short end."

On sticking with Erik Crichton in the eighth instead of Sean Jarrett
"I was debating on which breaking ball was better in that situation. Erik had a pretty good slider going, and Sean's was backing up a little bit, which is uncharacteristic. We tried to get Erik through the inning. We needed to bounce a breaking ball to (Stan) Widmann. We're 95% sure he would swing through it. Every time we put one in the dirt, he moved on it. We were just trying to bounce one short, and it didn't happen. (Erik) left it up. All weekend, when we hung a breaking ball, (Clemson) didn't miss it. We hung way too many. It was a good job by Widmann to capitalize on one in the zone."

Chris Ashman, pitcher
On the pitch to Taylor Harbin
"I think that was a two-seam fastball. That was not where I wanted it to be. (Clemson) is a great hitting team. They handle the ball well, and I left it over the plate. It didn't run as much as I thought it was going to run, which left it over the middle of the plate and waist-high, and (Widmann) did want he was supposed to with it."

Brendan Duffy, right fielder
On what to take from the Super Regional experience
"There are a lot of positives to take. I think getting there is a positive. Throughout the game, we got big hits. We had the lead towards the end of the games."