|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA REGIONAL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT: BATON ROUGEMay 19, 2018Michaela SchlattmanAmber SerrettBeth TorinaAllie WalljasperBaton Rouge, Louisiana LSU - 1, Houston - 0 COACH BETH TORINA: I thought our team did a good job today of battling. Most important thing is we scored one more than them. That's the key, right. So our kids did a good job battling. Got a really solid performance on the mound from Allie. She was really tough today. We saw a really good Houston team and I think it's a great whip for our team. Q. You've never been one to give up a ton of runs but the last month or so, you haven't had a game where you've given up multiple runs. What's this back stretch of the season been like for you? ALLIE WALLJASPER: A lot of credit goes to my defense. They have been fantastic behind me and pumping me up the entire time. I'm just going out there trying to throw quality pitches and my defense has my back the entire time. Q. All year, these tight games. Is this where you're most comfortable at this point? ALLIE WALLJASPER: Yes, our offense is just tipping away and as a team we're playing one out at a time, getting to the last inning. It's important for us to keep going, keep waiting for our opponents and keep playing one pitch at a time. Q. Amber, offense couldn't get much off their pitcher all day. How much of a relief was it to see one fall in? AMBER SERRETT: It's nice. We had a lot of hard hits, but they were just straight at them. Sometimes we just need that one that falls. I think it was a great team win. We didn't have that one big hit but we had a lot of hits strung together. Like that was key. Q. Amber, you guys have had like 18 one-run games this year or something like that, but this time of year, when the competition gets better and there's a lot of good pitchers like the one you faced today, does it help you guys that you're used to so many games that it comes down to just the smallest margins like this? AMBER SERRETT: Definitely in the SEC, every weekend is like the post-season to us. Having that experience, really it helps in the post-season and our mentality, knowing we're going to have to play as a team and win together. Q. Michaela, can you take us through the play that amber get the hit and you come all the way around from first, knowing the type of game that it was where it was tough to get runs? MICHAELA SCHLATTMAN: I knew there was two outs and I saw the ball up in the air and Lindsay was yelling, "Fair! Fair!" So I was running as fast as I could. I saw Coach give me the wave. She was running me as hard as she possibly could and I was just taking off. I was just trying to get in there. Like we said, didn't have to be a big hit but just strung something together. Q. Alley's back half of the season has been so dominant. What's it been like to see her control games the way she has? COACH BETH TORINA: I think she's one of the best in the game. She has so many weapons and she's able to keep people off balance so well. I agree with her. I didn't believe our defense was perfect today but they have played really well behind her and backed her up, and she just continues to be so efficient. I mean, 76 pitches today is unreal. You know, she just does a great job of changing speeds, doing her job and using her defense, which is one of our strengths. Q. Any thoughts on their pitcher and how she was able to keep your offense off balance? COACH BETH TORINA: Yeah, she's very good, very talented. She's a competitor, too, you can tell, not just about her pitches but she competes, too. I understand why they are here. I understand why they are playing. They have a lot of athletic kids and she's really talented. Q. Along the lines of what I was asking amber, all these one-run games, it's got to be tough on the coach. COACH BETH TORINA: Well, I can tell you the only ones counting one-run games are you guys. We're counting wins. We just want to win games and we don't care how we do it. I think that's the key to this team has been pitching and defense all year. There's no spot where this team is uncomfortable. We don't care whether we score ten more than them or one more than them. We are taking wins. Q. You guys have a great track record in the post-season, and the fact that you're used to a lot of pressurized situations, what does that do for you this time of year, if anything? COACH BETH TORINA: I think of all our abilities, the experience of being here is probably the one that's most valuable to us right now. We had a lot of extra-inning games this year and a lot of tough spots and our kids have fought through it and battled through it. Big key this time of year is details, and this is the most detailed team I've ever had. They clean-up buses and they hang up uniforms and they are good in the classrooms. This team is the most attention-to-detail group I've ever been around. The fact that they do small things and find ways to win doesn't surprise me one bit. They are experienced and they have been here. It's tough to beat that level of experience and some of them, three years in here. Q. I think you have to worn about overlooking tomorrow's one game against your super regional -- COACH BETH TORINA: All our returners have been in some tough spots and they understand how fragile it is. They understand and they have all had their backs to the wall, and they have seen it being one out, one pitch away from ending a season. I think all of them understand that every game this time of year is really tough; that every team here is quality. Every team playing today is quality. I don't think there's anyway you overlook anyone this time of year, and especially not the teams in this regional. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|