May 18, 2013

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

Columbia Regional - Game Five: Hofstra (45-12) 8, Oregon State (34-24) 4-Notes
Game Five: Hofstra (45-12) 8, Oregon State (34-24) 4 - Quotes - Hofstra

HOFSTRA HEAD COACH BILL EDWARDS
Opening Statement....
"A tale of three games there. A real pitchers' duel early on and we scratched out a couple of runs without getting a hit in the fifth inning. Then it settled back into a pitchers' duel again, and Maggie got us going in the 10th. So it was a really great game from the spectators' standpoint. Liv was Liv and threw another outstanding game. We played good defense and got some key hits when we had to get them late in the game, so it was just a real, real good softball game. I've got so much respect for Oregon State and the job Laura Berg has done there. She is a class person. Class program and for us to beat a program from the PAC-12...and it's a very big win for our program."

On the 16-pitch at bat....
"It was great wasn't it? I know Olivia. It was a great competitive face-off against two competitive athletes: one outstanding hitter and Olivia. That's what athletics is all about. Competition. Teaching kids lifelong lessons and working through, maintaining focus. That's what we do, teach lifelong lessons, and Liv is one of the biggest competitors. Classic at-bat. We threw every quadrant and even threw a couple of change-ups in there. We threw every quadrant with different spins and different speeds, because if you can't get them with a quadrant then you have to start playing around with different speeds. Kudos to Beltran."

On the difficulty to watch as a coach...
"I'm sitting over there, sending runners. I sent a runner, when I thought the ball had gone through the center field, and I end up looking like a buffoon. So I had to go to the team and say. `Hey. That one's on me.' You sit there and you're trying to get an athlete to do what they do best. There are so many options in this game. I just try to match up what the hitter does best and what the runner does best and I just try to match up and get a combo play to see if it will work. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Nothing is designed in this game. I can't call an offensive play like a football play and expect everything to go as expected. We're always on defense and we always have to react . It's a reactionary game."

On potential pitching change...
"Never. I have made one pitching change with Olivia Galati and we lost a game and I told myself, `I will never, ever pull her again.' Ever. Because she is that kind of kid. She will find a way. Pulled her once, lost a conference championship. I will never pull that kid again."

SENIOR P OLIVIA GALATI
On her arm...
"Feels good."

On the tenth inning....
"I think we were all just like, let's get out there. We want this game so badly, and it finally just happened for us. We'd been hitting the ball all day long and it finally just happened for us."

On the 16-pitch at bat...
"It was a good battle and may not have been fun at the time, but looking back at it, as a pitcher, I live for those battles. I love the challenge to face a hitter like that and to be successful. And Maggie got the out. It was very rewarding because it was a lot of pitches and I did not want to give up. I wanted to go after her and get her out."

FRESHMAN INF MAGGIE HAWKINS
On hitting...
"We were kind of going off what Coach said "Don't let the team beat you," and just took that one hit for us to get going, so that's exactly what happened."

On her approach....
"Just hit the ball hard. Bearing down and focusing. Just to get in that batter's box and swing hard."

Columbia Regional - Game Five: Hofstra (45-12) 8, Oregon State (34-24) 4-Notes
Game Five: Hofstra (45-12) 8, Oregon State (34-24) 4 - Quotes - Oregon State

Head Coach Laura Berg

Opening Statement...
"That was a well, hard-fought post-season game, on both sides. That's what post-season is all about, and I'm proud of these kids."

On the difference between yesterday's game and today...
"They definitely did a better job today. Their back was against the wall, it's go big or go home and they did a better job of fighting back, stepping up, and getting that clutch hit."

On what she wishes her team did better...
"Win. They just didn't come up with that big hit. When we're the home team we tend try to hit it out with a home run instead of just doing the little things of getting on, getting over and hitting them in, and ending the game that way instead of trying to win on one swing."

On Marina Demore...
"Marina, the tank was just empty. Marina did a hell of a job this weekend, just fought and fought and fought and threw her heart out, left it all out on the field. There's nothing more you can ask."

Senior 3B Desiree Beltran

On the 16-pitch battle with Hofstra pitcher, Olivia Galati...
"She was a tough pitcher, she has a lot of movement and once I got down in the count by two strikes, all I was thinking was `just touch it'. There was no way I was going down without a fight. Marina and Tina they pitched their hearts out today and that's all you can ask for. We fought. Just fell a little short."

Senior P Tina Andreana

On the fifth inning...
"It just wasn't happening for me. It wasn't anything that I was really feeling different, pitches just weren't going as planned. Sometimes it's just going to happen like that, but I'm glad I have another pitcher on my team that came in and helped me out and {I'm glad} that I can come back and help her out."

Senior SS Elizabeth Santana

On coming back from 3-0...
"That's been a mantra that when we're down at any point in the game, and even when we're not down, to just keep fighting. That's just who we are as a team. We're a scrappy team. The first couple of innings we were struggling a bit, then we went down 3-0, and the way that they jumped ahead kind of gave us a little bit of that fire. So I think that really helped us get it going."

On the difference between the two teams...
"I think it was just back-and-forth. I think it just came down to who's going to get tired this game, and that's what it came down to in that 10th inning. And I don't think we were tired, Hofstra came up with those big hits and unfortunately we couldn't come up with those big hits later."