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NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 1, 2019Mike CandreaAlyssa DenhamDeJah MulipolaOklahoma City, Oklahomaa Alabama-2, Arizona-0 THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Arizona. DeJah, as one of the top programs in the history of this sport, how satisfying is it to get here in terms of something that has alluded your team for a number of years? DEJAH MULIPOLA: I think every team starts the fall wanting to get here. That's kind of the goal of the season, to get to the last game. Unfortunately we weren't able to do that. But going into my senior year, we know what it takes, the junior class knows what it takes to get here. All we can do is lead the youngin's and get back here and win it next year. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. DeJah, I feel like your future at Arizona is up in the air. What does next year look like for you with Team USA? DEJAH MULIPOLA: I'm not too sure about that. The rumor is that if I am fortunate enough to make the 2020 team, I have to redshirt my senior year. It's just up in the air, as you said. Q. Alyssa, what do you have to say about getting your first start in the World Series and how you hope to use this to better yourself for next year's senior season? ALYSSA DENHAM: I think that was a good opportunity just as a team, as a whole. Now we actually know what we are working for next year. We've experienced it. Now I think that it's going to light a fire under us to want to get back here next year. Q. DeJah, what were the problems offensively today? DEJAH MULIPOLA: I don't think we really had offensive problems. We kind of beat ourselves. Other than that, we had pretty good at-bats. We were seeing her pretty well, we just weren't getting the results we wanted. Q. How similar or different was it than the last time you faced her? DEJAH MULIPOLA: I think we saw her a little better this time around. Like I said, we didn't get the results we wanted. THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you very much. We'll continue with questions for coach. Q. You had one bad inning against UCLA yesterday, then the one inning today. What would you say was the downfall of Arizona at the World Series? MIKE CANDREA: Well, I don't know exactly what you're asking. You have an opponent on the other side trying to do the same thing that you're doing. Unfortunately we had one bad inning against UCLA. Denham has thrown some big ballgames for us this year, got in a little bit of trouble, was getting squeezed on her best pitch, which is a screwball. That's when I thought I needed to make a change to give them a different look because she wasn't going to be effective not having that pitch. I take a look at it a little differently than you do probably because it's a journey to get here. I'm very proud of this team, like I told them. There's a lot for them to be very proud of. Number one, getting us back to the College World Series. Number two, it's hard to understand the experience here until you've been through it. I think it will definitely be a great positive for the kids coming back in our program that have been able to feel this and understand what the stage is all about. When you get here, it's competition. It's a game of inches. We could be sitting here talking about Hanah getting the base hit into rightfield and driving in two runs. That's kind of the way the ball bounces sometimes. Rylee Pierce hits the ball on the nose, stays in the ballpark. We've been on both sides of the coin. I have no regrets. I love this team. I think this team has done everything I've asked them to do. They have committed to the journey, committed to the process each and every day. They've become a family. They've taken care of each other. They understand what it takes to be a team. To be honest with you, this was probably one of the most fun years that I've had coaching softball. Q. Reyna came up and struck out. How much do you think she's affected by her hand injury? MIKE CANDREA: It was a constant conversation with me and her. She's ready. It's kind of hard to not play your best hitter throughout the year. It's just unfortunate that she didn't have the results that we want and that you want. I promise you, she had a really good BP today, looked good. Just didn't get it done. Q. Talk about Taylor, what she's meant to the program. MIKE CANDREA: Taylor coming out of high school, being a Gatorade Player of the Year, we had some real high hopes for her. She's a kid that I think has really been committed to the University of Arizona, done things the right way both on the field and in the classroom, in the community. I'm very proud of her. I think she's grown up a lot. She's got a great story that has helped a lot of young kids that may be going through the same thing. With those obstacles, for her to be able to do what she's done, I think it's pretty remarkable. She's had a wonderful career. She will continue on in the MPF, hopefully have some success there. I'm very happy for what she's done and very grateful for what she's given our program and our university. Q. With the bottom part of your lineup struggling, was there a moment in time you might pinch hit with T or Hillary? MIKE CANDREA: It would have been coming up. At the moment right now, if Peanut gets on, T was ready to hit. This game is so easy after it's over. Hindsight is wonderful. Unfortunately we don't play the game that way. Sometimes it's what's in the moment. Like I said, sometimes the ball bounces a different way. You look at the Washington game. We got a couple key hits, and they didn't. Beat a very good team. Tonight, Alabama gets a key hit, we give up two hits, they had two, that's just the way softball is. Unfortunately I've been through a lot of those games. Or fortunately I've been through a lot of them. Q. Carli tried to steal second (indiscernible)? MIKE CANDREA: No. Harper was up. Get your stats right. Harper was up and so with two outs I'm figuring she's looked at two pitches, why not have her lead off the next inning. Otherwise we have a runner at second base, we get a base hit, she scores a run. There's a lot of little things in a game. Sometimes it's knowledge that you may not have that I have as far as when someone is going to bunt. I see them every day. I know who can bunt and who can't bunt. Sometimes your hands are tied with decisions. We're definitely doing everything we can to try to win a ballgame. Q. What kind of impact do you think Rylee Pierce had her on short stint with your team? MIKE CANDREA: Absolutely remarkable young lady. I mean, to come into a program your senior year, she kind of walked in and just seamlessly fit in with everyone. She's just a tremendous leader. She's got tremendous work ethic. She wants to coach. She's got everything that you would want out of a kid. She's very mature for her age. She was absolutely a huge addition to our program. She will be continuing her degree and working with us next year. She wants to get into coaching. That's kind of part of my job, too, make sure we take care of them after softball is over with. Q. Your senior class, a lot of opportunities this coming summer. Talk about the impact they have on the game. MIKE CANDREA: If I look at my senior class, the one thing that I'm probably most proud of is not the seniors that were on the field but the seniors that weren't on the field. To be able to buy into what we want and to continue to be bought in when you're not playing all the time is a very difficult thing. Kids will sometimes get disconnected in that regard. I can tell you right now that senior class will be one that I'll remember for a long time because they're very selfless. They did everything they could each and every day to prepare themselves for the moment, their opportunity. There was never a sad face or anyone pouting or anything like that. To me, I think that kind of set the foundation for the entire team's chemistry. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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