June 3, 2006
NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
June 1-7, 2006
Don E. Porter ASA Hall of Fame Stadium
Game 1: 2, 0
HEAD COACH Clint Myers
General comment:
"I thought that Cat (Osterman) threw very well, I thought that our young lady right here (Katie Burkhart) did an outstanding job. She made two mistakes on two pitches. If you can go up against and say that you only want one pitch back, I thought she threw a heck of a ballgame. Offensively, I think we got a chance to hit off of the best pitcher in softball."
On hitting against Cat Osterman:
"We were hoping for contact. The young lady to my left (Bianca Cruz) did a pretty good job, she got our only hit. I thought that there were a couple of pretty good at bats by a couple of our kids, but when we start swinging at balls - her strikes are tough enough to hit - we are only helping her."
On moving on from the loss:
"We are going to practice and take in this great city and this great tournament. The kids need to live the whole experience. For the six seniors this is a dream come true, this is their final opportunity. For the sophomores and the juniors that we have here, hopefully they will be able to do it again. Overall, we are going to live the moment. We are going to work on the things we need to work on and try to work the mental as well as the physical. Then we are going to experience the World Series here in ."
SOPHOMORE Katie Burkhart
On the game from her perspective:
"I was a little nervous in warm-ups. I had to get the jitters out, but after the first inning I was fine. I feel pretty well (about the game), and like coach said, there were two pitches that I wish I could take back. I know that when we come back, if we have to play them again, we will be tougher and come out stronger."
JUNIOR Bianca Cruz
On the team's hitting strategies:
"(We were) just trying to put the ball in play and slow everything down. I think that we got a little ahead of ourselves today swinging at pitches that we probably shouldn't have swung at. We were just trying to look in our zone and hit our pitch. Unfortunately, we didn't do a good job of that today."
On Cat Osterman's performance:
"I think that we helped her out a lot. I think that she is a great pitcher, but I think that we could have done a better job of getting our pitch in our zone and driving it. We were swinging at some nasty pitches that were balls."
HEAD COACH CONNIE CLARK
General comment:
"I thought we did a great job today of resetting. Mentally it's hard on kids when you're out warming up and they tell you a storm is moving in. I thought we did a very good job of heading back to the hotel and then coming back out. We had a very, very good warm-up. I was a little concerned yesterday - we looked like the nerves were there just a little bit with some of our younger athletes at practice. But as the day settled in and as we got out here with our warm-up today they looked relaxed and loose and had a good presence of mind. is a great ball club and we brought a game plan in and were able to kind of hit on all cylinders. I'm proud of our ball club for getting that initial win here."
On her team's offense:
"Well, I kind of think, like we have done all year, I think it's just a matter of staying pitch to pitch and knowing that you have to continue to work and make adjustments. The great thing is Desiree (Williams) has done a great job in that leadoff spot. Immediately when she has an at bat she is coming back into the dugout and she is sharing everything with her teammates about the adjustments they are going to try to make. They go to work right away. It's about compensating and adjusting. I thought we did that today and I thought we have done a good job of that and have gotten better about that throughout the season."
SENIOR CAT OSTERMAN
On her performance:
"I could tell from my warm-ups I was having a good day. My ball was spinning well and I felt really in command. A lot of times I have to work through my warm-ups and once I get in the game I'm pretty crisp. But I was pretty crisp from the get-go in warm-ups. With the game before us going extra innings I got to take some time just to relax and throw a little bit, and then rest and then get geared up and not really have to go straight in. But I think after the first inning I think I realized I was going to be hitting my corners. The umpire was very consistent and did not stretch the plate very much at all. I think (catcher Megan) Willis and I did a good job of keeping it on the corner."
SOPHOMORE DESIREE WILLIAMS
On her home run:
"Actually I thought it was just a double - I had no idea it was home run. I was just trying to get to first and then I saw that it ricocheted off (the pole) so I tried to get to second and I just kind of stood there. I saw my teammates coming out and I thought, `Get back in there, there is no one in front of me.' My thoughts were just try and be safe and then try and get a double and then, "Oh, I got a home run - yeah. I can't say there was any clear thought in that but I was excited."