Postgame Quotes: Oklahoma vs Texas A&M Game 6

Oklahoma Head Coach Patty Gasso

Opening statement:
“A very intense and hard fought game. I loved the way Paige (Parker) came out and fixed a few things and was the pitcher that she has been over the past few months. When we needed her the most we were there. With our offense, we had 10 hits today, but we weren't getting timely hits. Paige helped us stay in the game to get to that point. I think that the one big play was Kelsey Arnold on the diving catch on the line drive. It was really a spark to this team. Paige striking out a couple of hitters with bases loaded or second and third was huge for us. I don't think that anyone paid attention to this other than me. You are looking at what Georgia (Casey) did offensively, but the biggest thing she did was base running, kind of slowing her self down to give that second baseman some problems to allow Paige to get on first. There are things like that are going within the game. They are so critical and can make a huge difference and spark your team. It was a very tough game today. ”

On the difference in Paige Parker's performance today:
“I think her body language and facial expressions. You could see everything different about her today. That is the beauty of video. It doesn't lie to you. Paige is humble enough to handle it and fix it instead of fighting against it. Coach (Melyssa) Lombardi did an excellent job or preparing her and making the changes. She came in ready to go.”

On if she feels like that Paige grew up from yesterday today:
“Absolutely. That is what I like about this Alabama trip is that we are looked at as the underdog. Everywhere we have been all year it has been everyone after us, so now we can go in and see what we are made of. This is going to be a great experience for Paige and the rest of our freshmen and we have great senior leadership. We have nothing to lose. We can go in and play relaxed because sometimes the toughest place to play is at home because the expectations are enormous. We will go out nice and loose and play better that way. I think that we would play better that way.”

On all of the seniors getting hits in their lasts at bats:
“Yeah I was looking around and some of them were starting to cry already knowing that this was their last game on this field. Everything that they have done has been memorable. I am just pleased that we are able to honor them here in a minute.”

On Kelsey Arnold's catch:
“She can handle any bunt. You can't beat her on bunts. She's got great power at the plate. Her swing is a little long right now, but we are working on getting that corrected. With freshmen sometimes they don't think that they are good enough especially with all of the talent we have on this team. Kelsey has figured it out and has been a main stay.”

On the offesne going into the series with Alabama:
"We are hitting the ball hard and we aren't striking out a ton. We need to bring the strike zone back a little bit. It is about homework and preparing hard before we head out there, and just be prepared for a wild atmosphere. We are going to play free and we are going for it."

Senior Second Baseman Georgia Casey

On the difference in Paige Parker from yesterday:
“Her spots that she was hitting. She was just hiting corners and getting ahead early. She wasn't giving hitters a chance.”

On the offense today :
“Well, like Coach (Gasso) said we still had 10 hits. I wouldn't say that it was a bad offensive day. It was just we didn't get the hits when we needed them. That is something we work on is coming up with runners on and getting the hits then.”

On facing Alabama:
“This week will be a big preperation week for us. We haven't played them this season, so we don't know much about them. We will do our homework and get prepared.”

Freshman Pitcher Paige Parker

On what was the difference today:
“Just coming out and making some adjustments from yesterday. Working on just attack their hitters. Just making some things more sharp and just attack them.”

On facing Tori Vidales:
“She is a really good hitter. Just giving her a good mix of pitches and trying to keep her off balance to get her out anyway that I can. Our defense was fantastic behind us. Kelsey (Arnold) made a big play on her line drive and then Georgia (Casey) making a big play at the end. Just keeping her off balance and just attacking her.”

On if she grew from yesterday's game:
“I think so. Yesterday was a really good learning experience for me. I feel like I was able to learn a lot of things from that game yesterday and was able to use them today.”

On what adjustment she had to make:
“Just attacking hitters and competing to get them out any way that I can. Also being more aggressive in the way that face hitters. I wasn't pitching as aggresively as I had been. I just need to attack hitters and got after them more aggressively. ”

On what was going through her mind with bases loaded situations: "Knowing that they are not going to score and knowing that my defense is behind me and that they are going to make plays and just knowing that there is no way that they are going to score."

On if she thinks she is ready to face Alabama:
"I do. I think that a lot of the games this year have prepared me for that and the teams that we have faced. I know the defense and offense that I have behind me, that we are going to score runs and we are all prepared."

Texas A&M Head Coach Jo Evans

Opening Statement:
“I'd just like to say first that I'm really proud of our ball club. We fought really hard this weekend and played well. We gave ourselves some chances to win the game today and couldn't get it done. I thought Rachel (Fox) threw a great game today; that was just a potent offense she faced. Being able to keep the ball in the yard the entire day and to get big outs when OU had so many scoring opportunities just speaks volumes about her competitiveness and fight. Overall, we're really disappointed that we weren't able to win the regional, but we felt like we had a chance to do it with the preparation we had coming in. We just couldn't find a way to get it done. Oklahoma, of course, is just so tough at home. I've been here many times and certainly have a tremendous amount of respect for them. I thought Paige Parker was very good on the mound today, as well. She did a nice job understanding the umpire's strike zone and pitching to it. She was very crafty in how she pitched and really just did a nice job against us.”

On her thoughts of the Texas A&M program and their consistent success:
“I was telling our team at the end of the game today that to be able to get a 40-win season with the inexperience we had was really special. I'm really proud of our ball club, and to be able to get to 40 wins in seven out of the last nine seasons is great. I'm proud of our players and staff.”

On her impression of OU Freshman Pitcher Paige Parker:
“She did a great job today. We came out aggressive, and she was throwing high and challenging us. We didn't do a good enough job of recognizing and adjusting to that. The great thing for Parker is that she is just surrounded by a senior class that is incredible. She's in a great situation at OU, and you can tell that she's comfortable.”

On her opinion about the selection committee continually sending A&M to Norman:
“I will say this, I think our championship has gotten to a point that it's time for us to pair teams based on what makes for the best competition. We need to strive to make the best national championship tournament possible. If it costs more money, let's find the money to do it. I understand why the committee does what they do, but I just think our sport has evolved so much that with television revenue and the tremendous fan support, we've earned better. I'd love to see us align ourselves with having the very best championship, and I think that would lend itself to us not ending up in Norman every year. Having said that, if we're getting sent to Norman, I need to do a better job and figure out a way to beat Oklahoma on their home field.”

On her initial thoughts about the upcoming Alabama-Oklahoma Super Regional:
“It's a great matchup. Alabama is a team that is very good at home. They always bring a strong crowd, and I'm sure their place is going to be rocking. Alabama also has some outstanding freshman pitching so it'll be interesting to see that matchup.”

Senior Pitcher Rachel Fox

On the key to her performances against Oklahoma this weekend:
“Just trusting in my stuff. This is my fifth year, and knowing when to attack hitters and finding flaws with swings is huge. I trust our preparation, and with this being the postseason, I have over 200 innings underneath my belt. So that experience helps me to just trust my stuff and go after batters with confidence.”

On if she thought her team would make a comeback today:
“Absolutely. Our team is known to fight hard seven plus innings. We know we're never down and never out. I thought we had opportunities to score and possibly make the game a different outcome and put the pressure on them, but you take it for what it is. Hopefully we left the freshman and underclassmen with an example of what its like to compete hard and fight.”

On her advice to pitchers going in to play Alabama:
“It can be an intimidating environment, but for Paige (Parker) to have success she's just going to have to go after their batters a lot. Alabama plays a lot of small ball so Oklahoma having the seniority in the infield behind her will be really good insurance.”