MESSIAH POST-GAME QUOTES:

Head Coach Amy Weaver on the victory: “Before the game, we talked about taking it one inning at a time, one pitch at a time, one at bat at a time, and just focusing in on the moment, and that’s what we did. We jumped out and strung some hits together in the first inning, and Jess [Rhoads] just pitched a dominating game from there and we came out with the win.

Freshman right-hander Jessica Rhoads on how she felt before the game: “I felt pretty confident. Before the game I just did my normal routine. I stayed calm on the mound, and that was the key today.”

Rhoads on her game-winning opposite field single which plated Messiah’s two runs in the first inning: “We had two runners on, and Coach always says to hit the ball to the opposite side the runners are on to advance them. That’s what I tried to do and it worked.”

Weaver on no Messiah player being named to the NFCA All-American Team, and whether the Falcons have used that for motivation: “We felt we should have had some selections, but it is what it is. We’re just here to play our absolute best and show what we can do.”

Rhoads on the fact that the Messiah defense did not commit an error in the win: “As a pitcher, I trust my teammates and know that if I make a mistake and the other teams take advantage of it, the players behind me will back me up. That gives me confidence on the mound, which in turn gives me confidence.”

Rhoads on how she felt in the seventh inning: “I felt strong. I knew the meat of their line-up was up, but I felt strong. I knew once we got the first out that we were in good shape.”

Weaver on how she felt when Gustavus Adolphus All-American shortstop Rachael Click came to the plate as the tying run in the seventh inning: “I actually felt pretty comfortable. Some days, certain pitchers just have a team’s number, and Jessica [Rhoads] had their number. I felt pretty confident going into that inning. It’s never over until it’s over, and we’re fighting hard the whole way, but I felt pretty confident.”

Rhoads on which of her pitches was most effective: “My curveball was working pretty well today. I just stayed calm on it, and it seemed to work, so I stayed with it.”

Weaver on whether her team has played as well as it is capable of playing: “We’re capable of hitting the ball better. We didn’t hit our best today, but they had a good pitcher who changed speeds and kept us off balance. I still think we can hit a little better, but we’re playing pretty well.”

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS POST-GAME QUOTES

Head Coach Jeff Annis on the performance of Messiah pitcher Jessica Rhoads: ”She did it all. She shut us down, and my old coach used to tell me, if you don’t score, you’re not going to win. We couldn’t push one across, and we didn’t get too many runners on to make things happen. She stepped up in the first inning and got a big base hit as well.”

Annis on whether he felt his team still had a chance with the tying run at the plate in the seventh inning: “We’re in Yogi Berra’s Museum, and the saying goes, ‘It’s Ain’t Over ‘Till It’s Over.’ We battled to the end, and even with our strikeouts, at least we went down swinging most of the time. Sometimes you have to swing the bat just in case the ball hits it.”

Annis on the first inning single by All-American shortstop Rachael Click: “I thought that Rachael’s hit would generate some confidence in the rest of the players. Today certainly wasn’t because a lack of effort or swinging the bat. She just got up early on us and then she was able to really move it around. I didn’t get to hit today, but in talking to Rachel on the walk up here, we both thought [Rhoads] was the best pitcher that we’ve faced this year.”

Click on the performance of Messiah’s Rhoads: “She really mixed it up well. My first hit was off a change-up, and I’m kind of glad that she through that to me. She never through me another change-up the rest of the game. My last hit was off an inside pitch, and she was moving the ball all around really well. You had to keep your eye on the ball the whole time, because she was moving it really well.”

Click on whether she was surprised that she would produce the only two hits for the Gusties: “I think that our line-up is pretty solid and we’ve been hitting pretty well up to this point, so I was surprised that we didn’t come up with a few more hits. She had good movement, and good speed.”

Annis on his thoughts as Messiah’s Rhoads puzzled the Gusties line-up throughout the game: ”I was always thinking that if we could just get someone on, [Rhoads] is throwing hard, and if we hit it right, it’s going to go to the fence. But like I said before, you have to tip your hat to [Rhoads].”

Annis on the pitching performance of sophomore right-hander Erin Truebenbach: “[Messiah] just came out and they had three hits right away. The only thing we talked about was that we would need to throw more off-speed. Erin really settled in and threw a great game.”

Annis on the fact that his team uses a three-pitcher rotation: “We have three kids who can really throw the ball. We’ll have to evaluate tomorrow where we’re going, but we can go to three kids. It’s nice that we can throw something different at them and give our opponent a different look.”