University of Texas at Tyler Post-Game Quotes

Head Coach Mike Reed:

“I felt like we had some chances early.  We talked about that in the tent afterwards.  Missed opportunities – I think we left nine on after the sixth (inning).  We had a couple of chances early to take some momentum and build our lead, but we missed out on those opportunities.  That clutch hitting the last two weekends, we had more hits tonight, the last two weekends we had timely hitting and we just didn’t have it today.”

“Into the sixth, with the bases loaded, we missed out on some opportunities to get the momentum and they had a big inning.  We played great defense up until that point but we just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities and they did.”

On the failure to score with the bases loaded during the top of the sixth
“That was a big one because there were three on.  Obviously we would have taken a hit there and she had a good at-bat earlier, but we left six on prior to that.  That was the biggest one because the bases were loaded and anytime you have a chance early on to get ahead, especially in the game of softball, when you miss out on those timely hits it came back to haunt us.”

Sophomore Pitcher Stacy Shepherd:
“I was comfortable.  There were some bad breaks there in the sixth inning, just little mental errors that cost games.  I think that we played, all around, really well.  I think that we still have an amazing chance and we’ve done it before, so I have faith in my teammates and the ability they have, so I’m not worried.”

Gustavus Adolphus Post-Game Quotes:

Head Coach Jeff Annis:

On his opening thoughts: “We got behind early but we got the play at the plate and I felt that gave us a lot of confidence. I see statistically that we don’t do so well when we don’t score that first run. We broke that rule today. As the game moved along, I think we kept gaining confidence. We put ourselves in some positions to score, just like we’ve been doing the last couple of weeks, all of a sudden we scored. Overall, Bets [Betsie Collins] did a great job keeping them off balance, getting their great hitters, and then we brought Trueby [Erine Truebenbach] in to close the door.”

On what it was like being in a tight game after winning previous regional games in five innings: “We were in some tight games the weekend before in the MIAC. We went down 4-0 after the first inning against Hamline, dug our way back out and got an extra-inning victory there, 5-4, and then St. Thomas, we lost, 4-3. So we were in those tight games. We just always focus and will continue to focus on playing our game. I’ve told our kids many times if we put our best kids out on the field and so does the other team, I like our chances. We’re just going to keep on with that theory. Whether they believe it or not is up to them, but I think they believe it.”

On the pitching performance: “We’ve got what we call our three-headed pitching staff. It’s the only team I believe in Division I, II and III that’s got double digit wins for three kids. It was a long process and Betsie will probably attest to it, that believing in each other. As a pitcher they want the ball. We believe we’ve done a good job of keeping it even for everybody. Not intentionally, but they’ve all come up with big wins. Today, I really felt Bets was going to do a good job and we thought the off-speed would keep them off guard just a little bit because you could see they were awfully good hitters.”

On the bases-loaded strikeout by Collins in the top of the sixth inning being a turning point in the game: “The leadoff hitter for Tyler is an awfully good player.”

On moving up from the high school ranks, did you envision the program getting this far, this fast: “I haven’t really changed much. It’s a lot of the same stuff we do. We don’t have complicated signs. We don’t do a lot of complicated things. The game is still about fundamentals, making the plays, not giving them extra outs. Get the bunts down. Move your runners around. Make the other team make plays. We bunted really well today. Defensively we were pretty solid. This is our fourth 30-plus win season. We’re now on the scene I think. We sort of flew under the radar for awhile, but now we’re hopefully making a lot of noise.

On the concept of the three-pitcher rotation: “That’s different. That’s been a challenge just working that with three [pitchers].”

Junior pitcher Betsie Collins:

On waiting for the offense: “Our bats always do come around. I have a lot of confidence in the girls. I do when we get our chances we’re getting our good cuts and eventually going to come out swinging and we’re going to hit them hard.