Frank Anderson is entering his sixth season as the Cowboys' head coach.-Courtesy: okstate.com
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Oklahoma State head coach Frank Anderson and several members of the Cowboy baseball team met with the media Wednesday to discuss the 2009 season. OSU opens the season Feb. 20 against BYU in Stillwater.
OSU head coach Frank Anderson
On this season’s team
“If you can’t get excited this time of year, you’ve got some problems. We’re excited about our club. We’ve got some good players coming back and have a lot of young kids that look to be pretty good players. We just need to play. I don’t know that you ever feel comfortable coming out of your practices, but we need to go out there and play and be able to make some adjustments after we play those games.”
On OSU’s collection of newcomers
“We’re gonna hit some bumps in the road because of the newness of some guys and their newness to this level of baseball. We lost some good players, but we feel like we’ve got a program now that we can get good players and just reload the thing. We feel comfortable with the guys we have coming in. It’ll take awhile. But with this early stretch where we’ve got some really good games with really tough people, we wanted to put ourselves in some stressful situations, and I think we will.”
On OSU’s offense
“Top-to-bottom, I like our offense at this point about as well as we’ve had since I’ve been here. I’m not sure who’s gonna be Matt Hague or Tyler Mach or who’s gonna fit in the middle of the order and drive in all those runs, kind of be the one guy. But top-to-bottom, I think we spread the offense out a little more than what we have. We can run a little bit better. Time will tell, but I like our mix.”
Sophomore shortstop Tom Belza
On moving from second base to shortstop
“It’s going fairly smooth. I’ve played shortstop most of my life so it’s not too big of a transition for me.”
On building on his strong freshman season
“Going up and playing in Cape Cod over the summer against some of the best pitchers in the country definitely prepared me and helped me step my game up to another level. I’m really excited to start playing.”
Junior pitcher Tyler Lyons
On pitching being the Cowboys’ strength
“It definitely could be, but at the same time, we always somehow produce hitters and we always put up runs. We’re at the top of the Big 12 in hitting every year. From intrasquads and watching them hit in BP, they’re doing a really good job.”
On the team overall
“We’ve got a lot of pitching coming back, which has been kind of a problem in the past. We have that this year, and we’ve got some people that can do some things with the bat. Overall, we look really good.”
On playing in the Big 12 Conference
“It’s a grind week-in and week-out. Every time you go out there to pitch, every one can hit, and if you don’t bring your best stuff, you can get hit by anybody. You don’t have any easy games each weekend.”
On putting the end to last season behind them
“Everyone is really excited to get out there. We don’t want to think about last year at all and don’t want to say ‘What if?’ to last year. Hopefully, we can set ourselves up this year and get in that same position and make up for last year. And then we won’t think about last year at all.”
Junior outfielder Neil Medchill
On returning to OSU after being drafted by the New York Mets in June
“I’m glad to be back. Obviously, when you come to a big decision in your life, you’re not always sure which way to go. Hopefully, I made the right decision. I’m glad to be where I’m at. It (signing a professional contract) didn’t feel right at the time. I felt like I could be ready to go if the opportunity was right. But with the team that we had coming back and the weekend rotation that we have, I think we’ll be able to do some things. Not only that, I’ll get another year of school under my belt. And I love playing for the coaching staff here and going to work with the players everyday. I couldn’t be happier with my decision.”
On having Andrew Oliver and Tyler Lyons in the weekend pitching rotation
“You’re gonna feel pretty good. We’re still waiting and hoping for the best (with Oliver), but we have a great staff. It’s pretty nice stepping on the field every Friday, Saturday, even Sunday, knowing we’re gonna have a pretty good chance to win the ball game.”
On the Cowboys’ young players
“The best part is they’re all good guys, and they’re all competitors. They’re here for a reason. Mark Ginther being the quarterback he was is a big-time competitor and a great athlete. They’ll compete. The biggest difference between the fall and the season starting is really finding out who is gonna play. And I think those guys will be a big part of it.”
