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NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIESJune 2, 2013Kylee LahnersKimberlee SouzaHeather TarrBryana WalkerShawna WrightOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA Washington – 4 THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Washington head coach Heather Tarr and student‑athletes Kylee Lahners, Kimberlee Souza, Bryana Walker and Shawna Wright. We'll start with an opening comment from Coach and go to the floor with questions. COACH TARR: First, when we knew that we were going to play Michigan last night at whatever time it was, 2:34, it was either Michigan or ASU, so we knew we were in for a battle. I don't know how long our team stayed up to watch the game, hopefully not too long. They knew we were in for it. Michigan played us tough last time we played them in March, and we lost pretty handily. I just want to give credit to our team for staying strong, especially going down 1‑0 late in the game. And Bryana Walker threw an awesome game, and I just really proud of our team right now. Q. Bryana, can you talk about your game coming out tonight? You haven't pitched since Thursday. What was your mindset coming into this afternoon? BRYANA WALKER: When I found out I was starting, I was excited. I knew we played them in March and the game didn't go how we wanted it to. Thursday's game I was definitely nervous, first game of the World Series and my first time here. So I felt a lot more confident being on the field, being in the pitching circle. I just knew that my team needed me to step up and be better than I was on Thursday, just working with Shawna and staying strong the whole game. Q. Coach, you said you stayed up last night. So there was no team rule, go to bed, let us worry about who we're playing tomorrow? COACH TARR: We didn't really say that, but we try to get them in bed at a decent hour because we were done pretty early compared to the rest of the teams. So we definitely had the advantage of trying to get some rest. But I know how they are. They're probably watching some of their friends play and watch the game. They can speak to that. But at this time of year you can sleep when you're done. Q. Kimberlee, I wanted to ask about the go‑ahead play and the hit up the middle. Just describe it to us? KIMBERLEE SOUZA: Well, they walked Kaitlin, and I knew if I was going to get a good pitch I could hit it. There is nothing really more to it. If you overthink it, that's when things start going crazy in your head. Q. Coach, talk about what happened after that. There was an obstruction, there was an error? COACH TARR: Yeah, it was hard for me to see. There were runners running around, and I saw it go off the pitcher's leg, and going into no man's land. And I was hoping that Romero couldn't get it to throw us out. And all of a sudden, I guess Kimberlee ran into somebody, and she had a head's up base running move by going to third, because apparently she was stuck down by the second baseman or whoever that was that maybe she was trapped under. Of course, because she got thrown out at third and she was obstructed, she had the base. So she did a great job getting to third base. Q. Coach, and Shawna, really all of you, can you just talk about how you pretty much shut down those first few innings and being able to actually go back to the last game, the offense hasn't really showed up. Being able to come through in a crucial time like this, what's that say about this team? COACH TARR: This team's kind of like one of those things where you can't keep a good team down very long. For us to be able to find a way to stay in the games that we were staying in to be able to win them, I think that says a lot about our team. It was just only a matter of time for our team to be able to have a big four‑run inning. We found a way to get the leadoff runner on, and then get her over. Unfortunately, they walked Kaitlin, but fortunately Kimberlee came through and it just kept on going from there, so they worked together. SHAWNA WRIGHT: Well, our team's pretty scrappy. We fight. They only got one run in, and we knew we needed at least one run to at least win the game. So we weren't very stressed out about the situation. We stayed calm and did what we can do. Q. Bryana, you want to talk about what was working well for you today? Obviously, you kind of kept them off their game. BRYANA WALKER: I sent a pretty good drop ball out today into the righties, so I would say that was my best pitch going into today, keeping it dropping down. Q. That's it, the dropoff? BRYANA WALKER: Yeah, that was my best pitch today. Q. Kimberlee, you have already faced it, you may face it again tonight. But teams are walking Kaitlin now to get to you. What's going through your mind when you face that situation? KIMBERLEE SOUZA: Well, nothing really. You get up there and hit the ball. Q. Kylee, after the crazy play, Kimberlee's hit, when that happens and you guys do finally get those runs across, does that give everyone a sigh of relief for you guys to all come up and to follow with the couple of runs and couple hits coming after that? KYLEE LAHNERS: Yeah, I would have to say it does feel pretty good once we get a few runs in there. But just keep on scoring and keep putting the ball in play and good things will happen. Q. Coach, you may face teams tonight where teams are walking Kaitlin. If Victoria's on base and she's got good speed, you have some choices there. Can you go into what you're deciding in that situation? COACH TARR: Yeah, that's always the case, and that's probably why Victoria Hayward doesn't have more stolen bases, because it puts the situation where possibly you open up the base behind her with Hooch bunting or with Vick stealing, it still gives them an opportunity to do that with Kaitlin. But I trust the people behind them. Even if they put three people on, we'll take advantage of it, and we did today. Offensively, once you put runners on, we're going to make you pay. Q. Can you talk about a tournament play where you're pretty high right now, but you've got maybe a couple of hours or six to prepare for what lies ahead? COACH TARR: Well, our team's pretty free and easy. They know what we have to do, and the best part is we've got to play our game and that's what we get to consume ourselves with. They're excited to keep playing. It beats the alternative, because they'd be having to get to bed tonight to go to school tomorrow morning, and they're hoping to not have to do that. Q. Kaitlin started against Michigan earlier this year. Was the decision to go with her based on how hot she's been, match‑ups, what was your determination on that? COACH TARR: Well, we thought that Kaitlin threw a lot of pitches last night, and we also thought Bry, it was her turn to go, and we trust what she could do to an offense like theirs. She obviously did a great job. It was just Bryana's turn, and Kaitlin threw a lot of pitches last night. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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