May 16, 2009 | NCAA Softball Norman Regional | Norman, Okla.
TULSA HEAD COACH JOHN BARGFELDT
Opening statement...
"To be down to your last out and call on a player who has had one at bat and just comes through and puts a great swing on it. She had done that for us in a couple of situations this year. I am so happy for Kelly Chapman because she came in this year as a sophomore and lost her starting job and really rebounded back and has really been a team player. She has accepted her role knowing that she is our one bullet on the bench. She is about it on the bench, we just don't have many players. WE are very happy with that."
On decision to use Kelly Chapman...
"I put her in at the eight hole spot in the previous game and in one more earlier game in the tournament and that is one place that I told them in the last game that I felt that if a runner got on and we need a power hitter that we would bring in Chapman."
On North Dakota State...
"It is going to be hard no matter what because they are a good team. I don't care what anybody says they are disciplined at the plate and you don't see them swinging at any bad pitches and they put the ball in play. It is definitely going to be a hard to because they are a quality team."
PINCH HITTER KELLY CHAPMAN
On game winning at-bat...
"I am not going to lie, I was pretty nervous. When they called that first pitch a strike I thought, `ok, so it going to be like that.' So I was just getting ready for that next pitch she was going to throw and I was just going to hit a line drive and knock one run at least. So, it worked."
LEFT FIELDER BROOKE SMART
"I was definitely not been the first situation that she has been in and got the job done. It is exciting to know that we have people on our team that will come through and it is kind of amazing, you can hardly believe it. We are setting school history as we go and I am so excited that our season is not over."
- - - - - - - - - -
OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH PATTY GASSO
On what led to the three-run home run...
"Lauren Lindsay has been known for walk-off homeruns and we were trying to make her chase. She has been hitting above .400 and hitting the ball pretty hard against us and when you are facing someone like that you respect them enough to say we are not going to let them beat us. So we didn't get her to chase and to pull a kid off the bench the way they did with (Kelly) Chapman, which is extremely clutch. I don't know what else say about it. She had a chance to do something big and she stepped up and did it. And that was the difference and that has been the difference for Tulsa, having some big, clutch plays. We had opportunities throughout this game to do things and score more runs and we couldn't get it and during the post season you need to be able to step up and we just didn't quit have it."
On D.J. Mathis...
"I couldn't use D.J. today and I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have tomorrow because of the ninth inning last night she took herself out and it was severe enough that her pitching career was over at that point. I'm smart enough to know that you go with your ace and D.J. has been our ace since she has been freshman. So it had nothing to do with me saving D.J. for anything. It was that D.J. was done and it was up to our freshman and they did a real good job."
On Oklahoma's freshman pitchers...
"Our pitchers did a pretty good job and it was time to get Allee (Allen) out because we could feel things were getting a little bit shaky. To have Kirsten come in and throw against Arkansas and finish and hold the way she did is something we look forward to in the future. I think that those two pitchers are going to be very good."
On the season and winning the Big 12 regular season title...
"They will always leave their legacy on the outfield wall. It has been nine years since we have done won [the Big 12 regular season title], and I think the way we did it and the fact that we have had some changes to our program. We might not have always been the most talented but these guys worked real hard and I really enjoyed coaching them every day."
FRESHMAN PITCHER KIRSTEN ALLEN
On what she takes for the game...
"I can take away experience -- that is exactly it. I learned a lot and I learn even more with the seniors on the team. I am so proud with where we can and where we have gone. I am just going to take all the experience for this year and finish strong."
JUNIOR CATCHER LINDSEY VANDEVER
On the season...
"Our team definitely was clutch throughout the season. We were the underdog in many situations throughout the season. We went down and got swept by Texas and nobody thought that we could win the Big 12 and then to sweep Missouri is just huge. Our team fought and we fought to the very end. We are proud and that is all that we could do is just fight."
On the length of the day...
"This time of the season, it all comes from adrenaline and getting a rush. I don't think that you could tell from any of us that we were tired physically and mentally. We had to come out here and prove to everyone that we could."
