May 23, 2002

Recap| Box Score| Notes| Photo Gallery

CALIFORNIA HEAD COACH DIANE NINEMIRE
General comment:
"I thought that it was an outstanding game. I'm very pleased with my team making a statement in the beginning with scoring the first run. Jocelyn Forest threw a great game and Candace Harper came up with our first hit to that scored a run. We're just looking forward to the next game."

On if she thought about what happened against OU two years ago after OU scored in the sixth:
"No, because we have a completely different team here at Cal and Jocelyn is much more mature and a much more developed pitcher than she was back then. I was completely confident that my team would hold on to their lead."

CALIFORNIA SENIOR JOCELYN FOREST
On her performance:
"Actually I had a little trouble finding the strike zone at the beginning of the game. Luckily, Oklahoma is full of hungry batters that like to swing the bat hard. And then about mid-way through the game I started to get my control back."

On how much the offense helped her pitching:
"It always helps to go out there relaxed and not tensed up and nervous, so I was real lucky to have that offense behind me today."

CALIFORNIA SENIOR CANDACE HARPER
On her run-scoring hit in the third inning:
"I don't know if it was necessarily big, it was a little dinger that went through the middle. I was sitting on a change-up and she'd been missing on all of her other pitchers, so I was going to swing at the change-up and I found a hole."

On when she scored on the close play at home:
"I saw a little portion of the plate unblocked so I knew that was the only way I could score. I went to try to get my toe on the plate and luckily the umpire so that."

OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH PATTY GASSO
General comment:
"I thought Jennifer Stewart threw well. It's hard to beat a team like Cal, or any team for that matter, when you give up four unearned runs. That was really the story of the game. I thought Jocelyn Forest was outstanding and I do believe she is one of the most underrated pitchers in the country. She had great stuff and it's hard to get any kind of balance because she has everything working for her. We needed to have a little more fire, better adjustments and things like that at the plate. The attitude of this team is that their national championship game is going to be on Saturday. We're going to stay alive and do whatever we can to stay in this tournament."

On the pre-game injury to shortstop Kelli Braitsch:
"She was taking ground balls and one came up and hit her in the mouth and knocked a tooth up in there. She had to go to the hospital and get three teeth wired. She's a mess right now. That really kind of shook everybody and it shook Katie Overton, who I put at shortstop. We're anticipating that Kelli will be back. Right now they're getting a mouth guard ready for her and that will help settle things."

OKLAHOMA FRESHMAN CHRISTINA ENEA
On her two-run home run:
"Down four runs, it's like you have a nothing-to-lose attitude. I just came up to the plate and wanted to get something going. My first at bat I just kind of looked at her pitches and got a feel for her. The more I saw her the more I figured out how they were throwing me and I just went up there and wanted to hit the ball hard and start something for this team."

OKLAHOMA FRESHMAN HEATHER SCAGLIONE
On what made Forest so tough to hit:
"She really didn't keep a pattern and she kept us all guessing. Normally, pitchers have a pattern when they get a strike ahead of you. She would start off throwing a rise ball to some batters and others she would come inside then outside. She really didn't have a consistent pattern and she kept you guessing all the time, especially when her rise ball jumped the way it did."