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NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES


May 31, 2012


Ashley Applegate

Rachele Fico

Morgan Russell

Juliana Santos

Beth Torina


OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

CALIFORNIA – 5
LSU – 3


THE MODERATOR:  From LSU, we have Head Coach Beth Torina and student‑athletes Ashley Applegate, Rachele Fico, Juliana Santos and Morgan Russell.
COACH TORINA:  I thought we started out really aggressive.  I liked how our offense swung the bat today.  I think we have to give a lot of credit to Cal and their offense.  They were just really tough and they keep coming at you, 1 through 9 in the lineup.  Very tough to get them out the fourth time through.
The only thing I was disappointed in was our defense.  I think our defense has gotten us here and has been the thing that's kept us in it this long.  I think if we clean a few things up and make a couple of adjustments, we'll be good to go for the next game.
THE MODERATOR:  Questions?

Q.  Beth, you guys had to feel really good taking the early lead, jumping out on the No. 1 team in the country, how disappointing is it to see it slip away the way it did?
COACH TORINA:  I think it's really disappointing, the fact that we were able to score the three runs and that's something everyone knows we've struggled with.  We came out strong.
Our offense did such a good job.  It would have been really nice to keep us in the ballgame a little bit longer.  But like I said, a lot of credit goes to Cal.  They bring a lot.  1 through 9, it's tough to get them out three and four times.  A really difficult task for anybody.
THE MODERATOR:  Ashley?
ASHLEY APPLEGATE:  Yes, it's something that we saw right in front of our eyes, and they came out swinging hard.  It's been something that we've been working for this whole season to come out and be aggressive, and just to see the numbers not add up the way we wanted to this game was kind of disappointing for us, but we know we're capable of doing exactly what we want, and we're going to continue to fight and move forward and keep winning.
RACHELE FICO:  It's good when we get a lead early in the game.  And I'm really proud of my offense for coming out and swinging and putting some runs up on the board.  It's disappointing that we weren't able to walk away with the win, but at the end of the day, our offense showed a lot of fight.  They scored in multiple innings and they tried to answer back in the seventh, and they put up a run, so I'm proud of my offense.
MORGAN RUSSELL:  It's always disappointing to come in here and losing the first game, but I definitely think that our team showed a lot of effort and heart and pride.  We proved a lot of people wrong with our hitting, and we did a great job with our offense.  And like Coach said, a few things we need to work on is our defense, get that back into our A game.  And if we put that back together, I feel like we're going to keep going and working hard and getting some wins on us.
JULIANA SANTOS:  Yeah, obviously it stinks to lose, but we pride ourselves on our defense, and that's something that we let slip a little bit.
I think at some points in our game, we kind of let the game be bigger than it was.  We let the emotion play through a little bit.
So now we've got that first game under our belt.  And I mean, scoring against the number one team in the country, that gives us confidence.  We're the underdog by far.  No one expected us to do anything, and so I think that, rolling off of, even though this is a loss, but I think that we're going to have some momentum rolling into the UCSF on Saturday.

Q.  Rachele, could you talk a little bit about your day and kind of what you think happened in the middle of the game?
RACHELE FICO:  There were some points in the game where runners got on base, and it may not necessarily have been earned each time, but I expect more from myself.  Even if they didn't earn their way on base, I need to shut them down, I need to do a better job of that and stop the momentum.
So that's something I would like to work on, and I would expect to do more.  So I'm disappointed in myself for that, but I just can learn from it and get better.

Q.  Coach, what do you in the next 48 or 36 hours?  I mean, how tough is that to have to sit there and wait?  You want to get right back on the field, and what are you going to do in the meantime?
COACH TORINA:  I'm actually really glad we have the time, honestly, because we're facing a very different type of pitcher this next game we're coming out.  So I think it will be a really good day to prepare us.  I think this team functions much better when we feel like we have a plan, and we have some time to prepare and do that.  I think that's a luxury right now that we have is having a day to practice and focus and get a game plan and prepare to execute.

Q.  Coach, there were a couple of close plays at first today.  I know there was one where Dylan had to stretch.  Could you tell me what you saw on that play?  Did you think she came off the bag?
COACH TORINA:  I definitely didn't have a great view of it.  I'm not at a very good angle, so I just have to trust that we got the calls right.
THE MODERATOR:  Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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