Quoting Clemson Head Coach Jack Leggett

Opening statement...

"First of all, I want to give credit to Auburn. They were probably the toughest team we have faced all year, offensively for sure. John Pawlowski has done a great job with this team, and they gave us all we could handle. The people of Auburn ran a great tournament as well. Auburn had great fan support and made this a wonderful atmosphere. I'm very proud of our team. We battled like heck tonight. We bounced back after a very tough loss last night and rebounded well tonight. We had to throw a couple freshman out there early, and they battled for us. Alex Frederick did a great job for us coming out of the bullpen. Kevin Brady did a great job of shutting the door in the last three innings. We got some big hits and played very well defensively again. Kyle Parker's home run at the beginning and the other guys getting hits with men on base allowed us to get a big lead early."

On advancing to Super Regionals...

"I'm extremely excited. I told our assistants we were going to win today and Alabama was going to beat Georgia Tech, and we were going to end up hosting the Super Regional. There are a lot of ups and down with this job. Yesterday was about as low as you can be with that tough loss. Today, we bounced back, and we're right back where we need to be."

On getting out to a six-run lead...

"Every run was important today. I knew every single run was going to come back to help us or haunt us before it was over. We needed that cushion because Auburn is a very dangerous team. When we had a four run lead, we bunted and got us a six run lead because we knew every run was going to matter."

On turning double plays...

"We made some big double plays. The two that Richie Shaffer started were huge plays. Both came at huge times for us and maybe broke the back of Auburn. Last night, it seemed everything went in their direction, but tonight we got the breaks and made some big plays."

On relief pitching...

"It was huge for us. Our early guys weren't pitching all that poorly, Auburn was just hitting the ball. I think Alex Frederick was the key to the game. When he came in, Auburn was starting to get close to us, but he cooled them down in the middle innings. When Frederick ran out of gas, Kevin Brady was able to come in for us and wanted the ball. I can't think of a better guy to have on the mound to get that last out than Kevin Brady."

Quoting Clemson Outfielder Kyle Parker

Opening statement...

“I thought we came out and played well. Coming in, we expected it to be a slug fest. Who ever scored the most runs was going to win. We came in thinking we were going to have to put up runs. From the start, it was a battle. Auburn came out and played hard. At the end, Kevin Brady really stepped up and pitched well.”

On getting drafted…

“I feel blessed. Coming into this game, I was a little nervous thinking about what was going to happen with the draft. I felt selfish even thinking about it, because I really just wanted to come out and play for the team and give these guys Auburn Regional what they expect from me. I wanted to come in and play as hard as I could. When I heard the news, I was relieved and

excited at the same time. The biggest thing was I did not want to take anything away from my team, and we came out and got a big win. Hopefully, we can continue to bring our A game out to the park every day.”

On controversial fly ball call…

“There is not a lot of room out there. So any ball down there will look a little deceiving. I felt like I was clearly in foul territory because I was stopping because I thought I was going to hit the wall. ”

Quoting Clemson Outfielder Wilson Boyd

Opening statement...

“This is a big win for us tonight. I think from top to bottom there was a total team effort. We had a number of pitchers in the game, and they all did well. Kyle Parker’s home run at the beginning of the game was huge for us to jump out to the early lead. We kept extending our lead, and that made it tough on Auburn. They are one of the tougher teams I have faced in my career. I am really proud of these guys, and once again we came through and the effort from top to bottom was great. ”

On this season…

“We hit a rough spot in the middle of the year. This team has the ability to step up when it counted. We have really come together at this point in the season, and we are all on the same page. As long as we keep coming together, play hard and play for each other. I think things will take care of themselves. We will prepare this week and look forward to a Super Regional with Alabama.”

On how the team and Kyle Parker handled the distraction leading up to the draft…

“Kyle handled this better than I could have expected. He never talked about it. He hasn’t even mentioned football. He has come out here every day and has been a team guy. It has not been a distraction for us. Kyle has handled it the best possible way for this team.”

Quoting Auburn Head Coach John Pawlowski

Opening statement...

"We just never got off to a good start. Against good teams, it's tough to come back. I want to thank our players. They worked so hard this year to come this far. I look at the beginning of the season and where we were. I'm just really proud of this team. I'm proud of these kids. It was very evident in today's game. These guys were never going to give up. They kept battling and battling. Clemson came up wth some big hits and made some big pitches when they needed to.

Obviously, it's frustrating. No doubt about it for our players. Any time your season ends, it's always a disappointment. There's probably going to be just one team happy with their season. That's the team that won the National Championship. For our seniors, for the guys that have been around, I can't thank them enough for the things they have done for our program. I want to thank the fans also. When we started this, and how far we've come to be able to host a Regional, this many people coming out to support the Auburn Tigers is really remarkable. I want to thank the people who worked hard behind the scenes. The people behind the scenes did a great job, and I want to thank them. I know our players can't say enough about having the opportunity to play in and host a Regional."

On Auburn being unable to capitalize on hits...

“We had a lot of base hits and a lot of base runners. We hit into a lot of double plays unconventionally. We had some opportunities. Clemson did a great job. They made some great pitches. They played solid defense, and I thought that was the difference. Some of those double plays took the wind out of our sails. We had a little momentum going, but we never could get over the top.”

On the seventh inning questionable call, fair or foul...

“Those guys do a great job. I just went out there to have a conversation with them. It was no big deal. Everyone is so competitive. The umpires were doing a great job, but the coaches are just competitive. (The umpires) really did not have much of a bearing on the ballgame today.”

On the Auburn senior class...

“These guys, like Ryan Jenkins, (Austin) Hubbard and Michael Hurst, have layed a foundation that I’m very proud of. They’ve been here for a while. They’ve struggled at times. For them to accomplish what they did this year is certainly a testament to their hard work, their work ethic, their passion for Auburn and to have an opportunity to play in this type of Regional with the fan support that we had, it was remarkable. I’m so proud of those guys.”

On the impact of postseason play for the returning players...

“Our number one goal was to get into the SEC Tournament, and we did that. For the guys that are coming back next year, they know what it’s like to play in the SEC Tournament. To be able to play in the NCAA Regionals, they’ve played in front of large crowds. We’ve had the opportunity to host the Regional here. It’s very important to have that experience. The guys that are coming back are going to be the leaders of the club. I think that’s very important. We had a great club, and I think a lot of these guys are going to have the opportunity to play professionally, rightfully so. They did a lot of great things for this program.”

On whether this series against Clemson was frustrating...

“I don’t know if it was just frustrating against Clemson. It’s always frustrating when you lose. It’s the competitive nature. You have two programs going at it, toe-to-toe. Everybody is competitive. I don’t think it was anything other than the frustration of the game, and what was happening. Coach (Scott) Foxhall has done a great job. He’s competitive like we all are.”

Quoting Auburn Catcher Ryan Jenkins

Opening statement...

"I couldn't have been prouder of the way we played the whole time. Everybody did everything they could. The pitchers came out and threw the ball as well as they could. We just weren't able to come up with the big hits we needed."

On where he thinks Auburn baseball is now...

"I couldn't be prouder. We are in better shape than we were when I got here. To get to the SEC Tournament, host a Regional and win the SEC West is amazing. I think it's a great opportunity for the younger guys. It gives them experience so next time this won't be new to them like it was to us. It's good for them to play in front of crowds like this when they are freshmen and sophomores than when they are seniors."

Quoting Auburn Infielder Casey McElroy

Opening statement...

"From the beginning, we knew that we were going to have to battle. Nothing has come easy this season. We knew that we would have to give it everything we've got, and we did. Clemson just got the big hits and the big pitches they needed to put them in the right spot to win. I'm just so proud of this team. Everything we've been through, all the hard work and all that we've accomplished. It means a lot to have the fans believing in Auburn baseball again."

On hitting into double plays with runners on base...

"Those were big plays. The pitchers made great pitches. They made plays when it counted. It hurt us but, I never thought we were out of the game."

On what this experience means for Auburn baseball next year...

“This year gave us all a lot of hope. We know what’s expected of us, and what it takes to get to where we want to be. We know that everybody will have to come together and step up. Like Coach said, going to the SEC Tournament, we left with a taste in our mouth, and everybody knows that it tastes like.” 

On Auburn’s seventh inning hot start...

“I thought that was our inning to really come back and, at least, tie it up or come within a run or two. Creede (Simpson) stepped up and hit a great double. We had a couple bad breaks that didn’t go our way, but that’s baseball.”

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