Paul Mainieri Quotations

We have no reason whatsoever to take Cleveland State lightly. They've lost a lot of tough games this year, and this will probably be the biggest game of the year for them.

If we play our game - pitch as well as we can and play good defense - do the things that we do, then I think we can compete with South Florida and have some good results this weekend.

He's a little sore still. But we're hoping everything we'll come out okay after the tests.

He's been so reliable for us coming in, throwing strikes, changing speeds. And he's been like that all year for us.

He's been a great lead-off hitter for us, just like I envisioned he would be.

He wasn't laboring. It was an easy 99 pitches. He'll be fine for Sunday.

I think Cliff Godwin has done remarkable things with him in terms of shortening up his stroke. Even though he had great years the last couple years, sometimes his swing got a little bit long and there were certain kinds of pitchers that could get him out. I don't think there's any kind of pitchers that can get him out now.

I thought in the second inning we had some really big hits and that kind of set the tone for the game. It was great to see some guys come through with some clutch hitting. I think we showed that we're capable of being a good offensive team when everybody's clicking and swinging the bats the way that they can.

That was a tough decision, but I think I would have done the same thing.

We know they're going to be tough, especially at home. They're a Florida school and they've got good players and a good coach.

You'd much rather be recognized by the pollsters and the people in the community than not. The thing we have to guard against is living in the past.

You'd like to see more of a battle from your clean-up hitter in that situation.

What we've done so far has put us in position to have a very special season, but in order for us to finish the job, we have to get the job done over the next four weeks.

We don't need any incentive when we play Rutgers. They've been our big rival since we've been in the Big East. We both entered the conference in the same year, and we've been pretty consistently the top two teams in the league ever since.

Wright State out-pitched us. I told coach (Rob) Cooper that if his team pitches like that all season, his team will win a lot of games.

This shows we could be a good offensive team; I hope this carries over for the rest of the week. Scoring early is important for this team because we are not a home-run hitting team and we don't have an enormous amount of power in the lineup.

First of all, anytime you go on the road, it is tough in-conference. Second of all, Georgetown got our attention last year by beating us here. I think they're going to be tough games, and hopefully we'll play well in all our phases and get off to a good start.

I've coached too many games against Rutgers to know they were not going to quit on us.

This is obviously a huge series for us. You need to take care of business at home in our conference because the road games are just such tough games to win.

It sure is a lot more fun to win than lose. I'm sure the players are aware that we've won several games in a row and I'm all for thinking about it, but you can't rest on your laurels. Just because you won the last game doesn't mean you'll win the next one.

Stewart did a fantastic job on what was an offensive day. Thornton has been so dependable for us. He's allowed one poor start.

I kept telling people not to panic early in the season, because the more we play, the better we play. We always play our best baseball in April and May.

I'm hoping that it's going to be a great crowd just like we had this weekend. Obviously, playing on national TV is a great opportunity, and I think everybody's excited.

By some people's standards, they might see that as struggling, but I see it as just him settling down. A lesser person might give up after struggling early, but that's not Jeff. He just keeps battling.

He's got a good arm and a good curve ball. We've got a great challenge against him.