I told the kids that this is a four-lap race. If we would lose this game, I don't know if we'd have the energy and the gas to keep going. We have four games now to get where we're going.

Sometimes as a coach, you think it's better to lose a game and get bumped down a few pegs, but they didn't want to hear any of that. They stood by what they said. They stayed true to their word and, hopefully, they'll keep rolling along.

To be tested in a game-situation like this in front of 1,500 fans and their great student body, we hadn't seen anything like that. Sure, we needed it. Our players understood when you're under the gun, you have to find an extra gear and dig down and concentrate a little bit harder and we did that in the second half.

They are very athletic kids who make it pretty easy to coach. But I didn't have any big kids for over 15 years, so I was overdue.

If you'd told me we'd score four runs with Linza pitching, I'd have taken it. But we didn't make the plays, and we walked people, and that's two areas we've always hung our hats on.

Four turnovers. Two assists. I told him he'd have the game ball if he had taken care of the ball a little bit better.