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NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESMay 30, 2019Rachel GarciaKelly Inouye-PerezAaliyah JordanBubba NicklesTaylor PackOklahoma City, Oklahoma UCLA-7, Minnesota-2 THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the UCLA Bruins. Bubba, you obviously got the team off to a fast start with your home run. How important was it for the team to get off to a good start? BUBBA NICKLES: I think it was really crucial to get our momentum going. I just wanted to come out for them the best I could, and have a quality at-bat really. Wasn't trying to hit a home run. It worked out to get us ahead. I'm just really happy with that outcome. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes, please. Q. For everyone, talk about this moment, being able to come out and give your team a breather, I don't want to say, but open up with a win so you know you have a chance later on in the series. AALIYAN JORDAN: I think it's really important for us to have Rachel's back. She's done a lot. I know her shoulder is about to fall off. I think to have her back, to put up a lot of runs is important for us. RACHEL GARCIA: I think it was super important to get out in Game 1, do us, do the same thing we've been doing all year. TAYLOR PACK: I think we take all of our games seriously. Coming out, we knew we were going to do or best no matter what. Winning was the best outcome we could have had. Really excited for Game 2. BUBBA NICKLES: I definitely agree with all of them. We just are taking it game by game. We got this first one. It's on to the second. We're not looking any further ahead than the next game. Q. I saw you danced a little bit outside the dugout going into the sixth inning. Anything you said to each other to get fired up for that inning? BUBBA NICKLES: We always dance. It's always been our thing this whole season. I think it just helped us to remember who we are, just to stay within ourselves. We love to dance, stay loose. Remember it's just a game. TAYLOR PACK: Yeah, I think once you get all the way to the World Series, one of the most important things to remember is you need to have fun every chance you get because it could be your last pitch. We take advantage of every opportunity we get. We like to keep it loose, have fun, everything like that. RACHEL GARCIA: I think we just have to play for each other at this moment right now. I mean, Bubba definitely had my back on that one play. I think that just fired the whole team up. AALIYAN JORDAN: We take pride in staying loose and having fun during the games, not making the moment bigger than what it is. I think staying loose is really important for us. During that sixth inning, we just wanted to get more runs for Rachel. Q. Taylor, this time last year you had a heck of a performance. How did your experience in last year's World Series help prepare you for this one? TAYLOR PACK: I think last year's World Series helped me in just being confident coming into this World Series. Just like knowing how much work we've all put in, being able to take it pitch by pitch is really important here, not focusing on anything else besides the pitch that's coming to you. I think it's made me comfortable and very convicted in every at-bat that I can make a difference every game. Q. Aaliyah, what did it feel like to hit that home run in the sixth inning to give your team a little bit more breathing room? Minnesota was coming back. AALIYAN JORDAN: It felt good. I mean, I had a plan going up first at-bat, I didn't get what I wanted. I think staying positive throughout these three at-bats, coming up the last at-bat get the pitch I wanted felt good. Q. Looking ahead to the game against Arizona, what do you think you need to do in order to be successful again that team? BUBBA NICKLES: Just be ourselves, continue to do what we do, have a plan. We already faced them three times this year. I really think that's going to let us have a better plan this time when we face them tomorrow. TAYLOR PACK: I think we have a lot of experience against Arizona. We're going to focus on ourselves, come up with our own plan, not really focus on anything about them. I think just making sure we're playing for ourselves and taking it pitch by pitch is going to help us be successful. RACHEL GARCIA: I think I agree, just sticking to a plan, having a lot of fun, playing lose for each other. AALIYAN JORDAN: I think playing our own game, not really worrying about the other opponent, ourselves instead. Q. Aaliyah, what was your plan on your first at-bat? Did you make any adjustments in order to come up with the big home run? AALIYAN JORDAN: My plan for the first at-bat was to get the inside pitch. Of course, I got all the way. I just waited for that pitch. I finally got it my last at-bat. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. Congratulations. We'll continue with questions for coach. Q. We talked a little bit in the past about Bubba and Taylor. With today's performance, Bubba getting the home run, Taylor coming up with a clutch RBI, talk about those two players, what they've meant to the team this year. KELLY INOUYE-PEREZ: You know, since you're asking specifically about those players, they have been pretty steady, consistent, just go-tos in our program, you're right. They've been able to be clutch, they've been able to have quality at-bats, two strike successes, two out successes. They've been very steady and a big part of why they're in the top part of that lineup. Bubba, kind of literally is one of the best hitters in the country. You can put her in the one, two, three or four. She's that type of a hitter. For her to start the game the way she did is not surprising. Not necessarily expected, we don't say you need to have a home run but to have a quality at-bat. She's so capable of that. Bubba is a junior, she thrives on this stage, she thrives in big moments. I think that's always a sign of some of those high-level players that can hit. A lot of great hitters in the country, but to hit on the stage in critical moments is what separates the good from the great. Taylor, I really enjoy watching her just succeed because she's such a hard worker. She's someone that came a different path, but you can't look past her. She's kind of right there in that middle of the lineup right after Rachel Garcia. You can see, you may feel like you can almost take an exhale after you get through Aaliyah and Rachel. What she's done in that spot all year long has been super impressive. It's because of her work ethic. She's a strong girl, has a strong work ethic. As you heard her say, when she's committed to a plan, very convicted, she's getting more and more confident. I'm just sad this is the last year she's going to be on this stage. As she said, she has to enjoy every moment because she knows it could be her last. Q. A lot of history between UCLA and Arizona. It's been a long time since that meeting happened in the Women's College World Series. What are your thoughts on what facing them tomorrow means in the longevity context there? KELLY INOUYE-PEREZ: Any time you talk Arizona-UCLA, it is a unique, unique game in that the history, you're right, is just very, very real. It spanned decades. I got to personally be involved as an athlete. Arizona came on the scene later in my playing career in the early '90s. Just so much respect for Coach Candrea, what he's done, the players that have come through his program. The fact that we just met, like you're saying, so long ago in the World Series is really not how I look at it. We're in the Pac-12. We compete every year. Every time there's a UCLA-Arizona game, it is a great battle, usually a very offensive battle. We throw a lot of punches back and forth. You literally have to watch the game down to the last pitch, which is the typical UCLA-Arizona rivalry. I think the best part about the Pac-12 is we have to get after playing each other not just once, twice, three times every year, and every year it's an epic battle. Yeah, the World Series in 2010 was a long time ago, but we played them a couple weeks ago, it was an epic battle as well. I look forward to a good game. There's a history and tradition that will never change. Right now we are in a completely different time, different game. Both our teams are playing well. I look forward to a great battle. I think there's going to be a lot of excitement. The most important thing is we're fighting to stay in the winner's bracket. A lot of good, healthy punches no matter who the people are. We're playing to be able to extend our season. It's going to be a great game. I really look forward to it. Q. You get the leadoff homer, then the home run after the error. How much do you think your experience pays off in those kind of situations? KELLY INOUYE-PEREZ: What you said, true, very true. All those things are true. What I am proud of with my team is experience kicks in on just how we started the game. When you come out, there's an excitement, there's an energy, there's an anticipation when you get to this stage. I've told them, it's not like everybody on this team is just experienced, but there is an experience level. The team that gets into their game the quickest gives themselves the best chance to succeed. The moments get big always. I remember as a player, those big situations. But I also remember being able to kind of take a step back and play our game. That's all I reminded them. Taking advantage of opportunities is critical. Being able to be able to throw punches back after they threw some punches and got Rachel is what we do when we're at our best. Our ability to have each other's backs. Our ability to have hitting be contagious. You saw us almost kind of get into that. Fiser is legit. She's a great pitcher. I'm proud of our hitters being able to kind of get after her. But you saw she kind of settled in there right in the middle of the ballgame. Did you lull? No, she started dialing in. That's not easy to continue to get after a great pitcher. But experience kicks in where we now have a couple at-bats against her. We want to be able to make an adjustment. I know one thing, great teams make adjustments and get stronger through a game. Fiser, like I said, a lot of respect for her, her coaching staff, her pitching coach. I know they put a lot into it. She's a talented pitcher. I just like that our players really kind of stepped up and had Rachel's back. That's what we've done this year. That is the experience of who we are. That was my challenge to them, can we play our style of play. I was really proud to be able to see that. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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