David Perno Quotations

We struggled this weekend, and we knew going in this season we were going to be young at the number three spot in the rotation. With a couple pitchers out and the short outing by Mickey (Westphal) Saturday, we were behind the eight ball.

We've got a veteran team, a talented team. We just need to go out and play like we're capable. If we don't, and guys continue to struggle, we can get beat by anybody. But I think we're made of the right stuff, and I believe in them.

We've taken a tough road. We were swept at home, but rebounded to take 2-of-3 at Mississippi State. We are excited about this team.

We needed a big lift today, and we got it. Mickey (Westphal) was outstanding, we made the plays behind him in some tough conditions and we got the timely hits.

Obviously, beating Tech is important, but just playing good was important. Moreau was outstanding, and we played a complete game.

I felt like this team was capable of doing some special things this year and this was a big win for them to battle like they did and clinch the series here in a tough environment. Arkansas had a big inning and grabbed the lead a couple of times but we had to make a run and we were able to do that. The team stayed focused throughout the game, leaned on each other and came out with another win.

We looked pretty good for a couple of innings. That was a pleasant surprise.

Last Friday night, we only struck out four times and we got a (complete game) thrown against us. So sometimes the strikeouts get pitch count up and allow you to get into the bullpen a little quicker. I think we gave (Schmidt) maybe one easy inning, but for the most part, you do the best you can against that guy. He's tremendous.

I see a team that wants to make a run.

I think he's one of the most underrated pitchers in the league. In the first inning, he was pushed under the gun a little bit and he went to his two-seam and pretty much stuck with that all night and that's why he got the action and some of the quick outs that he did.

That was a good effort all the way around. Gentry got a good break on it and I thought he was going to make a great play, but Bobby was running right out of the box. If he's not hustling right out of the box, he doesn't make that happen.

Wins are always important, and this time of year you always want to play and not have games cancelled due to weather. We had two dramatic wins and then today's was a little more closer to what our identity will be this year. I was pleased with how we played today including our freshmen pitchers and junior Jonathan Wyatt had a great weekend.

We played a very good team in San Diego this weekend and we knew at some point they were going to make a run after we tamed their bats in the first two games. They jumped out early in the final game but we had an answer and another good comeback in us. Our team is playing very confident right now, they believe in each other and that's great to see.

We're bringing in top quality, better merchandise, national brands, a very competitive marketing and advertising strategy, and a credit card with new options. People need to come out and see what's new.

We played our best game of the year, and hit some balls out of the park which was good to see. It was a warm day and there was a little carry to the ball, and we got solid pitching and defense. I'm proud of Matt, he had a big day, and he's been through a lot to get to this point. All our hitters are swinging with a lot of confidence right now.

We are playing better in all areas, offense, defense and I like our pitching too. Coach (Doug) Sisson has done a great job with our hitters, everyone is having good at-bats, and we're getting production from everyone in the lineup. Coach (Roger) Williams has done a fine job with our pitching staff. Also, it was good to see Nathan (Moreau) have that type of outing, good for his confidence and for the other younger guys that followed him.

When Brooks pitches like that, our whole team feeds off that and we have some momentum. We made some adjustments after our first at bat, and I liked how our offense responded. We had good balance in the lineup and got a couple of two-out hits and that certainly helps you win games. I wasn't happy with our infield defense, but I was excited to see what Joey Side did in centerfield. He made some great plays out there.

You have to credit Ole Miss, they got the big hits and the big home runs with men on base. We need to improve on our timing and make better choices in the bullpen. You can look at a lot of things in this game but overall we need to do a better job of doing things at the right time whether it's picking up a key hit, making a big out.

This was another great comeback win, and I'm proud of the team has fought back two days in a row. We didn't play too well in the middle of the game but everybody hung in there until the end. Joey (Side) got the big hit to get us started in the ninth, Matt (Olson) kept it going and then our seniors came through too.

This was a classic, two great pitchers going at it, and Brooks (Brown) was a little sharper tonight. We put more pressure on (Josh) Butler early and finally got a run in the sixth, but he made some good pitches when we had runners in scoring position. Both guys had three pitches working tonight. After we got the lead, Brooks gave us one more inning which was huge and then we could turn it over to Joshua (Fields). It really shortens the game when you know you have a guy like Joshua who can come in and close it out for you.

This was a big weekend for us. We got a lot of big contributions, a nice effort by the entire team to win this series.

We just told them they're too good a team to be home in June. We were getting beat by teams we don't feel are better than us. We bounced back tonight.

We felt like we were one sweep away from getting back in the race, and we were able to accomplish that this weekend. We pitched a lot of freshmen today and it was good to see them come away with a victory.

Brooks got ahead of most of the hitters today, and he's got too many weapons to put you away when he does that. He had his command, he got out of some early trouble, we gave him a little bit of offense and that's what we needed. We showed a lot of character with the quick turnaround after a tough 11-inning loss. We were ready to go and that's a good sign.

The most we gained from it is seeing Kennedy. Not the physical part, but the myth part. It was a challenge for us. It's rare to go out and win a game like that, especially the first game. They came back and took the next two games from us.

This is good timing for us as we head in to SEC play next weekend. We've solidified our lineup and our pitching plans, and it looks like we've found another starter in Trevor. We're still going to look at Stephen (Dodson) and Nathan (Moreau) this week too but Trevor was real good today.

It's a great experience, there's no doubt. I think the tricky part is you've got to leave it here. We've got to get back to what we do and hopefully play better and cleaner baseball this weekend.

It was nice to see us swing the bats well and are freshmen pitches are coming along. We're going to need them to help us on the weekend, and they made some progress tonight. Offensively, our veterans did a good job.

They've struggled and it's put a lot of heat on our bullpen. We need to get some guys healthy, right this ship.

The last couple of weekends, we haven't executed well. It's amazing. It's in our seniors. I don't mind calling them out because I think they'll be there in the end. If we're going to make a run, we need those seniors.

Hopefully, he'll keep playing that type of baseball.