BYU Press Conference – NCAA Columbia (Mo.) Regional – May 20, 2016
Head Coach Gordon Eakin
Opening statement…
"I'm proud of the way our team fought today against Louisville and then against Nebraska. After a difficult night last night, I thought they came back and showed great character and played really well today. [They] played a solid game in the first one, and thought we had a little momentum in the second game that turned out to not be momentum, but they still played hard and we worked through it and had a chance to win."
On what Nebraska pitcher Cassie McClure was doing to make things tough…
"Just mixing her speeds really well. She threw a great game moving the ball in and out and her change was really effective against us today."
On making an early pitching change…
"That was our plan all along once we had McKenna [Bull] going in the first game, we thought our best chance if we were going to get any innings out of her in the second game was to keep her going, but she obviously didn't have it. In the first inning, we made a quick change to Olivia [Sanchez], and Olivia did a great job."
On Sanchez's outstanding relief effort…
"Yeah, for the whole game. Not only in the first inning but through the entire game, she just did a fantastic job. [I'm] proud of her and that's big-time in this setting for a freshman to come in and do what she did."
On being on the wrong end of a couple close calls…
"Yeah, and obviously I can't speak to that in the NCAA, but when I checked on my way over here, I had 27 texts with videos showing me the plays, so we'll just leave it at that. And it killed our momentum."
On playing through tough calls…
"You learn to work through that over time. Those things happen in softball. If you're going to play big-time softball, you have to learn to work through that. We definitely didn't get the breaks in the time we needed it to capture the momentum. To be umpirely correct, I'll leave it at that."
On whether he was aware of the injury situation with Nebraska 3B MJ Knighten…
"We knew she didn't play the first game and we saw what happened yesterday and that she was maybe not 100 percent as far as movement. We tried to take advantage of that early in the game. It's surprising how fast she can move when she needs to, even with the injury. She did a really good job. We tried to exploit that a little bit in the game, and when she needed to rise up, she did."
On having an impressive young roster heading into next season…
"Yeah, we only had two seniors this year. And so, we're young and yet, we have experience in the tournament with a lot of our starters. The young kids, this is their first experience, but they did a great job and we have a tremendous class coming in, so we're excited about our future. To take this nucleus and add the players coming in and continue to grow the program and not fall just short."
RHP Olivia Sanchez
On being mentally prepared to enter the game early…
"I didn't really know what the plan was, but I just knew that I should be ready, and he told me at the beginning of the game to just make sure I was ready because I could go in at any time. So, I didn't know when that was going to be, but I knew going in that I had my defense behind me and they were able to make all the plays."
C Libby Sugg
On Cassie McClure's shutout pitching performance…
"Yeah, she did an awesome job. I can't take anything away from her. She mixes speed, she was in and out, up and down. I have so much respect for her. She did an awesome job. She definitely kept me off-balance, and yeah, she was great."
On the high of the afternoon and the disappointment of the evening…
"I think the high was definitely the win against Louisville. That was awesome. We all came together and we strung hits and we did the little things, and I believe that's how we won that game. Unfortunately, we fell short to Nebraska. Not that we played a bad game, it just didn't click, I guess."
Nebraska Press Conference – NCAA Regional – May 20, 2016
Head Coach Rhonda Revelle
Opening statement…
"I thought we came out really fast and I really thought Tyson was this far and this far (holding hands close together) from having five RBIs. She really squared up two balls there. When Sanchez (BYU pitcher) came in, she buttoned us down a little bit. She spinned the ball pretty well on the outside corner and we have not seen that as much recently. To Cassie (McClure) and our defensive's credit, Cassie matcher her pitch for pitch on the other side of the ball."
On jumping on BYU starting pitcher McKenna Bull early…
"I thought that was incredibly important I didn't know they would pull her that quickly, but that shows you how confident they are in their freshman pitcher. I was watching her in the bullpen and I knew she threw a heavy ball. BYU is known for their pitching and they are known for pitchers who can spin the ball. She certainly is doing that."
On her reaction to finding out Knighten could play…
"I was sitting next to her not even thinking she could play. I asked, 'how are you doing', and she went 'I would like to play if you would let me' and I said 'what did Marcia say', our trainer, and she said, 'she said it was my decision', so I said 'what do you want to do?' so she said 'if you let me, I want to play' so I said, 'I'll let you play'. That's how it happened."
On Knighten going from not playing to playing 3B in a mere matter of hours…
"If I knew MJ like I think I know MJ, it might have been more painful to watch then to actually experience the pain. She is just a true competitor and she is really tough. I think once she did come back and get in the hot tub, she just wanted to give her all for the team. Even in the Missouri game, she was the loudest one in the dugout. She is just an extreme competitor and an extreme teammate."
On the squeeze bunt being a key moment of the game…
"The play was a big moment shift. MJ had an awkward angle at it, she did a backhand flip that was a pretty big leap. She made a really tough play look rather easy."
On another shot at Missouri…
"You know what, we get to play another game tomorrow. The sun is going to come up and we are going to put our uniform and we are going to play. They are a very talented team, but I think we are too."
3B MJ Knighten
On when she knew she would play in the second game (after sitting first game out with an injury)…
"Marcia, our trainer, and I worked really hard after the loss to Missouri. We went straight to the hot tub at the hotel and worked on range of motion. We also did a lot of ice, stretch, and keeping it elevated, keep it in good shape for me to be able to go out there."
On the adrenaline being able to get her through the game and trust her ankle…
"I knew this game was going to be a key game. I knew I just had to put my burners on go for it. I was just trying to give my all for the team anyway that I can."
On the squeeze bunt being a key play of the game…
"I trusted everyone around me. Once I heard squeeze, I broke hard to the plate. Madi had a great block of the plate. I was so proud of her and just trusted everyone around me and just went for it."
P Cassie McClure
On staying cool out on the mound…
"Coach Revelle told me around the second inning to keep my routine down. That was the biggest key, just keeping my flow. I know that could really mess someone up if you don't keep the same path."
On being excited to get back on the mound after not pitching for a week…
"I was excited. It was something that I wanted to do. Coming out here at regionals, BYU is a good hitting team. I knew I had to be there and spin every pitch I wanted to spin, and throw my pitches with 100% commitment."
On her approach to the hitters…
"My approach was just to do what I do, know and trust my spins and not actually worry about the hitter, just focus on me and Madi Unzicker. That's really what was working the whole game."