Game Seven Quotes: Mizzou 8, DePaul 0 (6 inn.)
5/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 22, 2011
Mizzou Head Coach Ehren Earleywine
On the play at the end of the game against DePaul...
“I'm just like all the players and the fans, I'm really happy that we were able to win the Regional Tournament. There was a moment of doubt yesterday but we did what we had to do to come back and win.”
On adjustments from yesterday's games...
“One of the things I mentioned last night was that I'm really proud of this team for that way that they seem to come back on Sunday and make some adjustments. They did that today, we were able to get on top of some rise balls and some drop ball pitches starting in game one. We did a great job of ddoing hte things that we did not do on Saturday. It's a game of adjustments and we were able to make some.”
On Rhea Taylor's performance after game three...
“For most of the year Rhea really didn't have her swing. She was slapping and bunting, but the swing away was obsolete. In the last few days she has gotten it back. We have worked at it, but no matter what we did in the cages it hasn't seemed to work. Something clicked this weekend and that's sometimes the way hitting is. Sometimes you just can't explain it and it's just that she feels comfortable. The drop ball she hit in the first game was as hard as you will ever see hit, it was a laser. And then in the second game the home run was more typical of some of the home runs she had last year. That's good, going into sSuper Regionals knowing that she has another dimension to her game.”
On Chelsea Thomas' pitching...
“The amazing thing is that Chelsea was 62-65 mph. That's very atypical of her, she is mostly upper 60s or low 70s. She did not have good velocity today and I don't thing she had good velocity yesterday to be honest. But, the drop ball got a lot of ground balls and the change-up was effective. We still have to get the rise ball a little more crisp but it's amazing that she's able to not pitcher her best and still get a no hitter. It's nice to know that she doesn't have her best stuff and throws a no hitter on day two against a pretty pesky team. We're lucky to have Chelsea Thomas.”
On his encouraging words after game 3...
“Every morsel of your being wants to knock people's heads off, or at least mine, because you are frustrated from the loss. You want to call people out, but I knew that wasn't going to do any good. I know that all they needed was some encouragement and some reminders of who they are. I am trying to be more of a coach that way, and it's very difficult for me on many levels, but it is my goal to become more of an encourager and less of a criticizer and a crtiquer.”
Mizzou Player Quotes
CF Rhea Taylor
On her performance today...
“I didn't want it to be the last time I played. I said to myself, you just need to stop thinking and do what you do. That's what got into me today. My teammates are great, they were behind me and we are all behind eachother. I think that's what it was and it was the most important thing that we had to do coming into these games.”
On rebounding from the play in the 11th inning of game three...
“Anytime something happens in a bad way I get fired up. I definintely came out wiht some conviction today.”
On adjustments made by the offense...
“They have a rise ball pitcher and they kept popping up yesterday, we had to make those adjustments to get on the top half of the ball. That's what we did today, you saw more line drives and ground balls.”
On Coach Ehren Earlywine's reaction to their loss in game three...
“In this game anything can happen and it can go both ways. He had nothing but encouraging words yesterday after that game. That is what we needed.”
P Chelsea Thomas
On getting through the Regional...
“It's accomplishment. I think this was almost the path that was meant to be because we lost that long game and we had to re-focus and re-gorup as a team and come back for two tough games today. I think it was a test for us and we passed it pretty darn well, that's for sure.”
On throwing a no hitter...
“It was the second game and I was just telling myself, 'fill up the zone, try to get ground balls' and pitch-by-pitch I was just trying to get ground balls.”
On adjustments made by DePaul...
“Yesterday I noticed the DePaul coach on third base getting mad at them if they didn't swing at the first pitch because I usually throw strikes on the first pitch. They were taking their hacks and I was trying to miss low so they would ground out. That worked today pretty well. ”
On how her arm feels after throwing two games...
“I knew I could throw as long as I needed to. I was mentally prepared to go two games because I knew we would win the first one. I'm feeling good and I will be ready to go against Washington.”
Depaul Head Coach Eugene Lenti
Opening Statement...
“Well the formula for winning that we had yesterday just wasn't there today, obviously. We always preach to them that it starts with the pitching and with a strong defense, then sometimely hitting. Obviously that didn't happen because Missouri was ready to go. Chelsea was clicking on more than four, probably six or eight cylinders today. She got tougher as it went on; it is an amazing thing what she did in the last game, throwing a no-hitter. Obviously she proved why she is one of the top 10 finalists for the player of the year award.”
On Missouri's adjustments for this game...
“I don't really think it is about them making adjustments as it was that we weren't as fine. There were a couple pitches that got hit which weren't meant to be strikes. We were deliberately trying to thrwo the ball one or two balls off the plate and they were hitting them into the gaps for doubles. For example, the homerun that Rhea hit at the end was a rise ball inside. It wasn't even in the strike zone. You can't blame your pitcher for throwing a ball that gets hit out of the ballpark. It is a ball that most people don't even get fair, but she hit it out of the ballpark.”
On today's pitching staff...
“We were going to go with Verdun to start because they hadn't seen her and she is a lefty, lefties are tougher on lefties. When we lose games this year it is because of home runs. Once again, I thought our defense was stellar in both games. We threw another runner out at the plate, Sam Dodd made some plays in the outfield. We know what our strengths and our weaknesses are and our strengths are in our defense and our pitching when they can execute. Today the execution wasn't there. Missouri is too good of a hitting team to make too many mistakes around the plate against them. That really was the difference for us today, it was really in the pitching”
On Missouri as a team...
“They're good. I have seen everybody play, which is the beauty of TVs and DVRs. When you have a pitcher like Chelsea Thomas you are in every game. Then you have excellent hitters, you have some really special players out there. They are a veteran team and they are well coached. There really are no weaknesses in that squad.”
