May 25, 2008
Stanford Head Coach John Rittman
Opening Statement...
"It was hard fought battle today. I'm very proud of our team after being down, 7-0, to come back and fight. That game had run-rule written all over it and that just says a lot about our leadership in our program and our seniors never say day attitude. I thought they did an extremely good job of just pecking away and continuing to battle in a very tough situation. I'm very proud of our team for that. Obviously we're disappointed at the end of the season but very proud of our team and in particular our seniors."
On the Texas A&M defense...
"That's a credit to Texas A&M's defense. We knew they were a very good defensive team. Having a left-handed second baseman is a little unorthodox but she made a believer out of me this weekend. She made some outstanding plays. That's the way the ball bounces sometimes. We didn't get a lot of breaks but I think a lot of that has to do with Texas A&M's, first of all their pitching and secondly their defense."
On Missy Penna...
"There is no question Missy did not have a good weekend. I know she's a competitor and she's carried us all year long. I know she's hurting right now. She wanted to do well but again there is a lot of failure built into this game. Hopefully she can learn from that and get better next year."
Sophomore catcher Rosey Neill
On the Texas heat...
"It's going to be a factor but both teams are playing in the same heat. It's something you contend with but I felt like we handled our business relatively well. The trainer was working hard every inning and I felt like we had the technology. The heat is always going to be a factor but it's definitely not the reason we lost."
On making adjustments at the plate...
"I feel like anytime you see a pitcher a second time you're going to better at-bats off of her. She has her pitches and she threw them but I felt like she may have been a little fatigue after throwing all the innings yesterday. It was a lot hotter today so I felt like she definitely felt a little bit as anybody would. The more at-bats you get off a kid the better you're going to get, just kind of the bottom line."