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June 9, 2011

Head Coach Tim Esmay
Opening statement: We're excited to still be playing and playing at place like The University of Texas. I've been fortunate to be in this program at Arizona State for quite a long time and this brings back some really good memories and some really bad memories. This is a very tough place to play and playing a team like Texas this time of year is college baseball at its finest. We are looking forward to the challenge of playing a very good Texas team.

On learning they would be allowed to play an offseason: In December, we had to get a hold of the guys while they were on Christmas break and let them know that this year we were not allowed to be in post season. That's been on our heads from December all the way until that Friday of the last weekend of the season when we were playing UCLA for the Pac-10 series. President (Michael) Crow and our athletic director Lisa Love appealed the ruling so with the appeal being in process the NCAA had not heard it yet until the middle of May. By that time that had ruled on the appeal so basically we knew we were going to postseason the Friday before our regular season was over.

On Texas' pitching staff: We obviously played UCLA and faced (Gerrit) Cole and (Trevor) Bauer who were both number one picks and now we are facing another first round pick (Texas Pitcher Taylor Jungmann). Looking at Texas, their pitching staff is going to be one of the best that we faced all year. You look on paper and look what they have done and it's not just this year. Look at the past and look at what these young men have done in the program. A lot of these young men have pitched in the College World Series in 2009 so we know that these guys have an idea. The statement for me about this pitching staff is what they did last weekend in the regional. To get beat the second night and then come through and did what they did and really dominate a good Kent State team there at the end tells me that the pitching staff is pretty strong and pretty deep.

On playing at UFCU Disch-Falk Field: It plays deeper. The gaps are bigger. It always seems like your outfielders are really far apart. Team speed here gets rewarded. Balls in the gap get rewarded. There will be times when the ball holds up there with the humidity. So it makes for an opportunistic offense. You're going to have to get guys in scoring position and you're going to have to stay with your at bats and make contact.

Junior 3B Riccio Torrez
On getting to play a postseason after they were told they wouldn't: The whole season we tried to go through trying to not let that affect how we go about things on the field. Whether we are in it or not we are still going to play the same brand of baseball, the same Arizona State baseball, whether we are in the playoffs or not. It was a disappointment to hear that we wouldn't get to be in the playoffs but it didn't stop us from going out there and playing the same kind of baseball that we are used to playing.

On facing Texas' pitching staff: We know they have a good pitching staff but we also faced all of the really tough Pac-10 pitchers. We have been tested before and we have seen the best of the best so you can't get much better than what we already faced.

Junior OF Andy Workman
On getting to play a postseason after they were told they wouldn't: Our first goal is to always win the Pac-10 Championship. With that in mind, it kind of puts the NCAA tournament in the back of our minds knowing we want the Pac-10 first. It wasn't even in our minds until after that game against UCLA and we were obviously fortunate and happy for it. We will try to make the most of it.

On facing Texas' pitching staff: We've been there before, we've experienced it. We know that they will come out and give it their best and we know that have good stuff but we've seen it and we are ready to compete against it.