2012 ACC Baseball Championship

2012 ACC Baseball Championship May 23-27, 2012, NewBridge Bank Park, Greensboro, North Carolina

Game No. 12 - No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 3 NC State Quotes North Carolina Assistant Coach Scott Forbes Opening Statement… “First of all, it’s obviously a great ending to the regular season for two really good clubs. You have to give NC State a whole lot of credit and (Carlos) Rodon. He really threw the ball well. We feel like we both have two of the best teams in the country, and (NC State) Coach Avent and I were talking about it before the game, and hopefully we gave the crowd what they came to see.” On the 12th inning RBIs by Adam Griffin and Mike Zolk… “Well Zolk was an everyday player for us the whole year until we made the change to move (Michael) Russell to shortstop. His attitude has been unbelievable. He’s a tough kid and he knows that he’s going to be able to help us. We talk about it all the time with our guys.” Junior Relief Pitcher Michael Morin On his level of fatigue towards the end of the game… “I would say I was a little more fatigued than normal. I got sick, and I don’t know what it was, maybe food poisoning or something like that for the first couple games. There’s 10,000 people out there, so it’s not really something that you really need to push through. I felt a little different, but when you have about 8,000 rooting against you, it’s not too hard.” On his confidence as the game progressed… “Every inning I went out there, I was just trying to throw up a zero. That’s just my mentality in general. Usually I just have to come in for one inning. I definitely focused, and getting the first out of every inning is probably the biggest way to shut a team down. So, I’m not really thinking long-term but more about each pitch.” Freshman Starting Pitcher Benton Moss On the team’s mentality entering the game, knowing they couldn’t advance to the title game… “Our philosophy here is that it doesn’t matter. A win is a win, so every single game, no matter whether it’s guaranteed to be the last game of the season or not, we’re going to want to come out with a bang and we’re going to want to win it. It’s just how we are.” On the mentality while pitching against N.C. State’s Carlos Rodon… “Every inning, when he would pitch and get three outs, I’d just have to go back out there. Every time I went out there I’d tell myself that I have to match that. I went out there and told myself to settle down and do what I’ve been doing. He (Rodon) is good. Nobody can deny that. He pitched a heck of a game tonight.” Freshman Outfielder Adam Griffin On his RBI single that drove in the first run of the game in the 12th inning… “The first two pitches (of the at bat) were strikes – fastballs. I had trouble seeing them, and I was just hoping to get a pitch on the outside corner to slap the other way and that’s what I did.” NC State Head Coach Elliott Avent General comments about North Carolina “They played an outstanding game. Their pitching was really good, and our pitching matched theirs. I’m just very disappointed that I, as manager of this club, couldn’t find a way to help us scratch out a run.” On the atmosphere “I thought our crowd was tremendous. They were as good as our team. But the season ain’t over.” Pitcher Carlos Rodon On his performance “Kind of amazing, really. It usually doesn’t happen, but every pitch I threw was working.”