NCAA Regional Game 3: OU vs. Texas A&M Postgame Quotes

Oklahoma Head Coach Patty Gasso

Opening statement:
“What a game. I think anybody who is tuning in or who is here really got treated with something special by both teams' fight. A&M really impressed with their approach. It was aggressive and their offense got some big, timely hits and their momentum was unfolding. It was a tough one. The beauty of this group is that they've been in these situations before and knowing that as long as they have one strike left we're still in the game. One of the biggest, most clutch parts of this game at the end was Nicole Pendley finding a way to get on and then moving her to second base and Shelby (Pendley) getting the base hit to get her to third and creating an opportunity to score by them having to make a perfect throw. There were two other big things. One is Erin Miller. A walk-off is a hitter's dream, especially in these situations, and she's been on the ball really well. It was exciting to see her do that for her team. One of the biggest things we got out of this game is watching Paige Parker, in the middle of the game, turn herself around and decide she needs to compete and stop being afraid of what's coming. You could see things change a little for her and she really was able to shut things down a little bit at the end of the game and keep us in the game, which was important.”

On if she considered making hitting adjustments:
“I talked with our hitting coach, Tripp McKay, about if we needed to make adjustments, and we both agreed that we were hitting the ball hard but we were getting hung up out there. When you have a team like this that swings like that, I don't know that you need to change much. We had the tying run on first base and you have Lauren (Chamberlain), Shelby (Pendley) and Paige (Parker) coming up, and I take my signal card and put it in my pocket. Back in the day I would call a sacrifice bunt and get the runner in scoring position. This is a different team and a different style. Most of the time you win with it. Sometimes you have to think, 'Should I have done that or could I have done that?' But it is what it is and they know that's how we win. We have to stick with the plan and do what we're doing. (Rachel) Fox, give her credit. She threw a really well-thought-out, well-planned game.”

On how far Nicole Pendley had to run outside the baseline to be called out:
“It's three feet. The home plate umpire overruled it. He didn't see the tag but the home plate umpire saw the amount of space that she went out. That's a hard one for me to argue just because I'm not standing there. I just see her on my side of the field, so you have to trust your umpires.”

On being able to come back in the bottom of the seventh inning:
“That's part of who we are in understanding adversity and sticking together and not panicking. This team has a really interesting way of how to keep themselves not afraid. They're not afraid to lose. They just wait for opportunities. They're very patient, sometimes more patient than I am. It's almost like when Nicole (Pendley) got herself on and the fans erupted and things started, you could feel momentum and the pitching change and the fans, and you could feel momentum coming to our side, and they wait for those moments, but they also try to create those moments. Part of the game is weather and umpires and things you can't control, but you just deal with it and you keep going.”

On Paige Parker's performance:
“I think we take it for granted, but you're a freshman on the mound. You're carrying this team on the mound. You have Lauren Chamberlain standing behind you, Shelby Pendley standing behind you and Georgia Casey standing behind you and the rest, and she wants to be great for them, and sometimes wanting something so bad doesn't come naturally. When Paige is natural she's fluid, she's smooth and throws the ball hard and she works ahead in the count, and you could see that their dugout was on her pretty good and it was starting to affect her a little bit. About halfway through the game was when she decided that this wasn't the way to go, I need to change this and do it now. And that's hard to do in the middle of the game. She competed much better. Was she Paige at her best? No, but it's still good enough when you have an offense like this. She's still trying to understand those things, but everything we go through is great for us because it's great for her and her future.”

On if she considered relieving Paige Parker:
“No. It was just calming her down, and not because I don't believe Shelby (Pendley) could get the job done, it's just that Paige needs to go through these things. In order for us to go through postseason, Paige needs to figure these things out. Sometimes you wonder what you should do, but we never talked about bringing her out because she needs to figure this out.”

Senior Infielder Lauren Chamberlain

On Rachel Fox's performance on the mound:
“I think coming into the game we knew what she was about. We'd seen her plenty of times, so it was making sure we were focused in on our game plan. We knew what to do, it was just a matter of timing.”

On if she was surprised Katie Marks came in for Rachel Fox:
“A little. (Rachel) Fox was throwing a good game and she was keeping us on our toes, but it is what it is.”

On being able to come back and win in the bottom of the seventh inning:
“There's a lot of maturity and that just comes with experience and being in those types of ballgames before and coming out on top. It's about trusting the process. I thought we were hitting the ball hard the whole game but it was right at people. It was just a matter of time when it was going to fall. Every time they threw a punch we were able to counter it, and we stuck with it the whole game. At this point in postseason it's just the mentality of you can't be denied and you're not going to lose. It's about winning.”

On Erin MIller:
“It's been fun to watch her maturity grow and just watching her mature as a hitter in general. It's fun to watch when you're in the dugout or when I'm on base and Erin's up I have a good feeling, and that's nice to have about a teammate. Just overall growth since she's been a freshman and watching that maturity and her starting to fill in that role as a cleanup hitter is awesome to watch. She's really good at adjusting too. If they get her the first time around it's not going to happen again.”

Junior Outfielder Erin Miller

On what she was thinking during her last at-bat:
“I think I just focused on relaxing. I think a lot of players in that situation can get hyped up and tense, and I really just told myself to take a deep breath and do it for the team and do it for Paige (Parker) because she battled that entire game. I really wanted to finish that game for her, especially, so just take a deep breath and finish it.”

On if she knew her homerun was gone:
“I knew it was gone, I was just hoping it would stay fair.”

On if this was her first walk off homerun:
“I think so. I had a few in high school but that was definitely my first collegiate one.”

On if she has always been able to keep calm during tough situations:
“I think it's gotten easier the older I've gotten. I wouldn't say I was there my freshman year or maybe even in my sophomore year, but I think this year I've learned how to calm myself down. I think the people who get tense don't know how to execute in those situations, so I just tell myself to chill out.”

On how she focuses in important situations:
“I really just focus on breathing and staying focused and don't get outside of the situation. I really focus on executing for my team.”

Senior Infielder Shelby Pendley

On her at bat in the last inning:
“I knew once she (Nicole Pendley) got on we were going to score her somehow. My mentality when I was up there was work something up the middle in the gap. I wasn't really thinking homerun, because when I think that it never happens. I was really just patient.”

On what she was thinking after Erin Miller's homerun:
“I felt like I jumped my whole way to third making sure it was fair, but it was a neat feeling.”

On Erin Miller:
“When I'm on the base and Erin is up I always feel like she's going to hit it. There's no doubt whatsoever, and that's a really good feeling to have about a teammate.”

Texas A&M Head Coach Jo Evans

Opening statement:

"I thought it was a hard fought game. I thought our kids played hard, thought we had great attitude, great effort. We got some great performances offensively. We made a couple miscues on defense but all-in-all, I thought our kids played well and embraced the environment and did a nice job with it. It is really disappointing to drop that game. This isn't a situation where I am thinking 'well at least we were close'. I don't feel like that at all. I am upset that we didn't win and we had our opportunity. And having said that, I am still proud of my ball club for the way we played and how hard we fought. We certainly had a chance to win that game."

On what she hopes her team will take to the next game:

"What is most important is that we fight like that the next game we play. We aren't sure who we are going to get but we need to come out with that same type of intensity and same kind of attacking offensive and the same kind of confidence. That is what's going to get us into the championship game tomorrow. For us, that is all that matters right now."

On the decision to make a pitching change in the seventh:

"I decided to go to [Katie] Marks in the seventh. Had a take with Rachel Fox and we both felt like it was the right thing to do. She [Fox] said that she was starting to get tired, didn't feel as sharp. They were coming up with the nine-hole [Nicole] Pendely who really had used her short game previously and Katie Marks is great defensively in that situation, so I felt good about that. And then to give them a different look. You know when you are going to run into the likes of [Lauren] Chamberlain and [Shelby] Pendley and those kids again you want to be able to give them a different look. It really was tough to have a walk on the lead-off batter; just that changes everything in that inning. That was unfortunate."

On if OU pitcher Paige Parker changed during the game:

"I thought she calmed down a bit. As the game went on she seemed to relax a little bit more. It is important to not swing at a pitch that is out of the zone and I think that is what has given her [Paige Parker] a lot of success. I think our kids for the most part did a good job at that. I thought she settled in a little bit better and hit her spots a little bit better as the game went on."

Freshman Infielder Tori Vidales

On her performance today:

"I was going up to plate not really thinking much. I was trying to see the ball best I could and not really trying to pick her [Paige Parker] strategy because I just wanted to stay within myself. I knew I was seeing the ball pretty well. I had a pretty good day yesterday so I just tried to carry that on to today, just try to be successful."

On hitting a home run on the first pitch of the game:

"When I am at bat the first thing that always goes through my mind is 'you get a pitch, swing at it because you don't know how many good ones you are going to get'. I saw a pitch that I liked and I just took a hack at it and it went the way I wanted."

On if OU pitcher Paige Parker adjusted during the game:

"I thought we did a great job of jumping on her in the first few innings. I think the lack of experience kind of sets in a little and we always talk about that being a freshman and being a young player. I think she got overwhelmed a little bit at first and then her coaches really helped talk her down. I felt like she got comfortable there and I think we could have come out a little bit stronger in the last few innings if you have seen her three or four times through the lineup. I think she did a great job."