Alabama vs. Texas Quotes
5/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 16, 2009
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| Notes and Quotes (PDF) | Tuscaloosa Regional Central
Alabama
Head coach Patrick Murphy
Opening statement: "I just want to say thanks to the fans for helping us and sticking with us through the rain delay. If the girls aren't convinced now these are the best fans in the country, then I don't know. Even during the rain delay they were cheering and clapping. It pumped me up and I know it pumps them up. I thought it was a very entertaining game. In a rain delay, you never know what it's going to do to the hitters and pitchers. Our kids came out and really made a statement right away and our hitters did a good job after the delays."
On Kelsi Dunne's performance: "Usually when she comes in after a tough inning she'll say `that's it, no more.' They only had a couple hits after that. She got out of it and pitched great the rest of the way I thought."
On batting around against a team like Texas: "I thought a couple people really came through. [Lauren] Parker came through Brittany [Rogers] got on base. [Kellie] Eubanks gets a hit, [Ashley] Holcombe gets the big home run, that's usually how we hit where everybody contributes. It's a lot of fun to watch and gives everybody confidence that up-and-down the lineup we can do damage. It should give everyone more confidence tomorrow and the rest of the year."
On the importance of staying in the winners' bracket: "I think that's huge. Anytime you stay in the winners' bracket it's a huge advantage. We'll know what time we're playing and the schedule stays the same. We're glad we only have to win one game.
No. 17 Lauren Parker, second base
On getting off to a good start: "I think the focus is to get the momentum on your side. It's important to do that early in the game of course. Brittany [Rogers] does a great job in that leadoff position to get on base. Today we had a different look because we were the visiting team. That was a new challenge and an exciting challenge. We wanted to step up as soon as we could and get on the board."
On the offense picking up after the delay: "I felt we kept our composure during the rain delay. It's difficult sometimes in a delay to stay focused but our team did a great job of staying focused. The coaching staff did a great job of getting us ready to go and we just took that challenge and made the best of it."
No. 18 Cassandra Reilly-Boccia, right field
On the difficulty of starting after a rain delay: "It's definitely hard because it's a different level of focus in order to stay focused for that long. You're really at the mercy of the weather and you have no control over what you're doing or what the next step is."
On the offense picking back up after the delay: "It was like starting a new game again. We had to warm up all over again and to start with the intensity you could really tell we were in control of the game."
Texas Quotes
Head Coach Connie Clark
Opening Statement: "It was a long day, so far. We talked about it afterwards, Alabama is a good squad and you have to take your opportunities when you have them, whether that is offensively or defensively. I don't think we took care of the ball very well in the first inning and that ended up affecting us. I thought we kept the game really close. We were in striking distance and we did some things really well. After a couple of rain delays and then getting back into the fifth and sixth inning we let it get away from us a little bit. We just talked about it--it's going to be a long road back but it's doable, it's challenging and if we can get through our next game and play Alabama tomorrow, we just need to make sure we don't give them extra opportunities."
On Alabama's defense: "You cannot give extra opportunities. They do a nice job and they have very good athletes and a good amount of experience under their belts. It takes some time to learn and when you go through that and see it, you realize that giving a team extra opportunities allows them to make things happen. You have to give credit to Alabama; they are a great squad and a tough team to beat on their turf. You have to play clean. They've got some good foot speed in the outfield and they can run balls down. They are a tough ball team and are well rounded. We have to tune up and make sure that we come out and play clean. If we do that then we will have a shot, if we don't, then we won't."
On Texas' offense over the last two games: "Yesterday was a little bit disappointing I thought. I think we were pressing a little bit. I thought we came out and answered back after the initial top of the first inning with Alabama putting up those runs. We got some good quality at-bats. That's all we talk about, is continuing to compete. I thought we did a much better job, we looked entirely different today in regards to working the process, being big and working pitch-to-pitch. We drew some walks that could have been significant to get the tying run to the plate. I feel like today and yesterday were significantly different, but unfortunately we put up only one run in both ball games."
No. 51 Alexis Bennett, shortstop
On coming up to the plate after the three hour rain delay: "I didn't really know what to think. I was sitting in the dugout with my helmet holding my bat the entire time, even after the second delay. I just really wanted to move the runners, on something and play the ball to the right side."
On what was going through her mind while during the delay: "I was just thinking what she (Kelsi Dunne) had been throwing. I knew she had been starting everyone off with a changeup. I just tried to remind myself to lay off the rise ball and get a pitch I could hit."
No. 16 Brittany Barnhill, pitcher
On the effect of the rain delay: "I think I came out of the rain delay with the same scenario that happened to me in high school a couple of times. I don't think the rain delay affected me at all. I came in knowing I had to throw strikes. These girls can hit, you can't just throw it down the middle. I went it at them with what I had and they made contact. My defense played well behind me and I think we were fighting and we are going to keep fighting."
