May 19, 2002
2002 NCAA Division I
Women’s Softball Region I Tournament
May 16-19, 2002
Beckham Field (Columbia, SC)
Game 12 Quotes (#1 UCLA vs. #3 South Carolina)
South Carolina Head Coach Joyce Compton
“I’m very proud of what we did today. To come out against UCLA, the number one team in the country, and be down 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning and pull it out in the first game, and then almost do the same in the next game, I can’t really ask much more from these kids. They believed that they could do it, right down to the last out. The left fielder drops the ball, then who knows?
“Aleca [Johnson] did a great job coming in the first game in a tough situation, then came back and gave us six strong innings. I hate for Megan to take the whack that she did, but she was also ready to come back in. If we needed her, she would have been right back in there.”
“I feel real good leaving this season the way we ended it. Of course, we’d like to be the ones going to Oklahoma City, but it wasn’t meant to be this year. With what we have coming back and leaving the field with the feeling that we had today, I really feel have something to work for over the summer and feel real good about the future.”
South Carolina pitcher Megan Matthews
“I didn’t even see that ball coming. I think it was God saying ‘Ok, Megan, that’s enough. It’s time for Aleca to come in and shine,’ and she really did shine. She shined big. As far as going out, it is tremendously sad, because it has been my life forever. They way we went out was awesome. I’m in chills just thinking about how proud I am of them. They came out with so much heart and so much determination. I think that next year that they are going to come out and do it and I am so proud to be wearing garnet and black right now.”
South Carolina pitcher Aleca Johnson
“I’ll admit, I was nervous at first. But I have a great defense behind me. I was scared going in because Megan [Matthews] threw so hard that maybe I’d just be sending a change-up to her [Stacey Nuveman, the first batter she faced], but I had confidence in my defense behind me and I knew that if she hit it, my defense would be able to get to it. And if she hits it out, then hopefully I threw a good enough pitch that I can’t be mad about.”
South Carolina First baseman Meghan Cornett
“I give a lot of credit to the pitcher. She did a good job of keeping the ball moving and outside. She did a really good job.”
UCLA Head Coach Sue Enquist “I’m proud of the way we bounced back after that first game. It’s pretty tricky emotionally to recover in such a short time and I felt like we did that. We weren’t real impressive either offensively or defensively, but when we had to get it done, we got it done. South Carolina was impressive to see when their go-to pitcher went down. You really are exposed as a team when a backbone player like that goes down. When Aleca Johnson came in, she did what she had to do. She kept us off-stride and mixed her pitches well and she had a lot of poise. We really had to earn it today. I’m thankful for the job that Keira [Goerl] did. She had great composure and I’m glad that the Bruins are going to be returning to Oklahoma City.”
“We’re very resilient for being such a talented team. Many times in the past we’ve had talented teams, but we’d always have to be on top to win. This team has a lot of adversity experience under their belt, and that’s the kind of team a coach wants in the post-season. I felt good [after the loss] and I told them that. I reaffirmed how many times we’ve come from behind. This is a team that has failed and then come back and succeeded. It wasn’t real pretty on defense, some times it was kind of ugly, but at this point it is a “W” and we’re going to OKC.”
UCLA catcher Stacey Nuveman
(On whether or not she was surprised that South Carolina’s Aleca Johnson pitched to her, after being walked numerous times earlier in the tournament)
“No, not really. Nobody on and nobody out, that’s a chance the pitcher’s going to take in that situation. Obviously it worked to their advantage. I went down swinging. That’s just part of the game.”
UCLA pitcher and tournament “Most Outstanding Player” Keira Goerl
“I’m confident in everyone and in the team and I knew [Erin] Rahn would get it [the final out] because she’s quick.”
“A good mix basically is what worked for me today.”
