Blair pitched a great game. It's tough going against him twice early in the season because of the way the scheduling was set up this year.

It is almost like it was the first game of the season. It is tough when you comeback and start playing an important division game, but you do what you have to do.

Andy pitched a good game. We put Jeff Ickes in a tough spot there. He's a sophomore who never pitched on varsity before. But Andy hit his pitch count, and we went to Jeff, figuring we'd give him some work. I think he was a little nervous out there, but he'll be OK.

It was a tough pill to swallow. AIC was a team we had handled twice during the season (by 34 and 26 points), and for them to take that game from us on our home floor was tough.

We held on in a tough game. We've been in this type of game before this season, and we held on. We got this first game out of the way and now we get to play again.

I tried a little too hard early. I pitched like it was a playoff game. We needed to win. The guys came through. I knew if I could keep it close, we would have a chance.