NCAA Tuscaloosa Super Regional Press Conference Quotes
5/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - No. 2 national seed Alabama and Stanford each met with the media Wednesday during the NCAA Tuscaloosa Softball Super Regional practice day. The best-of-three Super Regional, which will air on ESPN, starts Thursday at 7 p.m. and will continue Friday at 3:30 p.m.
ALABAMA
Head Coach Patrick Murphy
Opening statement:
"We are just so pleased and honored to have Stanford here. It's a tremendous institution with a history of incredible athletics. There's a small thing in common with me and Stanford. Bob Bowlsby, their athletic director, worked at Northern Iowa where I graduated, which is really cool. It's a rarity when a Pac-10 team does come to Tuscaloosa. It's hard to get them here in the regular season, so we have to really cherish the time when they do come for the postseason because it's even bigger stakes on the line. We can't wait to start playing."
On what to expect from Stanford:
"Well I think their leadoff (Sarah Hassman) is very good. She's a slapper, hitting .500 and just a great softball player and a great kid too. The three spot (Jenna Rich) was one of the most highly recruited kids in the country.. They have good athletes from all over the country. They are one of the few on the west coast that does recruit everywhere, probably because of their academic standards. It's kind of neat to play them because it's kind of like our roster, kids from all over the place."
On Stanford being a typical Pac-10 team:
"Last year we didn't play any Pac-10 teams. This year we played Oregon. They don't steal a lot. I think they maybe have 90, above average I'd say. They are more of a speed team. Pac-10 pitchers are probably the best in the country, so normally the offensive numbers are skewed because the pitchers are so good.
#00 Kelsi Dunne, RHP
On Pac-10 teams:
"Obviously we are used to facing SEC teams a lot and east coast teams. Once you get to the postseason, everybody's good. That's really the only time we've played against Pac-10 teams. Obviously Stanford has a great team. They've come this far. Just as every other team we play, we are going to respect them and play our game and let the outcome take care of itself."
On Jackie Traina's performance:
"Jackie's a great pitcher. Being a freshman and coming in and playing the role she's played this year, she's just been working so hard. I know that my role as a senior pitcher is to help her along in her mental game because pitching at this level is very mental. She and I have had some talks, and she's just very competitive. When she's put out in that circle, she's going to give it her best and that's what she's been doing. She's been working really hard lately to improve on some small mistakes that all pitchers make. She's definitely been playing a big role."
#7 Jennifer Fenton, OF
On Pac-10 teams:
"We don't really face them (Pac-10 teams) very often. When we do, we will play our game. They obviously come from a great conference, but we are excited to play them."
On the team's offense:
"We've always said that offensively, we want to peak at the right time. I think we are beginning to peak at the right time, and if it takes small ball to do it, we'll do it. We just want to put runs across the board to help our pitchers out."
STANFORD
Head Coach John Rittman
Opening statement:
"First and foremost, we would like to thank Alabama for being the great host that they are. This is not our first time here for a Super Regional. We were here in 2006. The University and Coach Murphy do an outstanding job, as well as the rest of the staff. We are pretty excited to be here obviously. It is a great atmosphere here for fast-pitch softball. From Stanford's standpoint, to come down to an area that has recently had a tragedy in the tornadoes is pretty eye opening for our kids and the people in our travel party. You know it kind of puts everything into perspective. It's made us kind of sit back and enjoy our camaraderie, and teammates, family, and friends. We are still really focused on the Super Regional and the work that is ahead of us here."
On the team's journey through the season:
"It is a relatively young team. We only have two seniors, our No. 2 pitcher Ashley Chinn and our first baseman Melissa Koutz. They provide a lot of leadership for us obviously, but it has been our younger players that have been encouraging for this team. When we have had players that have struggled or gone through a little slump, we have the versatility where somebody can come in off the bench and produce. That has been a key for us all year long. We have played a tough non-conference schedule. We have played two SEC teams, Tennessee and Kentucky. We tried to play in as many tough tournaments and games as we could to prepare us for the Pac-10 season, which is a grind. If you look at the teams in our conference and the teams that we compete against every weekend, it is a grind. You have to be mentally, physically, and emotionally tough to handle that grind. There will be a lot of ups and downs. There will be some slumps and some failures, and then there will be some successes. You try to stay as even keeled as possible and keep your team on that even keel as well."
On returning to Alabama:
"We were here in '03 for the old regional format. It didn't end too well there. Our main pitcher got hurt in regional play. We fought through a couple of games, then we ran into two pretty tough pitchers from Southern Illinois and Georgia Tech back-to-back. We went home with our tail between our legs. Then in '06 we came back to face a talented Alabama team. It was a great series actually; the second game was a nip-tuck game and went extra innings. We are hoping that the third time is the charm."
#15 Teagan Gerhart, RHP
On the tornado damage:
"A couple of us went out today after breakfast to walk around and see what was going on. Just being out there and talking to some people fixing up their house was an amazing experience. It was so sad what happened here, and how positive they are, and how they are just taking it all in and starting from the ground up. Their positivity is amazing."
On the game atmosphere:
"It is just another game, with a new atmosphere. It is going to be amazing. We know that they bring in a lot of fans, and it will be extremely noisy. We will just play within ourselves, and we will be perfectly fine."
#3 Ashley Hansen, SS
On the tornado damage:
"As coach said, it puts things into perspective. It is sad that a tragedy like this has to happen to put things into perspective. I think it really opened the eyes of a lot of our players. I hope that we can bring some positive spirit and be able to take peoples' minds off of this tragedy and focus it on some softball and give Alabama a good show because this town deserves it."
On the regional last weekend:
"We got to play on our home field. Regionals were great. Our team really came together; it was a true team effort. Everyone produced; everybody executed what needed to be executed. That is what it is all about in the post season. We really started to click. We had been clicking all season, but this is the time when teams can take off and I feel that we have very good positive energy after our regional and after our performance."
