Postgame Quotes
May 25, 2007 | Softball
May 25, 2007
Washington vs. Alabama
Game 1 - Super Regionals
May 25, 2007
Alabama Quotes
Alabama Head Coach Patrick Murphy:
Opening statement:
Great game, great college atmosphere. This is how it should be at Super-Regionals, a packed house. I don't care where you're playing or who you're playing, this is the way it should be. I congratulate the fans and the University of Washington today.
On what needs to change:
I just think we need to take advantage of the opportunities. The bases were loaded with no outs and we only scored one run. [With runners on] second and third we didn't get any runs in. Those two situations were the story of the game.
On Lawrie's pitching:
I've seen her a lot. I helped her when she was on the Canadian National Team. She was just a little pup then. It seems like she didn't throw as many rise balls as she did when I was there in Canada.
We need to swing at better pitches. Just need to put the ball in play and get runners on base. That's been a key of ours all year long. That first run was a ground ball to second base and we beat the throw. Our speed game helps in that respect.
[Lawrie] got into a groove. In the first three innings, she wasn't into that groove. But when she got out of the inning with the bases loaded, that gave her some confidence.
On motivation for tomorrow's game:
Just like last week, it's the same situation. It's motivating itself. If you lose you're done, if you win you keep going.
Ashley Holcombe:
On losing game one:
I think tomorrow we'll come out and hit her hard, and I just think we have to get used to her. I think we were hitting her hard when we did hit her, we just didn't have the right hits at the right time.
On Lawrie as a challenge:
I think we just need to hit strikes tomorrow and come out aggressive and not let the strikes go by. I think we're just hitting a lot of balls and not hitting the strikes hard. I think we've seen basically everything she's got.
On the atmosphere:
I think it's nice to be at home and have your fans. We have a great fan support at home and it's different when you have the fan support against you. It's different than what we're used to, but I think tomorrow its not going to affect us.
Tomorrow we only have to win two, instead of coming back to play four (like at last week's regional). I know we're capable of doing it. Just like last week, we had our backs up against the wall and the next day we came out swinging and scored I don't know how many runs, but we're capable of doing it.
Blair Potter:
On Greer's home run:
[I threw] a drop curve. It stayed up and didn't drop like it should've. I didn't throw my best game today. But we do well with our backs against the wall. Like last weekend, we came back and won four straight games. I think we're capable of winning two tomorrow.
I missed a lot of pitches today. I just wasn't on my game.
Jordan Praytor:
On Danielle Lawrie:
I think she's a great pitcher. She had us off-balance for a couple of innings there, she had a couple of innings that were three up, three down, which is what we try not to do. I think tomorrow, because we have our backs against the wall, we're going to come out with some fire hopefully and show that this is not how we hit and this is not Alabama softball.
On letting hits get away:
I think that there were a lot of opportunities that we didn't take advantage of. I think we had the bases loaded twice and we just didn't capitalize on our chances. We didn't put the ball in play enough. Hopefully tomorrow when we're put in that situation, we will come through.
On Lawrie's increased strikeouts in the final innings:
I think she really got into a groove there. She had a lot of confidence. We were chasing a lot of balls and we were swinging at a lot of pitchers' pitches, but not what we needed to be swinging at. Hopefully for tomorrow we can learn from our mistakes.
On having to win two games tomorrow:
I think it's inspiring that we know that there's not a single player who can say that she played her best game today and it was a one-run ballgame. Hopefully tomorrow we can put it together offensively and defensively and pitching-wise and come out and play the way we know how to play.
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Washington vs. Alabama
Game 1 - Super Regionals
May 25, 2007
Washington Quotes
Washington Head Coach Heather Tarr:
Opening Statement:
What a great battle. It was exactly what we expected. Alabama is a great team. They came at us with all forces. We are very fortunate to get that last home run towards the end of the game, by Lauren Greer. Danielle pitched a great game and the game was exactly what we expected. It will be great one tomorrow.
Danielle Lawrie:
On her pitching today:
I haven't pitched here in a couple weeks. We've been in Arizona and Arizona State. It was nice to get my groove after a couple of innings, but Alabama battled hard throughout the game to get back in it. Coming back from a 3-0 deficit, you have to take your hats off to them for battling. The defense played great for me and Alicia called a great game.
I think I fell short with my mental toughness at the beginning of the game, instead of easing my way into it. I had to tell myself that this is it and I have to come out with all forces. This might be our only opportunity to go out there and go onto the World Series. So I think I have to work on my mental toughness and preparation before the game for tomorrow.
On the win today:
We battled back. They got some key outs and our defense got some key outs and that is only going to make us stronger. I just have to make sure when I go out there that I can't throw each girl the same pitch over and over. It puts a little pressure on me to hit my spots, but just keeping my balance and hitting my spots is going to be the key.
On hitting success in the post season:
I'm not doing anything special. I am just sticking to my game plan, being patience and looking for good pitches to hit and it just seems to be working for me right now.
On home run:
It was pretty deep into the count. It was 2-2 count. She was mixing it up pretty well and I was still being patience with the pitches. So when she threw the right one, an outside curve ball, I hit it and it worked out pretty well.
On Blair Potter's Pitching:
She's a good pitcher. She kept us off balance with her change up. She threw her change up kind of a lot. She hit her spots pretty well, but we were able to get some hits off her early and I think that was the key.
On how it feels to win game one and being up 1-0:
It's exciting. I have never been in this position. I have never won a first Super Regional Game before. It's really exciting and I'm pumped to be in this position. I'm ready to go win a game tomorrow.
On how last weekend's experience prepares UW for tomorrow:
Just like we were prepared with our battles of having to come back and win two games in a row, so too are they. They have great coaching and great leadership and I expect that they are going to be able to put the loss behind them and come back strong tomorrow.
On the advantage of home crowd:
I think the crowd gets it. They understand what they need to do. Just like Husky football. They stay into it and they have our back, no matter how bad we are or how good we are they continue to stay into it. They are definitely a factor once they get going.
On Lauren Greer's improved performance in the post season:
There comes a time in a young lady's career that they realize that they are only here for four years and they start to see the end and begin to mature. Lauren has done that. She is understanding what she is and who she is off the field and more importantly on the field, its reflecting what she's all about.
