June 24, 2006

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North Carolina Head Coach Mike Fox
(opening statement): "This was a big win for us, a huge win. I don't want to take anything away from Oregon State. They are a great ball club, but we didn't play our best baseball tonight. Our relief pitching was outstanding and our bullpen really backed up our pitching. Chad (Flack) had some big hits for us and that doesn't surprise me at all. We were fortunate to win. Oregon State is a tough bunch and they really put the pressure on us. A few swings of the bat and our pitching is what kept us in the game."

(on Andrew Miller coming out of the game): "I have a lot of confidence in our bullpen. Andrew was out there for 70 minutes and I didn't feel too good about putting him back out there. He has a great future ahead of him and I didn't want to jeopardize that in any way."

(on the rain delay): "You never know how a rain delay is going to change the game. It gave us a chance to regroup and worked out to be an advantage for us. Strong base hits and producing runs were the key tonight. We've got a resilient bunch and the delay turned out to be an advantage for us."

(on Miller as a possible bull pen on Sunday): "We would have to talk about it if we got to that point. I think the staff would strongly consider it but it would all depend. He would definitely want to since he's such a great competitor. This championship is about the kids but have to be careful with all of our players. Andrew is a talented player. More than likely, yes."

Starting pitcher Andrew Miller
(on Chad Flack's speed): "He's deceptionally fast. We were all waiting for him to run out of gas when he came around second base. That was a huge hit for us and a huge play at home."

(on not returning to the game tonight): "It was disappointing to not go back out. The coaches were thinking about my best interest; I appreciate that the coaches are taking care of me. I was more disappointed that I didn't pitch that well."

(on returning in the series): "Tomorrow night is definitely out. Monday is a possibility but we'll have to see what happens tomorrow and deal with that if the opportunity arises."

First baseman Chad Flack
(on the triple and scoring on the passed ball): "I hit it and then I saw the right fielder moving more towards left field. I got past second and didn't want to slide past third. The adrenalin was just running. When the pitch went past the catcher, I got a real bad start off third base. I knew that I had to slide and that's what did it. I got my hand on the outside corner of the plate."

(on whether the two homeruns getting them to Omaha or tonight was bigger): "Tonight, definitely tonight. This puts us in a good position, to come out and win a national championship."

(on their defense): "We've struggled but we've worked hard on it over the season. We have the talent and are finally putting things together."

Relief pitcher Andrew Carignan
(on coming into the game): "Coming in in the top of the ninth as a closer is what we all live for. As a relief pitcher, it's an ideal situation for me."

Oregon State Head Coach Pat Casey
(opening statement): "I think we're a little bit disappointed. We had opportunities to score and let those get away. We got a good start out of Dallas, played tremendous defense. We can't let opportunities get away with runners in scoring position. We're certainly capable of coming back. We'll play and play hard."

(about Chad Flack): "Obviously he did a good job hitting a mistake over the plate. He's a nice player. He did the things he needed to do to take care of business."

Oregon State Leftfielder Cole Gillespie
(about the home run): "After seeing him a couple of times, he was throwing all sliders. I think I saw one pitch that was a fastball. I did sit on a slider over the plate and got a good swing on it."

(about losing the first game): "We've had our backs against the wall since we got here. We're disappointed we had an opportunity and felt like we should have won the ballgame."

Oregon State Catcher Mitch Canham
(about the past ball that scored winning run in the 8th inning): "You saw it. It got past. They scored. They win."

Oregon State Starting Pitcher Dallas Buck
(about how he felt after the rain delay): "I felt the same way I felt as I started the game. I don't think it had any effect on how I pitched."

(about his performance): "I felt fine. I don't think I felt good all year. I felt the same tonight as I have all year. My job is to leave the game with the lead. Anytime I don't do that I'm disappointed."