University of Richmond Athletics
Nebraska 2, Richmond 0
06/07/2002 | Baseball
June 7, 2002
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Nebraska Head Coach Dave Van Horn
On the game
"That was a great game, especially if you are a baseball purist. Take away some of the bad defense, this game was just a classic."
"It was a great ball game. Both teams played extremely hard. Both teams left runner on and had a chance to chip away and take the lead. I'm just glad Shane (Komine) was able to pitch out of a couple of jams and we could scratch across a couple of runs."
On the pitching
"To me, you just saw the two best right-handed pitchers in college baseball. Those are the two best I've seen this year. We have faced some good right-handers, but I don't think we have faced one that good, and I think we have one that is just as good on our team."
On the scoring
"Who would have thought that one run in the first inning would have been enough."
On Shane Komine's 20-0 record at home
"It is almost hard to believe, 20-0 or something in there, and what does he have, 500 strikeouts. There are only a handful of pitchers at the college level who have ever done that. He did it battling some injuries through a couple of years and a lot this year. He has been the backbone of our pitching staff for four straight seasons. From the day he walked on campus in August of 1998, we knew he was going to be our ace after we saw him playing catch that first day. It has been incredible."
Nebraska Starting Pitcher Shane Komine
On how important getting the first win was
"It was very important. I just wanted to go out in front of the home fans and get off on the right foot, and finish the way we did."
On the third inning
"That was a big play for us. That could have turned the game around. They could have taken the lead with that. That double play kind of turned the game around for us."
On being one win away from Omaha
"We have learned from the past two years. Down at Stanford (in 2000), I think we got a little bit excited after winning that first game. Last year, we won the first game and came out with the same intensity for the second game. We weren't too high or too low, we just came out with a real fire that we wanted to get to Omaha. Right now, we have gotten a step closer, but we have haven't gotten anywhere yet. We have to go out there tomorrow and score one more run than they do."
On pitching at home
"This is the best place to pitch for a pitcher. You have the crowd behind you. Everyone here is so supportive, it is just a great environment to come and play. I've enjoyed it here the past four years. I couldn't have ask for anything more. I appreciate everything that has happened to me. The fans, the coaches and the players have just been unreal."
Matt Hopper
On his first-inning RBI holding up
"We just came out and just executed in the first inning, driving the ball over and getting the runner in. That was the biggest part of the game. We rode it for a while, and then we had chances to score, and we didn't capitalize on it. In good ball games like that with a great pitcher on the mound, you take what you can get."
Richmond Coach Ron Atkins
Opening Comments
"Wow, what a ballgame. You saw a good college baseball game. I think the defense on both sides played well when they had to. Both pitchers pitched extremely well. I think you have to take your hat off to (Shane) Komine. He kept us off balance. We couldn't get a bead on him. I thought the key to the ball game was early. We had runners on second and third with one out and we didn't score. That really hurt us. We've been very efficient most of the year in producing runs in that type of situation. He (Komine) made some great pitches at key times and consequently we could never muster more than one hit against him. I can't say enough about Tim Stauffer. Tim Stauffer battled. He made some great pitches in key situations. He pitched a great ball game also."
On the atmosphere
"Whether you're a baseball fan or a baseball player or a coach, you've got to love playing before a crowd like this whether they're for you or against you. It just gets your adrenaline flowing. It was great. This was a great college baseball game. To me, this is what college baseball is all about, playing before a crowd and just enjoying and playing the game. It was a great baseball game. We just couldn't get the key hits. Most of the time, winning and losing is dictated by timely hitting. We just didn't get it today."
Richmond First baseman Vito Chiaravalloti
On the third inning (runners on second and third with one out)
"Without a doubt. That was a huge inning for us. We had the momentum going into that inning after they scored in the first. It was really our first opportunity to get something going and we came up a little short. That's the way it worked out for us the whole game. I felt there were a couple of times where we had guys in position. They made a couple errors to give us a lead off base runner and we couldn't do anything with it. Hats off to Komine. He pitched a great game. He got the outs when he had to."
On Nebraska pitcher Shane Komine
"I didn't think he had overpowering stuff, I just thought he was the best pitcher we've face this year. He knew how to pitch."
Richmond Pitcher Tim Stauffer
On his performance
"Of course losing is always frustrating. I went out there and did what I had to do. Some days the balls don't fall. I think we'll be ready to come back tomorrow. I gave it all I had out there, and I'm not going to hang my head."
On his two errors
"I was just trying to be aggressive. The first play, it was kind of the only play I had. I had to bare hand it and throw it on the run. That's a tough play. I would have liked to have made that one. The second one I just tried to hurry it a little before I had it in my glove. I should have probably put it in my glove. He wasn't as fast a runner as the first guy, but those kind of things happen."
On the strategy with a runner on third
"When they've got runners in scoring position, I usually try to bear down a little more. The infield is in, so I tried to get a ground ball. Once in a while they're going to get a ball up in the air. The wind was blowing out today. If the ball gets in the air it's going to carry a little bit. Those sacrifice flies ended up being the game-winning runs."
On the stadium
"This is definitely fun for me. It's one of the most exciting games I've ever been a part of with the atmosphere and everything. There is a really good fan base here. They're just really good fans. It's really exciting just being here. It's a big game and I'm going to remember it."
Richmond Shortstop Matt Craig
On rebounding from the loss
"What we have to learn from today and realize is that in this wind and going against good pitching when you have people on you have to get them in. Nebraska did a great job of that when they had runners on third base, of putting the ball in the outfield and getting two sacrifice flies. We didn't do that. We've got to realize that that's the way this park is going to play. We've got to learn from today and come out tomorrow and realize that we've got to play a little small ball."
