WCWS Quotes: Missouri vs. Hawaii
6/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 3, 2010
MISSOURI HEAD COACH Ehren Earleywine
Opening comment:
"Very disappointed in the game. Felt like our hitters had one of their worst showings of the season, unfortunately at a time like this. Nothing against Hawai'i, but I felt like their pitcher was somebody that we could put in play a lot more often, a lot harder. We got a lot of strikeouts and a lot of pop-ups, a lot of kids off balance. So from that perspective, it was a frustrating endeavor for us. If somebody would have told me before the game that Hawai'i was only going to score three runs, I would have said, `Sweet, we can win that game.' We didn't, and our hitters need to do a better job in the next outing. Kristin (Nottelmann) did a good job, had a tough inning there where we didn't make any plays behind her and still got five or six outs against the top of their lineup. So I was proud of her for hanging in there."
On if leading in the seventh inning makes the loss any tougher:
"I'll be honest with you, every loss makes me want to throw up. It doesn't matter; 14 to nothing or one to nothing."
On if the new outfield dimensions came into play today:
"You know, I was hoping that would hurt Hawai'i, but it didn't. It cost us because I felt like (Lindsey) Muller's ball to the warning track with runners on first and second might have jumped out of the park last year. So that's what I get for being happy about the fences."
On the status of sophomore Katy Koontz after Wednesday's injury:
"Katy Koontz was a kid on our team who wasn't dressing this weekend. She was shagging balls yesterday and got hit in the jaw, a line drive in center field. They did a CT Scan on her and there were no breaks, but she does have a concussion and she threw up quite a bit last night. She did not come to the park today, just stayed in air conditioning. So I think she is fine in terms of serious injuries, just waiting on the swelling and the concussion to go away before she is back to normal."
MISSOURI SOPHOMORE PITCHER KRISTEN NOTTELMANN
On the pressure of pitching against Hawai'i:
"It's not as much pressure as you would think. You still have to go out there and make pitches. Yeah, they have a lot of home runs but you can't let that get in your head. You just have to go out there and hit your spots and hit your corners. And today I feel like I did that pretty well. There are a few pitches I'd like back but there is nothing I can do about it now."
On what the pitch was that resulted in Traci Yoshikawa's two-run homer in the seventh:
"It was a low rise, away."
On if Hawa'i's two home runs were because of excellent hitting or if she would like to have the pitches back:
"It was a little bit of both. They put a good swing on the pitch. I know the last one I would have wanted back. I think I might have wanted to switch and go to the inside instead of away, but I felt that we could have gotten her out away because we had all day. So it's just tough whenever those kinds of things happen."
MISSOURI JUNIOR OUTFIELDER Rhea Taylor
On what was going through her head swinging at the pitch that produced her home run:
"I was just trying to get the bat on the ball, and trying to produce or get something to inspire my team. I'm not sure why I swung at the pitch, but I did."
On how to get ready for next game:
"We try to take every game like it's our last, and every game is a new game. So were going to go out on Saturday, come out fresh and hopefully our offense will be there."
