NCAA Regional: Alabama vs. Lipscomb Postgame Quotes
5/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 22, 2010
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Alabama Quotes
Head Coach Patrick Murphy
On defeating Lipscomb to advance to the Regional championship game:
"Thanks to all the fans that came out. It was a great crowd and we appreciate the support. It was a very good game, a tough game. We took advantage of some opportunities and executed very well early in the game and came away with a couple of lucky runs in the first inning."
On playing small ball to win:
"I wanted the first run of the game and then when Braud got on, I was going to do whatever I had to do to get her over. It kind of went from there. We were playing for one run most of the game."
On playing in a tight game:
"We won and we only have to win one tomorrow. It's the postseason. A win is a win. It's like a 10-9 football game. It might be ugly but it's a win."
"I think it's huge. We haven't have very many 1-0 games. For the most part it's been a large margin. I think it's good for us going down the road to have this type of game. The SEC Tournament was that way where every pitch mattered. The execution was good."
Pitcher Kelsi Dunne
On playing a close game:
"All we worry about is getting the 'W' and we did that today. Our defense played great and we executed hitting and scored the runs we needed to score in order to win the game."
On Lipscomb's offense getting runners on base:
"They're a good team and they have great hitters. They made adjustments and I had to make adjustments too. I had to work with that."
Shortstop Whitney Larsen
On playing small ball to win the game:
"Not every game are we going to be able to hit home runs and have a flashy win but that's ok because a win is a win. As long as we execute we're still going to be able to win and by executing, it will produce runs for us. Everybody really did a nice job of doing what they were told to do and executing and putting the ball in play."
On only having to play a single game today:
"This is probably the hottest day of the year and it's very difficult. It's a gut-check. You're either in or you're out and if you're not able to handle this kind of heat you're not going to be able to handle Oklahoma City."
Lipscomb Quotes
Head Coach Kristin Ryman
Opening Statement:
"Overall I thought we came back and fought extremely hard. I'm proud of the way that we made it a better game than it looked like it was going to start out to be. I'm a little disappointed though. We felt like coming in that we had a legitimate shot. Yeah I think we still do coming out of the losers' bracket. Unfortunately we had some errors and just some mental mistakes right off the bat that really hurt us. Anytime you give the No. 1 team in the nation some gimmies right off the bat it definitely hurts you. I wish we would have had a little bit better start, but I'm definitely proud we fought back and continued to stay in the game and make it a better game."
On Alabama playing small ball:
"One thing we knew coming in and learned over the last few days is that Alabama is pretty patient in the box. One thing we wanted to do was come out and try to get ahead as often as we could. They came out and immediately got two runners on, and I think that immediately puts the pressure on. I'm not surprised that Kayla Braud played as much small ball as she did. She is exceptional at that. I'm a little surprised they don't bunt very often with runners on first and second to move them to second and third, especially with a player like Charlotte Morgan at the plate. They did some things that maybe were a little unorthodox for them but it worked and it helps them get runners in scoring position. It definitely kept the pressure on us."
Pitcher Whitney Kiihnl
On what was working well for her:
"The rise ball was working pretty well, and they didn't seem to be swinging at the changeup much. The drop ball was working a lot better today than it was yesterday because I was honestly nervous to throw it because one bad pitch and it's out. It worked alright today."
On Alabama playing small ball:
"I was a little surprised at how fast Alabama was. I've heard that SEC small ball was really fast. Kayla Braud put it in play and is really fast. I was a little shocked about that and how fast they were. They were really smart base runners as well, and you could just tell that you didn't want anyone on base."
Second baseman Abby Keese
On the pitching of Kelsi Dunne as the game went on:
"I don't think anything changed with her pitching. I think it was our mentality. Once we all got in the box and saw her one or two times, we thought we could hit her. I don't think her pitching changed at all because she still threw the changeup, the curve balls, the drop balls, the rise balls. It was just a matter of us seeing it and seeing what pitches to hit this time versus chasing the pitches she wanted us to."
