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NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

May 31, 2015

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

Michigan 6 - LSU 3

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by head coach Beth Torina and student-athletes Bailey Landry and Carley Hoover. Coach, general comments about the game and then we'll toss it out for questions.

COACH TORINA: Congratulations to Michigan. What a great program. I think they're such a class act. And I think that they are going to have a great championship series. I think both Florida and Michigan are two great teams. I think it's going to be exciting for the whole softball world to see a series between two really quality teams. We wish them both the best of luck. As far as my team goes, this was a historic season. I hope none of my players are hanging their heads today. I think the sadness is not necessarily the way it ended or how it ended but the fact it had to end because it was so incredibly enjoyable. And as their coach, I enjoyed every single minute with them this year. I enjoyed watching them make history. I enjoyed being with them off the field as well as on the field. They made me proud to be their coach. So I think that they should walk out of here with their heads held high because they made history and had truly a historic season for LSU.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Coach, a lot of fans are going to point to one ball, was it foul, was it fair. And that's kind of the lightning rod right now for them.
COACH TORINA: We definitely didn't get any breaks in the sixth inning, whether the ball was fair or foul. I mean, they hit a couple of flares that fell in. The ball seemed to fall right for them. I don't think one play changes the season or changes anything. But I definitely don't think that we got any breaks right there. We also didn't create any breaks for ourselves and we didn't do a good job scoring off of Haylie Wagner once she came in the game. There were definitely things we could have done. I think this team will learn and this team will rebound and this team will hopefully end up in a spot similar to this next season.

Q. What did she do very well that made her so hard to hit after she came in, Haylie Wagner?
COACH TORINA: She throws really good speed. She's left-handed. Throws a curveball, she was able to get in on our righties and then it broke pretty hard away from our lefties. She's really talented. She's an All-American. She earned that title. She's been there and she's done that. She's a great pitcher. Threw with great velocity today. And she was just tough.

Q. Carley, as a freshman to get here and have this experience, what do you think you can bring to next season because you've had this experience?
CARLEY HOOVER: This experience has been really cool. But my goal wasn't to get here, my goal and our goal was to win it. And obviously we fell short. I think I learned a lot being here. It's a really big stage. It was a whole lot of fun. I've always wanted the ball in every big situation we've had all season. And Coach knows that. I'll even tell her if I really, really want it. And I wanted it today. And I just didn't get the job done, which sucks. And it sucks that it had to happen twice. I think we're set up to have a really good season next year.

Q. Returning five All-Americans next year and really you only lose A.J. out of the starting lineup. You lose Kailey and Dylan too, but you have so much of the team back next season. How excited and how much are you looking forward to next year now?
CARLEY HOOVER: I'm really excited. The senior leadership, though, is something that is clearly irreplaceable. Dylan and Kailey are both in the top set, they are in every pitch, every play of the game. And they're really helping everyone else and mentally before they get in the box, while they're in the box helping them pitch to pitch. So that's something that we're not going to have next year. Hopefully those are some big shoes to fill. So we'll see who does that. But I'm really excited with the talent we have on the field and everything else. And depth in the circle. Depth in defense. Depth on offense. And I hear we have some really great recruits coming in. So I'm excited.

BAILEY LANDRY: I haven't thought about next year too much, but what our seniors have brought to the table is irreplaceable. We'll focus on the new students next year and take what we have.

COACH TORINA: I think it says it all that I'm sitting here and the two players you chose from the game to come today is a freshman and sophomore. I think it says it all. We had a ton of underclassmen in the game today and a ton of underclassmen that were contributors all season long. Having the core of your team playing in a game like this, being in this setting and being in this scenario I think is huge going down the road. And of course my message to them is that there's no guarantees. This was a special group. They had great chemistry. They had great leadership. There's no guarantees for the next season. But they definitely have all of the tools, talent, ability in order to put them back in this spot and continue to achieve even more than this.

Q. Beth, could you address the two teams you're familiar with Florida obviously and having played Michigan. What is it about those two teams that makes each of them tough to beat?
COACH TORINA: I think the two teams are great teams. I really do. I think they both have so many things going for them. They both have great offenses. They both are strong on the mound. They both play solid defense. I think Michigan is an extremely deep lineup 1 through 9. There's not a moment where you get to catch your breath in that lineup. They're really deep 1 through 9. Florida has the X factor with Lauren Haeger who has just been phenomenal in the postseason, and you know the second half of the season she's just been on a mission. They've been here before and they know how to win it. It's going to be a fun series for everybody to watch. And I have huge respect for both teams. I did graduate from the University of Florida. But I have a lot of respect for both teams.

Q. Coach, some of the mistakes, the errors, can you talk about how that kind of hurt and do you think this team had been here before, do you think maybe next year this makes it mentally tougher in the future for that?
COACH TORINA: Well, like I said, I don't think we got any breaks in that last inning. And a lot of that was created by ourselves. But I think they did some things to us there that we hadn't seen in a while. Had some things happen to us that we hadn't had people run in those situations. We hadn't seen an offense that deep. I think we need to be a little bit better prepared for situations like that. I think they caught us on our heels a couple times. But that's the whole idea of being in this tournament is you'll see people that can pull out all the stops, can do a lot of things. They have a really talented offense. They have a lot of different weapons. So I think we've definitely got to get better at some things. But I thought my team played really well all season long.

Q. Bailey, the 0-2 count, you were able to still hit one out there, could you talk about that at-bat and bringing those two runs in?
BAILEY LANDRY: Well, the first two pitches I saw I thought they were a little bit high and out. But he called them strikes. I just knew going into the next pitch, if she was going to throw it high, that I would have to get on top of the ball. And I had popped out one of my previous at-bats. I knew I just had to get my hands above it and go with it.

Q. Bailey, I love some of the hits you had this series. That double the other day to the right center gap and the one today, you went opposite field kind of sliced it. Definitely quality, legit hits. Could you talk about your approach and how you're using the whole field and not getting cheated up there and how you approach those?
BAILEY LANDRY: As a 2-hole, my position is just to do my job. Anytime we get in the box, I know whatever my team needs me to do, whether it's to bunt the ball, move the runner, get a hit in the gap, whatever, strike out gracefully, whatever my team needs is what I wanted to do. So that's just what I do when I get in the box. Just know I have a job to do and get it done.

Q. Carley, what do you do over the summer to keep your game at a high level? Women's majors used to be where all the college girls went. But that's kind of went by the boards. And so I'm interested in what girls who have a lot of talent keep up that level of preparation?
CARLEY HOOVER: I'm sorry, I wish I had an answer for you but I haven't even given it a thought yet. I've really just been focused on this season right here and right now all I can see is next year's national championship. But I haven't really thought about summer yet.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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