May 31, 2012

Recap |  Final Stats |  Notes

Cal Head Coach Diane Ninemire
Opening statement:
Well, today was a great game for California. We fell behind early in the game, but Jolene hung tough on the mound for us, and we just really had a great combination of our power. But mostly our short game was the factor today that overturned the game for us. And it was just a tremendous effort by everyone on our team today to help the success of our program.

Cal Senior Left Fielder Jamia Reid
On the early deficit:
We knew that, even though we were behind, that we still had to come back as a team, use our offense and our defense to make sure that we could come back. I just knew we could do it for Jolene because she was going to be working hard on the mound. Even though those two runs scored, she was going to work even harder so that us hitters could score some runs for her.

Cal Junior Pitcher Jolene Henderson
On the team's rally:
LSU has a really good pitching staff. In our team, we have a good hitting program. So we came up today and I got behind and I shouldn't do that as a pitcher. But they're such a strong offense, they come up on me. Every inning, they're ready to go, they're ready to swing, they're aggressive, and they want to come out on top just as much as everybody else, but we had a lot of heart. Coming from behind wins are stronger wins for us and they mean a lot more, and we just want to reach our goal.

On Oklahoma:
Oklahoma is a great team, and we've seen them play against Arizona and we watched them play a little bit today while we were in the room. And every team here is going to be a really strong team to come against. They can all score. They all have great pitching staffs, and Oklahoma is one of those teams. And it's going to be a great game coming against them.

Cal Senior Center Fielder Frani Echavarria
On coming from behind to win:
They're a great program.We got behind, but this team fights until the end, and I think you saw that today. Everyone pulled together. And even when some of us couldn't get it done, the next person handed the bat over or made the next play, and we got done as a team. Total team effort today.

On Oklahoma:
Coming into the World Series, every team here did exactly what they needed to do and executed in every way possible to get here, so we already know we'll see some great games. Oklahoma is a great program and we've seen them in the past a couple times, so I think using maybe those games to help prepare, games that we've seen on TV, I think that we'll be ready. And as long as we play our game, I'm pretty sure we can give them a good game also.

LSU Head Coach Beth Torina
Opening statement:
I thought we started out really aggressive. I liked how our offense swung the bat today. I think we have to give a lot of credit to Cal and their offense. They were just really tough and they keep coming at you, 1 through 9 in the lineup. Very tough to get them out the fourth time through. The only thing I was disappointed in was our defense. I think our defense has gotten us here and has been the thing that's kept us in it this long. I think if we clean a few things up and make a couple of adjustments, we'll be good to go for the next game.

On taking and early lead and losing it:
I think it's really disappointing, the fact that we were able to score the three runs and that's something everyone knows we've struggled with. We came out strong. Our offense did such a good job. It would have been really nice to keep us in the ballgame a little bit longer. But like I said, a lot of credit goes to Cal. They bring a lot. 1 through 9, it's tough to get them out three and four times. A really difficult task for anybody.

On having a day off:
I'm actually really glad we have the time, honestly, because we're facing a very different type of pitcher this next game we're coming out. So I think it will be a really good day to prepare us. I think this team functions much better when we feel like we have a plan, and we have some time to prepare and do that. I think that's a luxury right now that we have is having a day to practice and focus and get a game plan and prepare to execute.

LSU's Ashley Applegate
On losing the lead:
Yes, it's something that we saw right in front of our eyes, and they came out swinging hard. It's been something that we've been working for this whole season to come out and be aggressive, and just to see the numbers not add up the way we wanted to this game was kind of disappointing for us, but we know we're capable of doing exactly what we want, and we're going to continue to fight and move forward and keep winning.

LSU Pitcher Rachele Fico
On losing the lead:
It's good when we get a lead early in the game. And I'm really proud of my offense for coming out and swinging and putting some runs up on the board. It's disappointing that we weren't able to walk away with the win, but at the end of the day, our offense showed a lot of fight. They scored in multiple innings and they tried to answer back in the seventh, and they put up a run, so I'm proud of my offense.

On her pitching:
There were some points in the game where runners got on base, and it may not necessarily have been earned each time, but I expect more from myself. Even if they didn't earn their way on base, I need to shut them down, I need to do a better job of that and stop the momentum. So that's something I would like to work on, and I would expect to do more. So I'm disappointed in myself for that, but I just can learn from it and get better.

LSU's Morgan Russell
On losing the lead:
It's always disappointing to come in here and lose the first game, but I definitely think that our team showed a lot of effort and heart and pride. We proved a lot of people wrong with our hitting, and we did a great job with our offense. And like Coach said, a few things we need to work on is our defense, get that back into our `A' game. And if we put that back together, I feel like we're going to keep going and working hard and getting some wins on us.