|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMay 23, 2016Mike MartinDurham, North Carolina MIKE MARTIN: First of all, let me apologize, let's do away with the opening statement because I've got to be on a plane very quickly, and I apologize. But I don't want to make a bunch of people mad. So fire away, men. Q. Obviously John Sansone, Taylor Walls, what they do for your lineup, but you have a couple of guys below them with Busby and Nieporte. Tell me how much better your offense goes when those two guys down below, Sansone and Walls, really bring the production to the table. MIKE MARTIN: You're not supposed to be that smart. You're dead on the problems that we have had the last two weeks is lack of production of Nieporte and because by. But don't forget, Cal Raleigh has been one reason that we have been able to win a few ballgames, because that young man is one of the top prospects in the country, played this past weekend a doubleheader against Miami and with 102-degree temperature, but would not let me take him out of the ballgame. He's a special guy, but to further answer your question, it makes us so much better when we're getting quality at-bats from those other two guys, and we're not, and it's unfortunate. We're hoping that we can work a couple of days and straighten some problems out. But great job of doing your homework, big guy. Q. You only got one of the three in with North Carolina State this year. What do you take away from that game as you go into pool play to start things off? MIKE MARTIN: North Carolina State has really -- when they left us, they were not playing as well as they were capable of. And as a typical Avent-coached team, they are amazing in the post-season. Every single year, it seems like they are playing for the championship in the tournament. They are just a solid club. I wish I could say we took a lot away from it, but the weather wasn't very good that night. If I'm not mistaken, we got a break late. They were ready to go the next day. We weren't able to play. It rained 48 straight hours in Tallahassee, unbelievable. It never stopped, because all we needed was an hour window to build a tarp. The field drains unbelievably. We never got that. So I would say it's kind of like we're playing a team that we haven't played, and I feel they are doing the same thing. Q. Curious if you've set your rotation for the tournament? MIKE MARTIN: No, we really haven't, other than we will go Carlton the first game against NC State. After that, more than likely, it's going to be Cole Sands, and the fact that we are skipping Thursday, that would put Tyler Holton to pitch the third game. That's what we're leaning toward right now. But nothing is sealed in concrete. Q. Jackson Lueck had the big home run on Saturday. What have you seen from him in his freshman year? MIKE MARTIN: He's still a work-in-progress. I think he's one of those -- and I don't like to say this, but he's very good. He's a budding star. He runs, he hits, he hits with power. He needs to improve his throwing. He needs to improve on his baserunning. Those are things -- well, not really throwing, but base running is something that you improve on with experience, and I'm just hoping that he works hard the rest of the year and into the summer because he has a chance to be really good. Q. Your teams have competed in this thing for a long time now, and you've won a couple of them. I'm curious from your perspective, does it seem like the tournament itself gets harder every year? MIKE MARTIN: It sure does. The eight teams that end up, so-called, in the tournament, will all go to post-season play, there's no doubt. We have that difficult a league, and the NCAA to me, I think is recognizing that, and I don't think there's any question that you're going to see nine or ten teams in the NCAA Tournament. Q. In some ways is it more difficult than the NCAA Tournament? MIKE MARTIN: No, there's so much going on that time of the year, the guys are a little different, so to speak; the excitement, the anticipation. So no, I can't say it's tougher. I can tell you one thing: It ain't a whole lot tougher (laughs). FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|