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NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

May 30, 2015

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

Auburn 4 - Tennessee 2

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Auburn University Head Coach Clint Myers, student-athlete Carlee Wallace and student-athlete Rachael Walters. Coach, general comments about the game.

COACH MYERS: First, I want to congratulate Tennessee on a great season. They're coached by dear friends and they're well coached. They're great athletes. And they've had a tremendous season. They're one of the eight best in the country. I would say this young lady to my right (Rachael Walters), the little Choompa Loompa (Carlee Wallace) over here to my far right really came out big today. I mean Rachael just attacked. I mean, here it is and it was good to see. I thought it was well played. We made an error, which was kind of a first for us. But overall I thought we really played well and we're excited and we're going to start getting prepared for the next one.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Carlee, you like to play Tennessee, huh, couple of big hits against them?
CARLEE WALLACE: I do.

Q. Talk about your double, what kind of pitch it was?
CARLEE WALLACE: I know I hit a changeup, I finally hit one to right center. It was a great feeling. I knew I had to put a good team at-bat together. I had to find a way to get the run in. We've had too many runners on base this season, especially at third base and not scored them. I was looking for a pitch out over the plate and do as much damage as I could.

Q. Rachael, looked like your changeup was working today coming in in relief?
RACHAEL WALTERS: That's actually my off-speed drop ball, but it correlates as a changeup because I don't always have a lot of success with it. I don't know, it worked well today because it's good to throw off the hitters a little bit, especially Tennessee, because they swing away. Just trying to mix up speeds and throw them off, which worked out in my advantage.

Q. How do you spell and how do you define Choompa Loompa?
COACH MYERS: It's not going to me. I'm a coach so spelling is out.

CARLEE WALLACE: Choompa. It's like an Oompa Loompa with a "ch" in front of it. I don't know. I got the name Oompa Loompa, and then Coach messed it up in practice and said Choompa Loompa, and I guess it just kind of stuck.

COACH MYERS: Coach did not mess it up. (Laughter).

Q. For all three of you, you've done something else now that Auburn had never done before. How important was it for that to happen for you not to come here and go two and done?
RACHAEL WALTERS: I think it was important for us as a team just to win, not so much set history. But we came here to win the whole thing. And going home in two games was not part of the plan. And we had a little setback the first game, but you know, now we're ready.

CARLEE WALLACE: Losing is not an option for this team. I think now it's really not an option. We're going to fight until we've got absolutely nothing left to give on the field. And I think it's a testament to our character and how we fight and there's a lot of fight left in this team. So I think it was just important for us to come out and prove to ourselves that we're fine, we're going to fight through this.

COACH MYERS: It's important to win. I mean, regardless of which team it is. I mean, we've said that since day one. This program is going to win. And these ladies are setting a legacy for future Auburn teams, and they're setting it in the right way. They're playing hard. Like Carlee (Wallace) said, there's no option. Now we're going to leave it on the field. And we're going to play a good UCLA team and we're going to battle our ass off.

Q. Clint, Tennessee has had some come-from-behind wins this season. Were you feeling comfortable with the four-run lead?
COACH MYERS: Well, you said it. We only beat them by two, so they are capable of putting crooked numbers on the board anytime. They're a very, very good team. They can swing it. They just -- they just got beat by a pitcher that was really pitching very well.

Q. This tournament has kind of a unique setup where you lose the first day you're, quote/unquote, rewarded by getting a day off. Curious whether you were chomping at the bit wanting to play right away or if you use that as a positive. Coach or players, if that played a role in today?
CARLEE WALLACE: I think that we took it, as obviously it left a bad taste in our mouths after LSU. No one likes to go out and lose the way we did. But I think we used the day off. We went out, we practiced and we kept it business-like, and we knew there were things we needed to work on. But we also took the day off to kind of realize and understand that there are a lot of teams that are sitting, watching us play right now. And that we never want to take for granted the fact that, yeah, we may have lost but there's a lot of games left to play. And I think we have another chance to redeem ourselves and I think that's kind of the driving force for today's game. Just don't take for granted the games we have to play.

RACHAEL WALTERS: I agree with Carlee. Obviously it was kind of hard watching the winner's bracket play last night while we're sitting in the hotel. But we definitely used yesterday to regroup and practice and just prepare for today. But then again we went out and we had fun and we enjoyed the day with our families and experienced Oklahoma for what it is. And the day off wasn't -- it was just to get better and prepare for today.

COACH MYERS: We used the day to prepare for Tennessee. What they said were all great words and very accurate. But we went and swung the bat and worked on our swings. And we ended up with seven hits. We're capable of more. And we need to. But also we took and gave them a mental day off. They didn't have to really think. They got to go to Dave & Busters and play games for a couple of hours like they were 6 or 8. And we had other people that were really having a lot of fun doing that. And then they bought their prizes with their tickets and we went to a museum. The Oklahoma City Monument Museum. This way they also got a sense of reality. And we're playing a game. The people that lost their lives in that was a tragedy, unnecessary, but reality to kind of go. So that kind of sets in and protects us as a body and sets forth what we want to do and what we want to accomplish. Because you just don't know. It was a good day.

Q. Clint, in your opinion was this one of the better coaching jobs for Ralph and Karen, given their inexperience in that they were able to make it to this stage?
COACH MYERS: Well, Ralph and Karen are great coaches. They're great people. I mean, I love them both. We've been friends for years. Somebody did an article that Ralph and I combined in age is well past the decade mark and close to 4,000 games. So, I mean, there was little experience. But it is a situation in which they have done a phenomenal job. But this team was not young tonight. They really weren't. They had some things that we're facing. But after 60 games there are no more freshmen. There are athletes out there who have really been prepared. We don't have freshmen anymore. Like, 60 games does a lot of confidence building. And they did things to draw back on all season long and it prepares them. They did a great job. Their teams did a great job.

Q. Rachael, you came in, faced seven batters, struck out five of them, basically shut the door on Tennessee. What -- is that what your teammates come to expect of you now in this kind of relief role? You've been doing this for the last few appearances you've made. Is that what they've come to expect what you expect of yourself in a relief role?
RACHAEL WALTERS: My kind of forte is throwing to lefties. So my curveball works to my advantage to them. Coming today Corey (Myers) told me you need to have your curveball working and your rise ball working on the inside. So that's all I focused on in the bullpen. I think I'm comfortable coming in as a closer and kind of helping us out of tough situations now, especially in the end of the season. That's what I like to do. That's what I'm good at. And I think my teammates see that as well.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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