June 25, 2009

LSU head coach Paul Mainieri:
(opening statement): "I've dreamt my whole life of having this moment. It's almost surreal."

(thoughts at the moment of championship): "My first thoughts are with this wonderful university and with this state and its tenacious people. This championship is for them."

(about the team): "We've had a wonderful group of kids. They've done everything you've asked them to do. They did everything they needed to do to be called champions."

(his dad's championship): "As we were getting the outs in the ninth, my thoughts were with my family. My dad won this championship 45 years ago at the Junior College World Series. The Mainieri family has gone 45 years without a championship."

LSU first baseman Sean Ochinko
(about Mitchell's three-run home run in the first inning): "[Mitchell's] home run in the first got the wheels going for us. We were talking about jumping out early and that got us going."

LSU starting pitcher Anthony Ranaudo
(about Mitchell's three-run home run in the first inning): "As the starting pitcher, the three-run home run in the first gives you a lot of room to go and compete and throw strikes. I didn't have my best stuff today. That has been the story of the season for us, when the pitchers didn't have their best stuff, the hitters picked them up and when the hitting wasn't going the pitchers picked them up."

LSU second baseman DJ LeMahieu
(about the game overall): "Everyone contributed to this game. [Mitchell] had the three-run home run, [Ochinko] had a two-run single, [Ranaudo] competed as hard as he could and [Jones] came in and did a great job."

LSU outfielder Jared Mitchell
(about if there was a better way to finish his career): "If there is a better way, write the story for me. It's been so much fun ... to accomplish something like this with these players."

Texas head coach Augie Garrido
(opening statement): "I would like to thank the CWS committee, the people of Omaha and the NCAA. This is a fabulous event. They've created a national tournament that is so meaningful to all that participate."

(about the game): "We all saw it together. LSU is a very talented college baseball team. I don't think we lost the tournament. They won it. It was a well deserved championship for LSU."

(about whether he felt as if there was meat left on the bone in the early innings): "Only if you're talking about the six runners that didn't score. That could have changed the momentum. I'm not willing to pick our team apart. They (LSU) beat us. They did what they needed to do to win the game."

Texas left fielder Preston Clark
(about the magical run of the team during the last month): " It's been amazing. Every one of these guys has pulled for each other. This is the best team we've ever been a part of. They punched us in the month, and we couldn't get a rally going. It is a tough loss. I love these guys; it was a great run for us."

Texas second baseman Travis Tucker
(about Keyes' home run to tie the game): " We were excited to tie the game up. We came back and we just thought we'd keep rolling."

(about the five-run sixth inning): "They answered back; it was devastating. They got the momentum back, they're a great ballclub."