University of Memphis Athletics
Postgame Quotes
May 21, 2011 | Softball
May 21, 2011
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NCAA SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS - TUSCALOOSA REGIONAL
GAME THREE
Postgame Quotes
Alabama Quotes
HEAD COACH PATRICK MURPHY
Opening Statement:
"It's really nice to see in a postseason game both seniors (Kelsi Dunne and Whitney Larsen) having great games. Whitney came through with five RBIs. I believe all five were with two outs, and then Kelsi comes up with a 12 strike-out game. I thought both of them were ready to play. It's great to see that in their senior year and that kind of set the tone for everybody."
On Whitney Larsen performing well in the clutch:
"She did the same thing at the SEC Tournament every time, and she's continued it this weekend. It's a lot of fun to see somebody get in the zone."
On batting order:
"Well (Kaila) Hunt hit a home run, and that was huge, and then even bigger than that was that everybody else continued the inning to get her up again. I think (Kayla) Braud got a hit, (Jennifer) Fenton walked and then (Whitney) Larsen got up again. On the foul pole there's a sign that says, `2 Outs? So what!' and they really buy into that. They got her up, and she got the pitch and did the rest of it. That was a huge inning to put four up right after their home run.
NO. 00 SENIOR PITCHER KELSI DUNNE
On pitching at home:
"It was so exciting. Before the game we all talked about it, and I got chills. It was so nice to be back out here in front of everybody and just being able to help our team get the win today."
On game performance:
"I felt pretty good. I was just trying to mix my low rise in with everything else. They were taking some good swings but just weren't laying off the low rise that I was throwing. I threw a good pitch for their girl to get a hit on. She made good contact and after that started hitting the corners a little better. I got in the zone and mixed the ball a little better. We played some good defense in the last couple innings."
NO. 20 SENIOR SHORTSTOP WHITNEY LARSEN
On driving in runs:
"I know that runs at this point in the season are very important, and we work on it every day in practice. Coach puts us in that position where there is a runner in scoring position and two outs. You want to put the ball in play and score the run because it's easy to do when you have runners like (Kayla) Braud and (Jennifer) Fenton in front of you because you can mis-hit, and they are going to be rounding third to come home. Credit goes to them for getting on base and putting themselves in scoring position."
On the heat:
"It was extremely hot, and if there was a breeze, it felt like a hairdryer blowing in your face. I thought Memphis handled the heat just as well as we did. It's only going to keep getting hotter. It does wear on you even though people don't want to say it does. It's a struggle when it's this hot, but it's that point in the season where it's mind over matter. Everybody's in the heat, so it's not like anybody has an advantage."
Memphis Quotes
HEAD COACH Windy Thees
Opening Statement:
"It was great to come out here and play a great team. I think we had the energy and the focus. We were really excited to come out here. We even contained how excited we really were. I didn't want them to get too high and then blow it without playing the game. A good team just got a hold of some good pitches. I was proud of how (Carly) Hummel came back and threw a couple more innings of shutout ball, and then I had to put my coaching hat on and make a tough decision, the best decision I could make for our program and where we needed to go. I had all of the faith in the world in Lauren Carley. She has been throwing awesome for the past couple of weeks. For a kid who had ruptured a disk in her back in the fall, she has made such a comeback. She came in and did her job. Our method is bend, don't break and play some serious defense. They just found a couple of holes for us. We played all seven. I was proud of my team, not proud of the outcome, but proud of my team."
On the scouting report on Alabama's Whitney Larsen:
"With people on or people off she usually is a great hitter. She is a go-to player for them. The problem is in that lineup they have about five go-to players for them. I put my money on my kids. She (Carly Hummel) makes good pitches 90 percent of the time. She is effectively wild, and we went for it. She just got a good swing on it. All of the kids on their team, they don't give you a break. Alabama does not give you a break."
On the mood of the team after the game:
"I am not going to lie and say that we are not frustrated and down. We don't lose well. That is not a Memphis trait. We got frustrated. They wanted Carly to stay in, saying that we were going to come back, but in the end it is all about making sure we can put the bat on the ball and score. (Kelsi) Dunne was a monster today on the mound. I know she hadn't pitched at home in three weeks, and I don't think that my players realized that this was her first game back since everything happened. She wanted to do something in front of her crowd and fans, and she was doing it for the first three innings. Luckily my hitters, once they see a pitcher once or twice, they get better. That is how we play, we sit there, and we know what they have done to us. We learn from it, and we get a little bit better."
NO. 3 SENIOR THIRD BASEMAN Maddie McKinley
On her home run:
"It was an inside pitch. I just turned and swung and hoped for the best. I was almost expecting the left fielder to steal it from me, but it just got right over that fence."
On Kelsi Dunne's pitching:
"She knows where to go for effective pitching. She knows what you can and can't hit. She did really well. I'm not up there every single time, but for me she kept coming inside. I hit that other little bloop left again, and then that almost same exact pitch to the same exact spot. It just didn't go quite as far. I felt like she knew what she was doing."
