Mizzou Press Conference – NCAA Columbia (Mo.) Regional – May 20, 2016
Head Coach Ehren Earleywine
Opening statement…
"I didn't know that, but we had no strikeouts. Paige pitched great. I was really proud of my team in some execution areas of the game which kind of got us a lead, and then the big bang from Emily [Crane] kind of finished it off. To win in postseason, you need to be able to do different things. We played some short game and we played some long game and we got some good pitching. Thankfully, we got a win."
On asking for anything more through the first two games and being efficient…
"Yeah, just sitting in a really good spot, thankfully. We've been in the other chair having to win a game tonight and come back and win two tomorrow. The team, they're playing well and they're playing well at the right time. I'm so proud of them."
On whether this is the pitching performance the team needs from Paige Lowary to reach Oklahoma City…
"Yeah, as long as she throws strikes, and she's been doing that consistently for the last month or so, so I don't see it going any other direction for her, and I think we're going to make a strong postseason run."
On whether they were surprised to see that Emily Lockman was starting for Nebraska…
"Oh yeah, absolutely. We watched a lot of film on [Cassie] McClure this morning. [She] has more innings than any of their other pitchers. It would make sense. I kind of admire the way Lockman pitches. She basically has one pitch, but she does a really good job with that one pitch. I mean she shut us out for four innings and we knew that she had one pitch, so it's pretty cool how she works with what she has."
On how much of an impact it was for Nebraska without MJ Knighten in the lineup…
"I think it's a big impact. They're a different team with her in the lineup. It'd be like taking Emily [Crane] or Sami [Fagan] or Taylor [Gadbois] out of our lineup. There's a void."
On being aggressive on the basepaths and whether this team fits that philosophy…
"Yeah, you live by the sword and you die by the sword. We got thrown out a couple times. We also probably stole… I don't know how many bases we stole. Three or four. But, Crane was safe and Gadbois got a bad jump, so we just keep doing what we do."
On whether he went with Lowary as his starting pitcher…
"She's our hottest pitcher right now and she felt good when we talked to her, and that was that."
On whether Lowary can throw tomorrow if needed…
"Oh yeah, she'll be able to throw tomorrow. The big question – and I'll have to sleep on it – is does she throw the first game or the second game? We'll see. I don't know yet."
On giving Regan Nash the start in left field after some time out of the lineup…
"We were sitting over in our offices, all us coaches, and I said, 'What do you guys think about left field?' I kind of went around the horn and everybody said, 'Nash.' I think it's just she's pesky, she's really inspired because she's been on the bench. You can tell that it's aggravated her, which you want that. So, we just thought with that added oomph and the fact that she puts the ball in play that there would be a good choice. And she's made us look like smart people, and we're not."
On what he makes of the performance of the underclassmen…
"They're doing a nice job. We're only two games into the postseason. You know, like Kolby [Romaine], she played at the highest level of travel ball possible, so I don't think much of this fazes her. She's plays against all of these kids you see on TV and stuff, so she doesn't sweat it."
On whether he has a preference on which pitcher they face tomorrow…
"No, not at all. Like I said at the beginning of the tournament, all four of these teams could win it, so we'll see what happens. I'm just glad we don't have to play again [today]."
LHP Paige Lowary
On when she found out she was pitching…
"About an hour before the game."
On whether she felt strong…
"Yeah, I think I'm in pretty good pitching shape now and I could probably go any inning, any game."
On whether she feels like she is back to her early season form…
"Yeah, I struggled with control a lot this season, but I feel like it's all starting to work together and I'm totally confident."
On what the regional experience has been like for her…
"It's a really fun atmosphere. It's way more intense than a regular home game, so it's just really fun. I like that we're at home. It's fun. It's a good experience."
On what C Kirsten Mack said to her in the first inning after a couple walks…
"I was speeding up a little bit on my windup and she told me to stop trying to overthrow it, so I did."
RF Emily Crane
On whether she has ever had a walk-off before…
"I think so, but I don't know if I've ever had one on a home run, so that felt good."
On whether she knew it was gone on contact…
"Oh yeah."
On sticking with the small ball and what she thought of it…
"Well, Taylor [Gadbois] and I don't get thrown out a lot, so I think just knowing that that doesn't happen a lot, it was easy to go ahead and continue to small ball. We played our game. We didn't change anything just because Taylor and I got thrown out. I think we executed well on that."
On what changed in the fourth inning against Nebraska pitcher Emily Lockman…
"Honestly, when you're going that long into the game and you haven't gotten any runs yet, it's easy to get down on yourselves. But, where we're at with our team, I felt really confident that we were going to scratch a couple runs, and I knew once we got those runs that we could keep getting more as long as we kept playing the way we were."
On playing with purpose…
"I think most of us have been here, so obviously the underclassmen are the only people who haven't experienced this. Right now, our sole purpose is to play together. And, yesterday against BYU and today, we showed that, and I feel really confident with where we're at as a whole. So, it's going to be fun going into tomorrow and see what we can do."
On whether the team did anything to avoid being distracted…
"We're just playing like we normally play. People are going to think that we're going to get distracted, but we know how to play with each other, and we knew what the task was at hand and we approached it the right way."
On whether she welcomes getting to play Nebraska again in the postseason…
"I thought about it since I saw them in the selection show. I think even coming into today, I knew that the last time we played them, I knew the outcome, and so yeah, that sits in the back of your head. But, that didn't shake my confidence going into today with the team that I have now. I felt really good with the group of girls out there, so I knew we could do it."
On whether she was disappointed there wasn't a hot air balloon for her home run…
"No, that hot air balloon came at the right time, and we didn't need it today."
Nebraska Game 1 Press Conference – NCAA Columbia (Mo.) Regional – May 20, 2016
Head Coach Rhonda Revelle
Opening statement…
"I thought the first three innings were really good softball, back and forth. Missouri did what Missouri does. They broke through, they kept putting pressure on with their speed and then they got some clutch hits. They were able to open up the game that way."
On when she knew that MJ Knighten would not play…
"What time did the game start? Probably for sure about 12:30. We tried everything we could to get her ready to play, even the DP, but she wasn't going to be able to."
On whether she will be able to play tonight…
"I don't know. I honestly don't know. I'd tell you if I did."
On whether it is a sprained ankle.
"Yeah, she got hit pretty hard. When I saw the replay last night, I'm surprised the shortstop didn't get hurt, too. That was a pretty tough collision."
On whether something changed overnight after playing through it…
"Well, I think adrenaline. You know, adrenaline, and then the game gets over and everything starts to get stiff. So, we've got her in a boot. She can't even put complete weight on her foot. This morning she couldn't, anyway."
On whether she was surprised that Mizzou stuck with small ball…
"No, not looking at their numbers and just keeping coming at us. That's their game, so I feel like if I'm coaching that team with those numbers, I probably live and die with my game as he was."
On when she knew Lockman was going to start in the circle…
"Yesterday."
On the reasoning of starting Lockman again…
"You just look at Emily in postseason. She's a senior, she's pitched in big ball games, she's not rattled by it, she doesn't let the moment get bigger than it needs to be. And you win that first game… This last game, the winner of this game is done for the day. That's why we chose to put her back out there. And I thought she did a really nice job, honestly. That's a potent lineup. Any scout – I've watched them on television – any scout I've gotten from anyone says there's not a more explosive offense in the country between their power and their speed. I mean they've got several ways that they can come at you."
OF Kiki Stokes
On what made Mizzou LHP Paige Lowary so tough…
"I think she just attacked the zone early. She was getting a lot of the strikes that we weren't, but she was really working the corners of the plate."
On how to approach knowing they need to win another game tonight and two games tomorrow…
"I think it's very doable as long as we take it game-by-game, pitch-by-pitch. I don't necessarily feel any pressure, just minus the fact that we've got to play more innings. Other than that, I think it's very doable."
On whether it helps knowing that two years ago they won the regional at this field…
"Definitely. I think it just gives some comfortability for a lot of the older ones just because we know it's doable. I think that the younger ones will just follow."
C Bri Cassidy
On whether she felt pressure stepping in for Knighten…
"MJ and I have a really good connection. As soon as I found out I was playing, MJ was like, 'You got it. Just go out there and have fun.' And I told her, I said, 'Alright, I'm going to do this for you today.' Every day at practice we're working, and regardless of nine at-bats, I knew that all the work put in to it up to now, I was ready to step in and do whatever I could to help the team."
On whether she found out right before the game…
"I was just ready. If I was going to be the bullpen to take over as the catcher or if I was going to be out there at third base, I was ready to do whatever I was asked."
Revelle: "I gave her a warning about nine o'clock this morning."
On the first ball being hit to her and whether it calmed some nerves…
"Yeah, I think it kind of made it fine. Hearing MJ being… She was louder than the whole crowd put together and I thought that was awesome. It just kind of sent a different energy through my body, and I felt super relaxed after that."
On whether she played third base in club softball…
"Yeah, I played quite a bit of third base in high school."