Arizona 1, Arizona State 0 (8 Innings)

ARIZONA HEAD COACH MIKE CANDREA
General comment:
"That was a very difficult game. It`s a great game to win and a tough game to lose. My hat's off to Arizona State. I thought they played a hell of a ball game. I felt that Jennie threw a great ball game and we had some chances to score and we couldn't get the key hit. Then Mackenzie (Vandergeest) came up and put the ball in play and I always tell her, `if you put the ball in play good things will happen.' We got the run in and then Jennie shut them down. Obviously it's a very emotional ball game when you're playing someone that's got the same name on their jersey. They're a very good ball club. We just feel fortunate that we got the victory."

On Courtney Fossatti's bunt to get Lovieanne Jung into scoring position:
"They were overplaying the bunt and so we took a gamble. Courtney is a gamer. I was a little bit concerned but after the last few weekends I think she has really stepped it up and has done a nice job. She seems to do well under pressure and that (play) was huge for us to get Lovie over there."

On manufacturing a run instead of scoring with a home run:
"Obviously it's nice to be able to manufacture a run but, at this point in the season, I really don't look at how we won as long as we won."

ARIZONA SENIOR JENNIE FINCH
On the impact of the two rain delays on her pitching:
"It's definitely not what a pitcher wants but you have to go through adversity and you do your best and try to keep warm. The other pitcher is going through the same thing that you're going through. You just have to get through it and stay focused."

On having to play as defending national champions:
"I think that we've tried to put last year behind us. It's a new year and a new team and we're completely different from last year. We just try to stay together, work hard as a team and play every pitch to the fullest and take it one game at a time."

ARIZONA JUNIOR LOVIEANNE JUNG
On playing through the adversity of the rain delays: "We get a little antsy and there is a lot of stuff going on but we've been through it. In Minnesota we went through it so we dealt with it as a team."

On being walked by Erica Beach in the eighth inning:
"I just stayed in my zone and was looking for a ball down and she ended up leaving it up and walking me."

ARIZONA SOPHOMORE MACKENZIE VANDERGEEST
On having to bat with runners in scoring position:
"I've been in that situation a lot this year. You just have to step it up and have confidence and put the ball in play, especially with the bases loaded and one out."

ARIZONA STATE HEAD COACH LINDA WELLS
General comment:
"It was two good teams battling and then it's whoever gets a run. That's what happened. We were kind of cruising there for awhile and then unfortunately we had a delay. We went back out and weren't probably as sharp as we had been in previous innings. Nevertheless, you know a number of these games have gone extra (innings) or were one-run games. It comes down to whoever gets the opportunity and takes it."

On whether it will be tough to bounce back for tonight's game:
"I think that we appreciate that this is it. You're either going to recover and play or we're down to elimination. It's still an opportunity. A lot of people are over elimination."

On how the delays might have affected her team:
"If it had been boxing, we might have won. I think both last night and today we won more innings, but it's not boxing. If the judges were scoring, whether they were sitting in the dugout or in the bleachers, we might have won on the scorecard. We didn't win on the scoreboard, which is what counts. I thought we had a lot of pressure on them today. I thought we played them hard both yesterday and today. They got a run to win the game. It was two good pitchers going at it."

ARIZONA STATE SENIOR ERICA BEACH
On whether she was ready to come back after today's rain delay:
"I usually don't take that many warm-up pitches. I try to save my arm for the game pitches. I had heat on my arm during the break, so I did not feel cold at all. I've waited longer on longer offensive innings. It wasn't anything distracting."

On having to come back and finish the game today after the suspension of the game last night:
"I just came back today like it was another game. It didn't really have that much effect on me personally. I can't really say for the team. I felt pretty good today, actually better than I did yesterday."

On how close she came to fielding Mackenize Vandergeest's grounder:
"She hit it hard but I thought I had a chance at it. I put my glove down as fast as I could. I thought it was close. It was a tall one. I thought it was close, but just not close enough."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Arizona 1, Arizona State 0 (8 Innings)

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