2023 WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 3, 2023

Heather Tarr

Madison Huskey

Sami Reynolds

Washington Huskies

Postgame Press Conference

Florida State 3, Washington 1

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Washington.

We'll start with an opening statement from Washington head coach Heather Tarr, then go to players.

HEATHER TARR: Yeah, it was a pretty good ballgame, other than a couple errors we had. A little bit uncharacteristic of how we play.

It was competitive. Obviously by the end, how it was celebrated, obviously I think the other team knew where we were at and how tough we were to beat. It was a tough ballgame.

But want to be on the other side of those. Just want that time. Like I said, we probably gave up a few too many plays there. Thought Lindsay Lopez came in and threw exactly how we would expect her to do. I thought we competed well at the plate. Just couldn't get the timely hit when we needed it. We were close, though.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for players.

Q. You have obviously had your backs against the wall. How do you rebound from this situation?

MADISON HUSKEY: I think if you guys have been following our team, we're just starting to peak and learn how we play together. I'm just excited to see where we go next. Excited to still be here.

SAMI REYNOLDS: I think we're right there, like Coach Tarr was saying. One pitch away. That's the most frustrating part.

We're going to rebound from this and we're going to bounce back.

Q. You wore cleats that were decorated. What did that mean for you to wear them on this stage?

MADISON HUSKEY: It means a lot to just have this platform and continue to show the kids that we have their back just like they have theirs. Kind of just give them a little light of hope in tough times.

SAMI REYNOLDS: My kid Mason, knowing he's sitting at home, he's able to turn on the TV and see his name on my cleats, how he wanted to color them is so awesome. It's like a feeling I can't describe being able to, like, elevate somebody into the shoes that I'm wearing, so...

Q. Can you take me through your mindset when you're sprinting towards the ball, make the diving catch?

MADISON HUSKEY: I think the way that we play defense is just go get the ball. Lindsay pitched a great game. So did Ruby. But just making the big plays when it matters I think is where my head was at and go for the ball and then get it out of my glove.

THE MODERATOR: We'll continue with questions for Coach.

Q. I was curious what your decision-making was on deciding to pitch Ruby. What went into that?

HEATHER TARR: The same thing as yesterday. We're going to give her the start and work backwards to Lindsay. Unfortunately she didn't throw her greatest. I thought she threw well enough to keep us in the ballgame. Of course, Lindsay coming in helped.

Yeah, you work backwards to Ruby, then maybe you're not in the favoring situation like we were with Lindsay coming in at the end.

Q. What are your thoughts on playing Stanford, and who you might start tomorrow?

HEATHER TARR: I don't know exactly who we'll start. I think any of the arms that we have can do what we're asking them to do.

But I think just in general, it's another opportunity to play our game. We got to come back. This is a tough loss for us. It hurts. You want to win this game. It's like a big difference.

At the end of the day you run into another great Pac-12 team that is going to be different than it was when we faced them certainly.

We're excited to play them again. We're glad we don't have to wait too long to play and get after it again tomorrow.

Q. The resilience of this team, it speaks volume about the leadership. When you're watching from third base and see the batters consistently trying to push their way through, can you speak on that leadership?

HEATHER TARR: Yeah, I think just in general they're trying to compete for each other. When you do that, a lot of good things can happen. Just being unselfish, not worrying about how it's affecting you or impacting you.

There's a lot of neat things that happened to our team tonight, whether that be Lindsay coming in and having Ruby's back or one example is Sydney Stewart coming in and having that big-time leadoff on in the seventh inning. That's a rookie out there.

This is overall a really cool team, a really fun team. We just want to keep going as long as we can.

Q. With a couple tough matchups coming up, Stanford and possibly Oklahoma, what is the mentality of this team?

HEATHER TARR: Yeah, I just think we're trying to compete as long as we can. I don't think it's really a matter of who you're going to run into. Anybody at this point in time is, like, going to be a big roadblock.

I think we're just excited to get back at it tomorrow and give it a go.

Q. How surprised were you to see Makenna as a starter, and Kat's performance coming out of the bullpen?

HEATHER TARR: I think we knew they weren't going to go with Kat right away. They do a good job with their pitching staff, tend not to ride one arm.

We were either expecting Reid or Leonard to start. Of course, they had a quick hook. We had a good game plan against any and all of them.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.