Q&A with Shea Robin

After Vanderbilt's 7-3 win over Belmont last night, catcher Shea Robin caught up with the Sports VU to talk about the game and the performance of his fellow battery mate, Brett Jacobson.

Q: How important was tonight’s win?
A: It’s huge. I think just coming back to our home park may have gotten everybody a little more comfortable; it got the pitchers more comfortable. The biggest thing was just jumping out on top early. They got those runs, but Brett Jacobson kept us in the game when we weren’t hitting in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Steve (Liddle) had the big hit for us too. It was good to get back here, to be on top again, and we’ll see if we can get another winning streak going.

Q: How was Jacobson’s stuff working tonight?
A: It was the best I’ve seen him this year, to be honest with you. He worked both sides of the plate and threw three pitches for strikes, which I think was the biggest thing. Whenever you get around to that third, fourth time through the order, the hitters can’t just sit on one pitch. He had them guessing; I was really proud of him, and he threw very well.

Q: How important is it for him to get back on track?
A: Huge. Having an older guy like that; he’s one of only four guys that had SEC experience before this year, so giving him that confidence that he got tonight is going to be huge for us. Especially down the road, whenever we need another starter or even a guy to come in and finish the game, that’s huge, giving him that confidence. I’m very happy for him; he deserves it.

Q: Talk about how Drew Hayes pitched today.
A: Oh, I was very impressed with him too. Drew worked both sides of the plate, he was very consistent, hit his spots very well. His slider, he was throwing very hard. It’s very tough to see for the hitters. When you have a guy coming in closing the game out like that, not even letting any runners on base, that’s what you want in a guy that’s coming in late.

Q: Where do you see this team being at right now? What are you goals this week with five games at home?
A: Our goal is to win every game, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to take every game one at a time. Tonight, we weren’t looking to MTSU tomorrow; we’re taking it one game at a time. I think that’s where you start being successful as a team, when you start playing yourselves instead of playing the team on the other side of the field. Whenever we do that, we’re pretty dangerous.