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NCAA SOFTABLL CHAMPIONSHIP REGIONALS: BATON ROUGE

May 19, 2017

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Louisiana-Lafayette - 6, McNeese - 0

THE MODERATOR: Michael Lotief, Aleah Craighton, and Alex Stewart. First, going to have Coach open up with an opening statement and then open it up for questions for the two players.
MICHAEL LOTIEF: For all the people from back home, I told you so, the first round games are always a war, and the second round games are always a war. The last round -- it's always a war. I'm proud of my kids, proud of the way they competed. Put it there, sister.
ALEX STEWART: Thank you. Oh, yeah.
MICHAEL LOTIEF: And then Alex battled. I just love them. I love this team. I wrote a letter, and I put it in my desk before we left. It reminded me how much I love this team and why I love them because how they fight and how they scrap.
They never played perfect. They just keep fighting and just keep loving each other. And the most unlikely hero is Corin Voinche, coming up there. She talk about knowing what I'm doing and all this stuff, all this experience, and I can't even make a sub the right way.
So credit to these kids. Credit to our fan base. Came out to support them and love them.
And now we ease into it, and I know you want to start talking about LSU. So let's do it.
THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Alex, just talk about pitching in the game. It was hot. It was swirling. How did you feel? Talk about what you just did.
ALEX STEWART: Well, yeah, it's hot. I don't feel my best, but you have to find other ways to win. That no-hitter is a credit to my teammates. They took away hits with fantastic top ten plays. I just can't say enough about my defense. So that's them. That's not me. Yeah, that's it.

Q. What was going through your mind when that ball is in the air?
ALEAH CRAIGHTON: Well, it was in the air, so I think I got to go get it. I saw it, and I think the wind blew it back a little bit. So my main focus was just don't drop it.

Q. Aleah, this team has been doing it either with pitching or with big hits. For the defense to really shine today, what does it mean about how well rounded this team is?
ALEAH CRAIGHTON: It's just that we work hard at practice. We do defense. We do take the reps. It's not about hitting for us. We take the time out to worry about what matters most. Defense does one game. So that's what we do.

Q. Aleah, Alex's performance in the circle, how common is that? Is that just what you guys expect from her? Or what did you think getting a no-hitter today?
ALEAH CRAIGHTON: Yeah, we expect that from her, but as long as she goes up there and she competes and she does her best, it doesn't matter what happens. We expect her to compete and to do her best, and that's all we expect.

Q. Alex, McNeese's first four hitters of the lineup, that's not an easy lineup to halt. How did you do it? What was the game plan for that?
ALEX STEWART: Well, Coach Mike, he scouts them, and he does a really good job of pitch calling. So just changing speeds on occasions and trusting the defense. Yeah, just going at them. Just trust the defense.

Q. Coach, looking forward now, the potential for the first game against LSU since 2013, the first question is how hard have you tried to schedule the Tigers over the past couple of years in the regular season?
MICHAEL LOTIEF: I told you I'm trying to be nice. I don't know how to answer that question. Look, LSU has an incredible program. I admitted to the press before I came up here I've caused a lot of the drama. Probably I've caused my share of it.
I'm in a different stage of my life. Hopefully, we're at a different stage, and the sport has grown. What we're trying to do as bearers of this sport and people that are trying to grow the sport, we've got other issues to fight. That's what we're talking about.
We've got issues to fight about equity. We've got issues to fight about opportunities for female athletes. We've got issues to fight about growing our sport. We're not -- I'm going to spend the years I've got left fighting for those issues and just play the game on the field.
We would love to play LSU on a regular basis, but if we do or we don't, they have a great program, and we've got a great program. No matter what happens tomorrow, what happened ten years ago, they're going to have a great program, and we're going to have a great program.

Q. Mike, Alex threw the third no-hitter in postseason play in Cajuns history, joins Brooke Mitchell and Cheryl Longeway. Those are two pretty big names. What's so impressive to you about her effort today?
MICHAEL LOTIEF: You know, she didn't have her A-game, and she gutted it out, and the kids played well behind her.
We talked about before we came in, you're not going to have your A-game. You've got to play with some gumption. You've got to play with some fight. This kid's a warrior, man. She deserves to be on that list with them. She's a warrior, and we bet on her for the last two years.
So however the game rewards her and whatever accolades come her way, trust me, she's earned it.

Q. Alex, the strike zone seemed a little tight for you early. Were you worried about the strike zone and the amount of walks and how many pitches you were having to throw? And, Mike, if she didn't have a no-hitter, would you have taken her out to conserve some pitches?
MICHAEL LOTIEF: No, we're not going to talk about the strike zone, you know that. Look, she's sitting right behind me smiling.

Q. No, I'm just saying, were you worried early about having to throw a lot of extra pitches?
ALEX STEWART: No, I never think that way. I was wild today. I'll tell you that my stuff -- I could have commanded my pitches better. So that's on me.
MICHAEL LOTIEF: This week we love the umpires, man. I was not going to take her out. Like we just talked about, McNeese has an incredible lineup, and just getting out and getting through that lineup and getting on the bus.

Q. This is for Alex and Aleah. What does it mean for you to, I guess, this prospect of playing LSU potentially tomorrow for the first time in five years?
ALEAH CRAIGHTON: We're not really worried who's in the other dugout. We're worrying about every pitch. So if we compete by pitch, it doesn't matter who's standing in the other dugout.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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