Dores discuss LSU loss

by Travis Young (Photo by Jimmy Jones)

Quotes from head coach Tim Corbin, right fielder Joe Loftus, and left fielder Bryan Johns following Vanderbilt's 7-5 loss to LSU last night in the SEC Tournament. The Commodores will take on Florida in an elimination game Friday night at Regions Park.

HEAD COACH TIM CORBIN

On Austin Ross’ performance:
"He was good. After Yaz’s home run in the second inning, he had thrown basically a no-hitter up until Westlake's hit in the ninth. I thought he threw the ball down at the knees very very well."

On LSU's offense:
"(LSU's) swinging the bats well right now. They had 19 hits last night and 15 tonight, so they’re seeing the ball well. That’s a tough lineup to go through right now. I’ve seen this before with an LSU team, they’re getting it moving and they have some momentum right now. They’re probably going to be tough to beat, now that Ranaudo’s coming back a little bit and this guy (Ross) going. If they continue to hit like they are, they will be tough to beat."

On the balk situation in the ninth:
"(The umpires) said Bryan Johns put up his hand and that you can’t penalize the pitcher, but you know what, you can penalize the hitter because if they don’t call timeout, they sure can call a ball or strike. It was probably good that it didn’t happen because Johns hit a double down the line, so I should of shut my mouth to begin with and just let the kids play, but so be it."

Update on Connor Harrell’s injury:
"He was knocked out. He came into the dugout and was dizzy. That was the second time he has been knocked out this year. He ran into Yaz (on a play in the outfield) and then I think when we hit the home run he got banged again on the head. Even when he got the base hit he was kind of feeling a little tough. I hope he can play."

JOE LOFTUS

Thoughts on the offensive struggles lately:
"I’m not to worried about it but because Ross had a great night pitching and LSU is kind of on a roll right now. I’m pretty sure none of the guys are too worried about it because we know what we can do as a team. We just got a relax and I’m pretty sure we’re going to pull through it."

Thoughts on facing Florida:
"We’re going to come out tomorrow and act like it’s a new day. Tomorrow’s a new day so hopefully we can come out and swing the bats."

BRYAN JOHNS

On little ninth inning rally:
"Our team never gives up and we’ve had a lot of comeback wins during the season, so we expect to comeback everytime. Unfortunately, we fell a little short tonight."

Thoughts on LSU’s pitcher Austin Ross:
"He did a good job. He attacked the zone against us and he threw a lot of strikes. He kept the ball down all night and he mixed in his curveball and that really helped him out. He kept us off balance most of the night."