Oregon Ducks Baseball Presser with Coach Horton

On The Previous Week in Hawaii

"It was a good series. Certainly they had expectations going in with an experienced group. I think to kick off the season, we will have that advantage because of all the returning athletes who have been through the wars and have been to Hawaii before. [Ryan] Healy was the man over there. J.J., they were calling him the rainbow killer because his three years over there were spectacular. I think they're a team that in some aspects that was a little more complete in some areas where they were deficient last year. I couldn't be more pleased with a lot of things that went on." -George Horton

On surprises from the Weekend

"The catching. I made it known that catching is going to be our area of development that we will be watching very closely. We went with Chase and Graham almost evenly and they were spectacular. They were challenged more significantly to have a good blocking performance on balls in the dirt. They managed the game, worked with the pitchers and worked with me which was a great plus for us to have." -George Horton

On going up against Cal State Fullerton and Loyola Marymount.

"Well we scheduled the game. I love to see my old college and players and I love to compare our team to theirs. Of course, you're selfish and you hope that you come out as the successful team but I'm not one to impose stress and losses on people that I love, but we do choose to schedule those kinds of teams." -George Horton

On Pitching

"We thought Cole Irvin, the freshman would be really good and he was. With the first hitter of the game he looked a little out of character and then for us to leave him in till that situation in the seventh when the stuff was hitting the fence so to speak, really really pleased with what has been done with the pitching staff." - George Horton

On The Outfield

"A bright spot for me was it was really really windy there. The trade winds, the coach said he had never seen anything like it for three straight days. The performance of our outfielders and making great plays and not misplaying any. You don't see those things in the score book but they played spectacular." -George Horton