WCWS Quotes: Missouri 4, Oklahoma 1
6/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 4, 2011
MISSOURI HEAD COACH Ehren Earleywine
Opening comment:
“I was impressed with the girls; you know, playing hard and not folding up just because they lost the first game. I'm not going to lie, it's a very worried feeling when you're in the losers' bracket and you're playing Oklahoma. I mean those two things shouldn't coexist. They are such a good program. And then the fact that we had beat them twice in the regular season scares you even more just because of the law of averages. So, proud of our girls for just playing softball.”
On finally getting a win after five WCWS losses:
“I guess if you run the same play enough times, eventually you're going to figure it out. It's a good feeling, for sure. It's hard to explain how bound up I felt after the last game. So, it's just a good feeling to know that we can and against a really good team. We didn't play well, especially defensively, but it was good enough to win and that's OK here.”
On what he told his team after losing to Florida on Thursday and preparing for this game:
“Everybody was feeling bad enough as is, so I didn't want to make it worse. I just wanted to tell them that the mountain that's in front of them of playing Oklahoma – our memories go back to the games at Mizzou. Those were like marathon games; you know, 10 or 11 innings, win by one run, you're drained for the next three or four days. So, I just wanted to send my team a message that if you can get past this game then you've got Baylor. And that's no disrespect to Baylor. It's just to provide a little light at the end of the tunnel. You know it's not an impossible thing to win two or three games. So it was just a not let the Oklahoma thing devastate you and immobilize you, because if that's the way you thought of it, it could be paralyzing. To think, 'Oh my gosh, we just got beat, we didn't play well and now we've got Oklahoma?' I was just trying to get them to look at the big picture a little bit.”
MISSOURI SENIOR DESIGNATED PLAYER Catherine Lee
On how both teams seemed to be making more errors than usual:
“Well, I wasn't on the field on defense, so watching from the dugout we knew that it was going to be all right. We had to make it somewhat of a game, right? Those are uncharacteristic for both teams. You don't really see that a lot, so I think both teams were able to capitalize. But luckily Chelsea (Thomas) kind of stepped up and it didn't really shake her, so Chelsea pitched through that. I think maybe that's what happened to Oklahoma, that once those things started happening our hitters are too good. We get the momentum, we're going to go with it. It was uncharacteristic, but we were ready to capitalize.”
MISSOURI SENIOR CENTER FIELDER Rhea Taylor
On finally getting her first Women's College World Series win and what it means:
“It definitely means a lot because, like I said before, we went two-and-barbeque the past two years. We just weren't about that this year. Granted, we lost against Florida and they are a good team. We made it in our minds that we had to forget about losing to Florida and come out today and play our best softball. So, I think this is what was supposed to happen.”
MISSOURI SOPHOMORE PITCHER Chelsea Thomas
On how much more comfortable she felt playing today than playing Florida on Thursday:
“I don't feel like I was any more comfortable today. I mean, of course getting to play them (Oklahoma) two times already, we got to see their batters a lot. I think we just had to stick with our game plan today and we did.”
MISSOURI SOPHOMORE Nicole Hudson
On the rundown that allowed two Missouri players to score in the sixth inning:
“Well, I felt pretty good when I saw how early she (Dani Dobbs) turned to throw to third. I was still halfway down the line, maybe even a little bit closer to home plate. So I just took off and about the time I broke home I realized there wasn't anybody there. And Ashley (Fleming) was right on my heels.”
