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NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 2, 2012Rachele FicoJuliana SantosBeth TorinaOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA Arizona State – 6 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by LSU Head Coach Beth Torina, student‑athletes Juliana Santos and Rachele Fico. Coach, opening comment. COACH TORINA: I couldn't be much prouder of my team at this team and what they've accomplished, especially in the last three weeks, being on the road and winning at A&M and Missouri. We set out this year to make people in the country think that we played hard. In every game we went out, we wanted to try and play hard, and I think we accomplished that with flying colors. So I'm really proud of this team. I want to thank everybody involved with the College World Series and Oklahoma City, and we really have enjoyed our time. We really appreciate the hospitality that we've received here. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Coach, I know it's early, but can you reflect on the pitching job that they did in this postseason? I think tonight was the first time I saw anybody really square up a ball off Rachele. COACH TORINA: Yeah, these two pitchers are something special. I think it's really rare that a team can have two pitchers that are this talented. And we're lucky we have Rachele for another season next year. I think we have a lot of good things in the in future with LSU, especially knowing that we have her to continue on the mound. Q. Rachele, early on, they were fouling off a lot of pitches from really long drawn‑out at‑bats. Was that a strategy you thought they were putting in play, and did that wear on you a little bit? RACHELE FICO: They were definitely seeing the ball well. You never want to go that deep in counts that early in the game. They have a great offensive team. Q. And the pitch that Alix hit out, can you tell me what that pitch was? Did it miss or did she have a good read on it? RACHELE FICO: Yes, she took advantage of my mistake. I left it up too white and up in the zone, and she really squared up on it. Q.  Coach, I have a question about your season. If you could just reflect first real quickly on your transition to leading the program and what was most pleasantly surprising to you about the job and then what was the most challenging now that your season‑‑ I don't know if you can think about that, but just kind of a quick little summary about how these past few months have gone for you. COACH TORINA: Well, it's definitely an unbelievable opportunity. And honestly, everyone at LSU makes the transition so easy because there's so much support and help there for you. We have everything that we need. And we're supported so well. So they really make that transition easy. And I think I really have to credit Yvette Girouard also for leaving me in such good shape, leaving me with these pitchers and with this senior class that's so strong and really wanted to leave a mark on the program, and they were able to do just that this weekend. Challenges, it's been such a good year, it's really hard for me to pick one right now because, you know, honestly the stars were aligned for LSU softball this year. Q. Juliana, you had talked a little bit earlier this year about the group of seniors kind of getting together and saying you guys didn't have a whole lot of belief in yourselves before this year and then getting into the women's College World Series, how much did it mean to you as a group and was it something you had any time to reflect on while you were here? JULIANA SANTOS: Yeah, definitely. I haven't really cried yet. I'm so happy. I'm so proud of everyone, of the team, the coaching staff, the seniors. Like, we did it. It finally happened. Yeah, we've talked about it. I mean, your career ends at some point, and why not end it in Oklahoma? So we're on top of the world right now. Yeah, we wish it ended a little bit differently, but we couldn't be happier. So proud to be a Tiger. Q. As we saw the team left Alabama, can you give us what you think would be a key factor for the tide to pull it out and become the first FCC team to win, if you could isolate one thing you think they're going to need to do well to‑‑ COACH TORINA: I really think they have so much going for them as a team. They're so balanced. They have speed, power. They have great pitching on the mound. I think they're set up for a really, really strong run here in Oklahoma City. I really do. I believe a lot in that team, that they're going to put out there. I think they just have to keep Jackie Traina going and strong, and I think they'll be fine. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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