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NCAA SOFTABLL CHAMPIONSHIP REGIONALS: BATON ROUGEMay 20, 2017Michael LotiefD.J. SandersAlex StewartBaton Rouge, Louisiana COACH LOTIEF: Really proud of my kids. These kids are unbelievable. They're just scrappers and fighters, and they inspire me. And this fanbase how they love these kids, how they fight for these kids and these kids fight for them. Who cares about the score. Really. I know it's just a game. They say that all the time. It's just a game. It's just a game. But the emotions are not a game. The emotions are real. They're real emotions that go on in the game. So the way my kids handled it, the way this he fight, the way they fight for each other, the way that this fanbase and this community loves them and the way they love them back makes me proud. THE MODERATOR: Questions for student-athletes, please. Q. D.J. and Alex, what amounted to almost a five-hour delay. What did you do in between? How did you stay focused and stay in the heat of the moment with such a long layover? ALEX STEWART: Definitely stayed off our feet. Rest up. It's going to be a war all weekend. We know that. Made sure we stayed together and we know that we're fighting for each sorry. So we're just getting stronger together as a team. D.J. SANDERS: I ate a bunch of snacks. So that's why I said it probably was not a good thing for me to answer. But we were in a tight space for a couple of hours, just talking to each other, having a bunch of fun, getting closer. So I mean I guess it was a good way to spend it. I mean every game during post season is a blessing, so we're just going to enjoy every moment and enjoy being around each other, so that's what we did for sure during those couple of hours. Q. Alex, I know it wasn't fun for hardly any of us playing a game eight and a half hours, but did it help you in terms of yesterday you were sweating and hot, and it was a little cooler when you came about back. Did that help you in any way? ALEX STEWART: I mean it was nice that it cooled off about 20 degrees in the middle of the game, so that's nice, but you have to find a way to grind it out no matter what. And a break could make or break you. You have to make sure that you're locked in, that you have the maturity to know that we still have a game to play, and I think our team did a really good job of that. Q. D.J., didn't seem like you guys were intimidated as you fell behind and that rally along with your home run. What's the mentality like even when you guys fall behind and your ability to come back there? It didn't seem like you guys were phased. D.J. SANDERS: The one thing I would probably say is trust just because I trust my teammates in any situation of the situation. Being down a couple of runs doesn't scare us because we know that we're capable of ^ coming back and playing the game that we know how to play, so just trusting each other, competing every pitch. Q. Alex, the fifth and sixth inning I think was two on and one out in both situations and you were able to get out of it. What's your mentality when you have runners on base and it's a two-run game like that and really one swing can tie the game or give LSU the lead? ALEX STEWART: You can't really think ahead like that. I got reminded by my teammates, like they had my back, and Coach Mike just winning the next pitch. If you make a mistake, they're probably going to make you pay. So just give your all on every pitch and I guess maybe possibly when runners are on base, it's just like, yeah, I gotta give my all on this pitch, same mentality. Q. D.J., just talk about that crucial four-run inning. Aleah went to right field with two strikes and you had a similar type situation, foul-off pitches. What were you all able to do in that inning against her that didn't happen in other innings? D.J. SANDERS: I guess just make adjustments probably during the at-bat is what helped a lot, because the pitch that I hit out I swung and missed at it twice, so I think just staying locked in and being able to adjust during the at-bat is what helped. Q. Alex, you mentioned that it was nice that it got a little bit cooler, but how much were you just also going on adrenaline? The game you pitched yesterday looked like you were kind of hurting at the end, but you found another gear again in this one and finished it off again. ALEX STEWART: Yeah, I mean I give to our trainer, our training staff. I feel a lot better today in preparation for the game physically, so that's credit to our training staff. Q. Coach, was there an importance in winning this game knowing with the weather and how some teams may have to play a lot of games tomorrow to get out? You get a little bit of a break. COACH LOTIEF: So much emotions spent. It's not an ordinary regional because you spend so much extra energy and emotion. Even last night that was one part and then the night was one part. So you go through the course and we're only halfway home. As you go through the course in these tournaments, it starts wearing you down and the teams that can stay strong fight every pitch. That's when it's time to look up. It's not time to look up right now. Yeah, we have smiles on our faces and it's a good night because our kids fought and they came back, but a lot of softball left to go. Q. D.J., you mentioned that on the homerun pitch, it was the same pitch you had swung and missed at previously. What was that pitch? D.J. SANDERS: I think the same off-speed curve or something that was slow, down and out. Q. Is it a challenge to adjust to Walljasper's stop? She seems to kind of keep hitters off balance by mixing it up and throwing off-speed pitches. D.J. SANDERS: I mean no at-bat is going to be the same, so just because she pitched to me one way the first at-bat doesn't mean I'm going to get the same pitches the second. So that's why I said finding a way to adjust during the at-bat was the difference the last time because I didn't get those pitches the first couple at-bats, so that's it. Q. Coach, can you just kind of speak to both D.J.'s home run? Obviously the importance of it goes without saying, and then Alex coming back and pitching the way she did. Both of those. COACH LOTIEF: These two, they understand that when the spotlight is productive, that it's important to recognize the contributions of everybody else. So D.J.'s moment doesn't come without Gremillion, without Aleah, and it gives her her moment. D.J. has been hot a lot this season. She's had a tremendous run, but when she hasn't been at her best, they've had people around her that pick her up. These moments right here, like of moments in postseason, it's a shame really because those are the moments that define you, good or bad, because you got a lot of people checking in for the first time. And it's not fair to these athletes for neither time because they've been working since August. And if you get that moment and you happen to make it or you happen to not make it, it shouldn't define you. This kid is a warrior. This kid is a warrior. But we got other warriors in the lineup. But guess what, we got warriors on the bench, too. Everybody talking about this a lot as we start to try to expand opportunities for female athletes, I think it's important that we not just pick one or two out. There's a role for every kid. There's a place for the home run hitter and the stud pitcher. There's a place for the pinch runner; there's a place for the manager. There's a place for the bullpen catcher. There's even a place for an old broken-down coach. That's what makes this game fun. There's a place for all of us at the table. And it's important, I think, to recognize on both sides. Got good kids on the other side; you got good kids on this side. So much criticism and surely now come into softball, like in a lot of the other sports. A lot of people put a lot of ^ surety on these kids and they forget to understand or recognize a lot of sacrifice. They're just doing it really for the love of the game. And I don't know about you, I couldn't do it on that stage. I mean those kids -- I'm saying on both sides are amazing. I'm proud of my kids no matter what. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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