Oklahoma vs. Ole Miss Postgame Quotes

HEAD COACH PATTY GASSO

Opening statement:
“That was tough. I congratulate Ole Miss. What a good ballclub that's going to be very good in the future. They gave us everything we could handle and more, but we enjoy that kind of play because we feel like it makes us better. We pretty much expected that they were going to come out stronger. I think we all knew this wasn't going to be a run-rule game. Their program went to new heights, and when you feel like you're the underdog, you can just lay it all out there, and I felt like that's what they did, and their pitcher [Madi Osias] had a fantastic game, and we struggled there for a bit, but this group knows how to grind things out, and they executed when they needed to, so it was a tough game but very rewarding game because I thought we played pretty well.”

On pitcher Paige Parker's performance today:
“She had them pretty off-balance. Look at her numbers—she threw 83 pitches, which is relatively low, and 61 of those were strikes. I don't think she let a lead-off batter on base, which is really, really critical. It was one of the best games I've seen her throw. She's really been throwing really well, but she was in complete control today.”

On what returning to a Super Regional for the seventh straight year says about the program:
“I think just very good athletes that have bought into this program, the history and tradition of this program. You see one thing—some people might want to see it more, I think it's pretty cool—that they don't celebrate as if they just won the national championship because this is an expectation for them now. You might see them celebrate next weekend if we can pull that off, but it's just a different mindset. One of our phrases is 'championship mindset.' That's what they have on their mind is win championships.”

On comparing pitchers Paige Parker and Keilani Ricketts:
“They're so different as pitchers, and I remember that weekend [that Ricketts pitched in the 2011 Super Regional], Keilani had all that success, Jessica Shults was in the hospital dealing with some horrible sickness, and it was Keilani going to a different level, not just for her team, but for her best friend. That really changed her career because she learned how to go to another level. Paige has learned how to go to another level. Sometimes she's in it, sometimes she's out of it, but she at least knows how to get to that level, which is something, as a coach when you watch an athlete in another place that other athletes can't get to, is awesome to watch. So, Paige is learning, and to be there as a sophomore, she got there at times during her freshman year, but she is really, in the middle, last part of this season, gone to another level of concentration, not getting rattled, very focused, not afraid, very competitive, and this is the best she's felt physically in a long time, so we're really excited about it.”

On Paige Parker as a Pitcher of the Year candidate:
“Her record and her numbers are pretty incredible, but there are some great pitchers out in the country right now, and I think Paige, I don't even know how to answer that. All Paige wants is a chance to win a national championship. Awards and all those things really don't mean a lot to them. That's what her absolute focus is, as the team, as you hear them up here, they're the same way. They just want to do something to help Paige. Paige wants to help them. Lea [Wodach] doesn't lay down a bunt, and everybody wants to pick her up. Somebody doesn't get something done, everyone wants to pick them up, and that's what this team is about right now. It's impressive … so it's been fun to be a part of.”

On how Paige Parker handled today's game:
“I think Paige understood that we needed a little more time to get this worked out, and she held her ground. She got on and off the field very quickly, so that saved her, but it also gave us a chance to get back in the dugout and find ways to score runs for us. It's hand-in-hand. She's not begging, and we're not begging her. We're just kind of doing together.”

On OU's offensive performance today:
“They don't panic, which is a very good sign for a team. They don't panic at all. They just know it's going to come. What I really like is in the seventh, we kind of called out the 6, 7, 8, 9, and then Erin [Miller] snuck in the huddle and said, 'I want to be a part of this,' and they got called out, and they responded. When you can see that happen at the end of the game and they respond to the things that they ask, what else can you ask for? They're getting it done, and that was really big. The offense, they're gritty, and they're going to find ways to get it done.”

On keeping a young group focused on the expectation to get to a Super Regional:
“I have to be very loose. Inside, my body is about ready to explode, but on the outside, you've just got to keep it fun and keep it fresh and keep it light. The seniors are keeping it light. There was never a sense of panic. We were in the fifth inning and there was no score, and there was not a sense of panic from this group. They just trust. There's a lot of trust, and when you do, when you believe it, you don't have to panic.”

On if it's hard to keep calm in close games when they run rule teams so often:
“I think it starts to wear your patience a little bit. You start to think, 'Let's try harder. What's wrong with us?' We can't run rule every team. We can't run rule that pitcher [Madi Osias] twice. There's no way. She's too good. She didn't have her best stuff [Saturday], and she admitted that. We knew that in a championship setting, she would be on her mark, and she was. When pitchers are good, we have to just keep plugging until we find what we're looking for, and that's what this team did a good job of. We hit the ball hard. Today, with some big humidity, the ball wasn't really traveling very well, but we had some tough luck on a hard line drive—Nicole [Pendley] hit it at first base, double play. As long as we're hitting the ball hard, it sort of leaks into the next at-bat and kind of carries over.”

On the difficulty of this regional:
“I think Wichita State did a good job of staying alive. Tulsa maybe didn't play their best softball, but they're a very good team. This was a tough regional. A lot of hit happened because two of those teams can drive here, and that's part of the decision is who can get here the easiest and the cheapest. I know that the RPI average was the toughest regional in the country, and it was good for us. I think it made us better. We needed those fights. I didn't want to go into a game where we felt like we could just walk through this. It doesn't prepare you for your next road or your next trip. That'll be coming here soon, and I think this hard-fought weekend was good for us.”

On playing teams with nothing to lose:
“When you play with nothing to lose, you play a lot freer, and sometimes it's a little scary to see teams like that. Wichita State was a team that kept gaining some big momentum, as well as Ole Miss, but we are now that team. That's one thing we told these guys in the locker room. We are the underdogs now. We haven't been to the World Series last year. A lot of teams—we're in the top 16 now—a lot of the teams that are in and seeded have been there. We haven't. We're underdogs, so that's our mentality, and I think it will really work for this group.”

On the 25-game winning streak:
“The only time I think about the winning streak is when one of you say something about it. I just don't even know what the number is, and I don't even care as long as we're winning games. I know that I haven't felt horribly frustrated and gone home and lost sleep because we have been winning, which has been kind of nice. Ultimately, what we learned from this is to stay the course and stay patient. The defense was really good. I didn't see a lot of big issues that we need to figure out, but it's going to be a wild, whoever it is that's coming, it's going to be a wild environment. The fans were phenomenal, and I'm telling our team to be more vocal in the dugout, and they're like, 'Why? Because no one can hear us because the crowd's taken over,' which is exactly what we're looking for. They bring us momentum and I can't thank them enough for packing this park all weekend long. It was great.”

On freshman Caleigh Clifton's performance this season:
“She's just a good athlete that knows the game and will sacrifice herself for her team. She's been hit by pitches more than anybody, but she will wear it. She has a good sense of the strike zone, can draw walks. She's just really turned into a very good hitter and just a good all-around player that can find her way on in all kinds of ways.”

SENIOR ERIN MILLER

On her at-bat in the fifth inning that scored OU's first run:
“I felt that she [Ole Miss pitcher Madi Osias] was coming up, obviously, on me a lot, and I wasn't going to let that pitch beat me. I just tried to stay on top of the ball, hit it hard on the ground. I flied out my two at-bats before that. I didn't want to do that again. I tried to hit the top half and just get something through the infield.”

On Ole Miss pitcher Madi Osias' performance:
“She threw well against us today. She had a different look, so we had to change our approach. I felt like we did make some quick adjustments. We had a few fly outs that first inning, and Shay [Knighten] made a great adjustment, hit the ball hard to the left side. We had to adjust as an offense, but I thought we did a good job of responding.”

SOPHOMORE PAIGE PARKER

On her performance:
“I felt really good today, just working on spinning the ball through the zone, trying to get some of those swing-and-misses, and just knowing that if they did put the ball in play, that my defense was going to be there to back me up, so I was really just focusing on trying to work ahead and spinning the ball through the zone.”

On starting three straight games:
“I felt really fresh today, just trying to keep my energy level up, stay up in the dugout and just continuing to just try to keep myself ready to go for every inning.”

On what she's learned from pitching three straight games:
“Being mentally tough through all three games, not letting any kind of fatigue cross my mind at all I think is important, and just trying to build off of every inning.”

On if she models her pitching, particularly her wind up, after Keilani Ricketts:
“Not really. I kind of just developed that [windup] on my own. I didn't even realize that she had done that. Obviously, I really look up to Keilani, but that really didn't have much of an influence on that.”

On how much more fresh she feels this season compared to last:
“I feel really good right now, just trying to keep myself fresh every day and just going out there and just working really hard to continue to stay fresh.”

FRESHMAN SHAY KNIGHTEN

On having the first two hits for OU today:
“Our team fights. We fight hard. I knew we were going to come around, it just took us a bit, but we're not going to go down without a fight. She would have to beat us, even on her best day, she's going to have to beat us on our best day, even on our worst. I just knew if I just kept putting the ball in play, my team would figure it out. We're a tight-knit group. No matter what the situation is, we're going to find a way to get it done.”

On what it's like playing at this level:
“It felt like any other game. I don't try to think about my surroundings. I just think about my team, doing this for my team. I don't think of it any different. I know we're trying to compete for a national championship, so my focus is just one game at a time, one pitch at a time, handling my business and sticking with my team.”

Ole Miss Head Coach Mike Smith

Opening statement:
“I'm going to start with it's a great day to be a Rebel. We are excited about where our program is headed. I'm proud of what our girls have accomplished this entire year. I just told the girls after the game that nobody outside of our program, within our family, thought that we would win 41 games, have an opportunity to get to a Regional and then to be able to play in a Regional Final, and do what we were able to do. I felt like we gave Oklahoma a really good game today. I'm proud of each and every one of the girls that was part of our program, our support staff. What a great day. It's a great day to be a Rebel. It really is.”

On if he was pleased with how his team responded:
“Absolutely. This girl right here (Madi Osias), she's a warrior. What she's been able to do over the last four weeks, really five weeks, is really unbelievable. Everybody knows, it's not a secret with her wrist, it's constant treatments. She spends more time with the athletic trainer than her teammates sometimes. What she's been able to do for this program, she's one that has helped write our record books, to write our history. We haven't had a history. There really hasn't been a blueprint for Ole Miss softball, and Madi Osias' name is going to be up there for years to come on what she's been able to do for our program.”

On how Paige Parker compares to SEC pitchers:
“I mean she is one of the best ones in the country. We had a tough time getting into rhythm. She changed our eye location, threw off-speeds when we were sitting in fastball counts, got ahead of us. Our game plan coming in was to try to be aggressive. We didn't stick to our game plan too well because she got ahead of us a lot of times. If we did swing at it, we fouled the ball off or it was a first-pitch fly ball. We couldn't square up on her. I'm going to tip my cap to her; she's a great pitcher. What Oklahoma has, they have a really good opportunity of being one of those final eight teams. I don't know who is winning the Regional down in Louisiana, I'm assuming the Cajuns are, but that's going to be a great test for Oklahoma and I think they have a good shot at winning that and getting back to Oklahoma City. I know that everybody was disappointed last year with them not getting there with it being so close. Paige I feel is one of the top ones in the country. She has a lot of things that a lot of pitchers don't. She just kind of has that 'it factor.'”

On if it is because of the pitches that Paige Parker can throw:
“She changes eye location, she moves the ball in-and-out, and she changes speeds. Really the key is her eye location. She'll go up to you if you chase one up, she'll go up high, or if not she'll come right down low. She can hit her spots, but it's a testament to the pitch calling. That's a great program there. They are an established program; they've been around for a long time. Again, I'm just proud of our girls and what we were able to accomplish. The program has been around I think for 19 years now, but realistically under me it's two short years, and what we have been able to accomplish in two short years is amazing. I never in a million years would have thought that we would be where we are at in two years, and it's a testament to the hard work that our individuals have put in. Our coaching staff works tirelessly on video and scouting reports, hitting with these girls. We have girls that are the first ones in there and the last ones to leave, and we are here because of what they have done this year. They deserve every bit. The better team won today and we'll take it for what it's worth and we'll build upon it for the future of our program.”

On the strategy behind the pinch hitting:
“Just seeing something different. Dakota (Matiko) was struggling a little bit trying to get timing on her (Paige Parker). If Alex (Schneider) could square up on the ball, I was feeling that we could jump out on a lead. I stole a page in that situation just trying to get somebody to second base with two strikes. That has been our forte all year, trying to put pressure on defenses. We know that they have a great catcher back there. She threw out two or three of our runners this weekend. We were just trying to make something happen. It's why we tried to bunt a little bit more, we know that Paige- if there is any deficit that she has she has a hard time fielding bunts- and so our job was to try to put the ball in front of her and make her make the plays. But the corners did a great job in fielding those bunts, so it's just a testament to their preparation and what they've been able to do. (Oklahoma head coach) Patty (Gasso) does an outstanding job with this program and I expect them to be in Oklahoma City playing for a national championship.”

Ole Miss Senior Pitcher Madi Osias

On how this game against Oklahoma compared to last game:
“I think what really changed was, between the first time we played and the second time that we played, was Coach (Taryne) Mowatt told me that it looked kind of like I'm scared to throw to their hitters and she just reminded me that I had great games in the past against Florida, which is the No. 1 team in the nation, and Tennessee and Georgia and all of those great teams in the SEC. When I came into the game today I just thought it was another team that we were playing, another team that had great hitters, and just have to go at them and throw strikes at them.”

On what she and this team have been able to accomplish this year:
“I just think it's not really about me, it's about our team and the program that we have here in that they are going to build on this for all the years to come. I think that our senior class really just wanted to leave this program in better shape than when we came. I think that the two wins are great for our senior class but it's all about the future of our program. I'm excited to see where it goes.”