May 26, 2001
NCAA Women's College World Series
May 24-28, 2001
Don E. Porter Hall of Fame Stadium
Oklahoma City, Okla.
STANFORD HEAD COACH JOHN RITTMAN:On the game:"It was a great game. Obviously with two rivals, you couldn't ask for a better game. It was kind of a throw-back game where we won on one run, great defense and pitching. This game comes down to not who has the most hits, but who has the most runs at the end of the game."
On the performance of starting pitcher Dana Sorensen:"Dana really stepped up today and gave us everything she had. She gave us five strong innings and made some good pitches in tough situations."
STANFORD STARTING PITCHER DANA SORENSEN:On the bases loaded jam in the first inning:"Getting out of the first inning with the bases loaded was huge for us. I think being able to get out of that jam without any runs scoring got us pumped up and after that we felt like we could win it."
STANFORD CENTERFIELDER JESSICA MENDOZA:On the game:"I thought it was a very good game. Both pitchers were pitching well and shutting both teams down."
On the team's tough defense:"Coach Rittman always tells us that if we just let them put the ball in play and play defense, we can beat anyone."
CALIFORNIA HEAD COACH DIANE NINEMIRE:On the game: "I know that we're disappointed with our performance today. We thought we had a real shot at beating Stanford today and it just wasn't meant to be. We got behind in the second inning and we had an opportunity to come up with a play and instead we made an error. Also unfortunate for us was the first inning. We had the bases loaded and were unable to score. It was the combination of these couple of things that led to our loss."
On Jocelyn Forest's performance: "I think Jocelyn did a great job coming in today and shutting them down. It's because she is a good pitcher and has command of a variety of pitches. She did an outstanding job."
On Paige Bowie's error: "I don't think that the error should be looked at in any way, shape or form as the reason we lost the game. We had scoring opportunities and we didn't come through with the key hits we needed. We are a much better hitting club - we should be able to do that."
CALIFORNIA SHORTSTOP PAIGE BOWIE:On her fielding error: "There's no excuse for it. I blew it. Obviously, your team has to score to win, but I feel like I didn't give my team that chance."