Alabama vs. Texas Quotes
5/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 17, 2009
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Alabama
Head coach Patrick Murphy
Opening statement: "It was a very entertaining game. I think that's the first time in my career here that the fans wanted the game to go seven innings. The coaching staff certainly didn't, but you could tell they wanted us to go out and keep playing defense. What a great game by the defense. Charlotte [Morgan] got ground balls and the defense took care of the rest. That was very impressive."
On his defensive play: "We play situations all the time in practice and try to hit every possible ball to see if they can make the play. The double plays that Montalvo turned are routine for her in practice." On the atmosphere the defense generated: "We're more known for our offense, but today it seemed like it was the opposite. A lot of people were wanting to see more defense. Charlotte [Morgan] had two walks and no strikeouts so that's a lot of balls in play and you have to be ready at all times."
On the first inning setting the tone: "Texas' pitcher was only her eighth decision so I thought if we could put something together early, we could put them away."
On heading into the Super Regionals: "The conference tournament is step one, this [Regionals] is step two, and Super Regionals is step three. We preached from the beginning that we wanted to peak at the right time and I think it's playing out that we are. We have different people coming through and hopefully we can keep moving up."
Charlotte Morgan
On the defense taking away Texas' baserunners: "It's great. Today may not have been my best performance but I have full confidence in my defense and as a pitcher, knowing that makes our job much easier. I never got stressed when a batter got on, I knew my defense was going to be behind me 100 percent."
On her home run: "One thing I love about being a pitcher and hitter is being able to come back and help the team on offense. Being able to get the hit at that point in the game was awesome. Our goal is always to score in the first inning and every inning. There was a runner in scoring position and that's all I was thinking. It feels great to be able to contribute to my team offensively."
Kelley Montalvo
On setting the NCAA record for double plays in a game: "I had no clue whatsoever. We didn't even hear it being announced. It just makes us want to go back out and make it harder for it to be broken."
On if she knew something special was happening during the game: "To tell you the truth, at the fourth one, I started thinking, `this has got to mean something.' It was special after that I thought."
On preparing for Super Regionals: "Going into Super Regionals, I think it's a lot easier to focus on. We only have to worry about one team and concentrating on that team. In Regionals you have to see who you're going to play, who's going to eliminate who, but right now we know this week will be all about that team. I think it's a lot easier for us."
Texas
Head Coach Connie Clark
Opening Statement: "When you think about ending your season you go into the mode of the progress that you've made, and I think we've made some progress from last year to this year. I am really proud of the team. This is a tough regional to play in. I am proud of the way we battled, proud that we got ourselves into the championship game and had an opportunity against the top-seeded Alabama. You have to tip your cap. They are a tough team. They are very good defensively, very good in the circle and they are tremendous hitters. They are a very good ball club and we wish them well."
On Alabama's five defensive double plays: "It's significant. We started Erin Tresselt because we knew Brittany Barnhill started the first game and it was more about keeping their hitters off balance because they had seen Brittany the day before. We felt like we were going to use probably two or three pitchers today. We kept it close early. I know we gave up a homerun early, but we kept it within three runs. We got hits and got people on base, but to ground into double plays like that really takes the air out of you."
On Alabama's lineup: "Alabama is exceptional with two strikes. With two strikes, they were fouling pitches off that were over their head and out of the zone. When you have a team like that that battles well and competes well with two strikes, they are tough outs. We see a lot of good offenses in the Big-12, but Alabama is one of the best we have seen this year."
No. 10 Amy Hooks, catcher
On being part of an offense that hit into five double plays: "Offensively, we hit the ball hard today and we kept hitting it hard and if we are hitting the ball hard at people then they aren't getting those double plays. We don't get down on that. We just kept hitting the ball hard and tried to get it through the infield. We kept thinking that it would fall and get through but today they played some good defense and got some double plays out of us hitting the ball hard."
No. 16 Brittany Barnhill, pitcher
On Alabama's lineup: "They're tough, but coming from the Big-12 we have faced Texas A&M and Oklahoma and they are tough. There is not much you can throw at them. They are very disciplined at the plate and especially when you have an umpire that's a little tight, it's kind of hard to work the corners. You have to keep it close and just hope that you get ground balls or pop ups out of them. They are tough and do very well with their hitting."
