May 8, 2014
Tennessee Co-Head Coach Ralph Weekly
Opening Statement…
First off, thank you to the University of South Carolina and the city of Columbia for a short, but very nice tournament. Everything was first class all the way. They call this game fast-pitch and their pitcher was in command from the start, no question. We’ve faced her four times and we’ve beaten her the three before and maybe we shouldn’t have beaten her the first three. She definitely got us today. She was superb, her change-up was right on target and early on we were swinging at balls over our heads and at some change-ups. One of the rules is don’t swing at a change-up with less than two strikes unless you know it’s coming and we still swung at them. We made adjustments, though, and we kept fighting. I’m really proud of our kids. We just got beat by a great pitching performance today and a pretty darn good team in the University of Kentucky.
On getting the team mentally prepared for regional play after the loss today…
Well, we’ve been fortunate enough to be playing in regionals for several years. Our team is used to playing in regionals and when you’re playing on the SEC level and going to regionals, you’re going to lose tough games and you’re going to have to be able to come back. I just have to hope that, for one. I have to keep telling them how good they are and hopefully they keep believing that. I also hope that after a week of practice, we’ll be ready to play.
Sophomore Outfielder/Catcher Lexi Overstreet
On her approach against Kelsey Nunley today…
For me it’s different because I’m a lefty batter. As a lefty batter, it was our job to get the meat of the bat on the ball because she was jamming the righties. Just going to get up there and attack the outside pitches she throwing us in order to get runs for our team.
Senior Infielder Madison Shipman
On making sure the team is in the right mindset for regionals…
We just have to learn from this whole tournament, not taking the loss too hard, and knowing that we have to make adjustments sooner. We have next week, but unfortunately, we know that next week, we don’t have that next week guaranteed to us. I think that will put a drive in our minds to go out and get it.
On Kelsey Nunley’s performance today…
She pitched awesome today, my hat is off to her. I always thought she was a good pitcher. I love how she rides that inside corner hard and she’s not afraid to throw that. I think she came out today throwing awesome and I give it to her.
Kentucky Head Coach Rachel Lawson
Opening Statement…
I want to thank South Carolina, day two did not disappoint. The venue is very classy, the field is great and everybody has done a really nice job. I thought today was a great day for us, but also a great day on the mound for both pitchers. It was a real pitcher’s duel and I felt pretty lucky to be on the winning end of it.
On preparing for the rest of the tournament…
I love softball so it’s not hard to enjoy this. I love our team, I love being here. I think the SEC is a great conference; I love watching excellent athletes on both sides, so enjoying our success is an easy thing to do. But with that said, being in the SEC, you are only as good as your last games. We have a really tough opponent tomorrow with one of the best pitching coaches in the league. So while this is fun, we have to stay focused on the end goal, which is winning the next game.
On the 3-2 changeup…
Well here is the deal. When you look at it, Shipman was on deck so it was going to be the end of the game either way. Either Kelsey was going to look really good throwing a strikeout or (Madison) Shipman was going to look really good hitting a grand slam. Whichever way you look at it, I felt like it was a win-win situation for us. It may have seemed pretty gutsy to everyone else but it felt like a no-brainer to me so either way it was made for TV.
Sophomore Infielder Christian Stokes
On batting success…
Well it’s always good when you are hitting good. I am just trying to stay comfortable in the box, stay confident and clear my head before each at bat. I’m not thinking too much about what the pitcher is going to pitch before I go up there, I just have a clear mind and I know I’m going to get in done when I get in the box.
Sophomore Pitcher Kelsey Nunley
On pitching game…
I think coach really did a good job at calling pitches and keeping Tennessee off balance. It made them guess at what I was throwing and I think it worked.
