Washington 9, Northwestern 0 (5 innings)
June 02, 2007 | Softball
June 2, 2007
NCAA WOMEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES May 31-June 6, 2007 ASA Hall of Fame Stadium Oklahoma City, Okla.
Game 5: Washington 9, Northwestern 0 (5 Innings)
WASHINGTON HEAD COACH Heather Tarr Opening comment:
"Well, we did not expect to come out and run-rule a team like Northwestern. But I told the team when you have a plan and you know what you're trying to do and you can execute it, good things happen."
On the performance of pitcher Danielle Lawrie:
"She is our go-to gal right now. In a tournament like this it lends to your being able to put in one pitcher and put it in the pitcher that is hot. Danielle is pretty fresh right now due to the fact that she did not have to pitch every single game of our season. Caitlin Noble carried a big-time part of the load, which helps Danielle right now at this point. She is ready to go and has been preparing for this the whole season. Today was kind of interesting. The zone was a little different than we have been used to, so some pitchers will get rattled and not have anything else to go to. Fortunately Danielle and Alicia Matthews, our catcher, were able to make an adjustment and throw something else that was going to get called for a strike. So that was a great job by them."
WASHINGTON SOPHOMORE PITCHER Danielle Lawrie
On getting out of a second-inning jam:
"That is a frustrating inning for any pitcher when that happens. But at the end of the day I just look back on previous years when that has happened. It happened quite a few times last year. I can actually recall when it happened against Stanford. We played them at home in back-to-back games and it happened. That same situation and I came out and got the two strikeouts. For a pitcher, having that past experience and being able to execute in certain situations helps you out a lot. It makes you realize I can get myself out of these situations because I have before. The team knows I can and they have been there for me. When the team has confidence in me that makes me pitch better, and tonight it showed."
On her fresh arm:
"It is awesome. It is a great momentum builder because I can say, `Hey, I feel I can throw 20 innings and still feel good.' It is good to have a pitcher like Caitlin (Noble) that can throw those other games and help me out big time. Hats off to her and I thank her for that. We both did a great job this past season. Feeling good in the postseason is great for a pitcher when you know you are going to pitch the majority of the innings."
WASHINGTON SENIOR SECOND BASEMAN Dominique Lastrapes
On her team being the underdog:
"I think we went into this every week during the postseason. Even in regionals, people thought that we were going to get beat and that there was going to be an underdog come out of that and we won that. Even playing Alabama at home people thought that they were going to beat us and it was nice to prove those people wrong. Then to come here, we said we got here and we're not just happy to get here, but we're here to battle and win this just like everybody else. I think a lot of people have doubts in their mind but were proving them wrong these last three weeks."
NORTHWESTERN HEAD COACH KATE DROHAN
Opening comment:
"Clearly, we're disappointed. I felt Washington had an excellent game plan coming in and they executed it really well. They took control of the game early. This tournament is a double-elimination tournament for a reason, and we'll get ourselves together. We'll talk about the game. We'll look at some film. We'll be ready to go tomorrow."
On the failure of an early charge: "I think at that moment we needed to put the ball in play. We didn't make it happen, and this is a game of momentum. They pushed that run in the next inning and that's the game."
NORTHWESTERN SENIOR PITCHER EILEEN CANNEY
On whether the rain delay had an impact on the game:
"I really don't think it had that much of an effect on the game. I think that we came in ready to play and we had a great attitude going into it."
