BYU Press Conference – NCAA Regional – May 19, 2016
Head Coach Gordon Eakin
Opening statement…
"Missouri, they deserve credit. They took it to us. There's not a lot more we can say than that. They're a great team. They hit the ball really well. [Paige] Lowary was bringing it tonight, seemed to have command of her pitches pretty well. And then they played defense when we moved the ball. So, they took it to us. They deserve credit."
On what made tonight a little bit different against Missouri…
"I thought the difference between now and February when we played them before, I thought Missouri played with purpose tonight. I thought they were very determined as a team. With McKenna [Bull pitching], when we came into this, we were optimistic that we can compete with Missouri, and I still think we can. I just think they played an incredible game and they were determined. But, McKenna threw 108 pitches in four innings. You can read into that whatever you want to, but we were unable to throw to the zone that was being called. Then, she got too much of the plate against very good hitters. And when that happens, it results in 108 pitches in four innings and nine runs. So, again, most of that credit has to go to the way Missouri attacked us as hitters."
On whether his team is put at a disadvantage based on travel…
"I wouldn't say that had a lot to do with the game, no. We're used to traveling."
On whether he felt his offense would have to come up with a big game to defeat Missouri…
"A big game? No. I thought we were going to have to score three or four runs probably, but I think on a certain day, McKenna is capable of holding them down, as good of hitters as they are. I told Ehren [Earleywine] at the end of the game when we shook hands, I said, 'If you keep playing like that, you're going to go a long way.' They were impressive tonight."
On what they need to do the rest of the weekend…
"It's win or go home, obviously, but I don't know that that challenge gets any bigger than playing Missouri on Missouri's field. That was a challenge right from the start. Again, I can't give them enough credit. They have great athletes. They're fast, they're strong, they're well-coached. They have pitching, defense and hitting. Now we go against Louisville, and it's win or go home, and we're going to come out aggressive and we're going to fight until the end and we're not going to worry about what happens after that game. We're going to worry about the first pitch, the second pitch and the third pitch."
OF Gordy Bravo
On what made Paige Lowary so tough to face…
"She threw really hard, something that we haven't seen in a while. She kept the ball at a good height, I'd say, and she stayed there."
On how the team will handle this situation having been in that same spot before…
"I think we're a pretty calm team. We don't get hyped up in other people's names. So, we came and I felt we were pretty well-prepared, especially for Mizzou. We came out, we knew exactly what they were going to do to us and we did the best that we could."
1B Ashley Thompson
On whether the team felt they would have to outscore Missouri with a strong offensive game…
"Yeah, you always have to outscore the other team. We kind of just erased the previous game that we had played against them and decided that coming into regionals was a new day for us."
On how Missouri was the same or different from the previous meeting…
"We're at their home field so obviously the energy is a little different with their fans and everything, so it was a little bit higher intensity. It's always intimidating when you're at someone else's home field, but you've got to erase all that."
Mizzou Press Conference – NCAA Regional – May 19, 2016
Mizzou Head Coach Ehren Earleywine
Opening statement
"I'm proud of my girls, they played really well tonight. Paige threw strikes. We got runner on board. We got a couple of big hits, Amanda had the biggest. We are looking forward to playing Nebraska."
On BYU being in the biggest challenge…
"I felt like they had the best pitcher in the tournament other than Paige. The reason we were successful is because we had a pretty good plan going in. We laid off some rise balls and only struck out four times. I know that's not as good as zero, but in five innings only four strikeouts, I'll take that. We got nine hits, so offensively, we did a really good job."
On if he thought about pulling Paige after the big lead…
"That was the conversation. We were thinking about bringing Danielle (Baumgartner) in, then ultimately we said, 'three more outs, let's get out of here.' That was the deal breaker."
On if Paige Lowary will start in the circle tomorrow…
"We'll see. We will wake up tomorrow and she how she feels. I think she is definitely our option. I was surprised with how many pitches she's threw today, but we think she will be ready to go."
On what he has seen on Nebraska…
"We will go watch film in the morning. We got to see them quite a bit today. They threw their third-most innings pitched pitcher, it will be interesting to see what their ace looks like. We have her on film and we will watch her in the morning and them come out here and execute a game plan tomorrow."
On the advantages of hosting a regional…
"The obvious. You don't have to travel, you get to sleep in your own bed, and your fans. In particular for us, we traveled a whole lot this year. Our first 32 games were away, the second half we were home a lot more. This is one of the first year's we have had really good weather as well, so it all came together for a good night."
Mizzou sophomore pitcher Paige Lowary
On being locked in today…
"I felt really good, the team scored a lot of runs, so I went out there and just pitched."
On how easy the sixth-run second inning made her life…
"It makes it a lot easier with a lot of runs and makes me more comfortable in the circle."
On her approach to BYU…
"I don't really remember the last time we played them, because that was after I got hit in the face. So, I just went out there like we never faced them and did my thing."