Postgame Quotes: #2 Florida 3, #3 Michigan 2
6/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 2, 2015
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Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
Opening statement ... "Great game by Florida. You know, Aleshia Ocasio I thought was brilliant tonight. I think Lauren Haeger speaks for herself. And honestly I felt that we didn't really come out to play to win until about the fifth inning. Our energy, we seemed a little tentative. Things didn't really go our way. And we just had to keep plugging away and get back to having our good energy that we're so known for. And I thought we got a lot better as the game went on. And I told our kids, you have to win two games in this tournament, this part of the tournament. Doesn't matter which two games. But just need to continue and build on what the last few innings, good Michigan softball. And we have to believe. And I thought we had a little bit of doubt maybe, maybe a little jitters, but I think we're better than that. And I told our kids, we've got to plug away, move forward, put it behind us, and we'll be better tomorrow night."
On Sierra Romero's opportunity to score in the seventh ... "Well, that play was -- it was a rocket. And you know, it was going up the middle. And when Sierra saw that she (Kathlyn Medina) was trying to turn the double play, but she hesitated obviously for a second because she doesn't want to make the out at the plate. When you hesitate you can't go. It was the right decision, because it was a quick play, bang-bang, they made a great play. Give their defense all the credit in the world. Their defense is fantastic. But when I saw them turn the double play I was yelling 'go,' but it was too late. She had to hesitate. And she made that decision. And that's the way it is."
On preparing to face Lauren Haeger ... "We prepared for her. In the back of my mind I knew it was possible they wouldn't start her. But I don't coach their team. So we just had to prepare and ultimately regardless of who is pitching we just need to have good at-bats and see the ball. I thought we gave away a lot of at-bats. We swung at a lot of their pitches. Changeups in the dirt. And we needed somebody to step up and start having good at-bats, which we did later in the game. But at some point obviously I'm sure we'll see Haeger."
U-M Sophomore Abby Ramirez
On Sierra Lawrence's advice before her RBI at-bat and her hit ... "She just gave me a little pep talk. We were putting our pinch runner in so there was some time. And she just calmed me down and said, see the ball, do what you do, you just need one base. So all I wanted to do was get it out of the infield. I was just taking it where it came. And it was on the outside corner, but I was able to push it up the middle. And like I said, I was just trying to get a base and trying to get it out of the infield and give us a chance to score."
U-M Senior Haylie Wagner
On rebounding Tuesday ... "We have a ton of fight. And I think we're going to be able to come out tomorrow and just come out and play with the heart and soul we've been talking about the past few days, the past few weeks. We just have to come out and play Michigan softball. We didn't do that at the beginning of the game. And we're a very resilient team and we're very relentless and we'll just go after them."
U-M Junior Sierra Romero
On playing with more energy later in the game ... "I think in the beginning of the game things weren't going our way. That happens sometimes. Once our balls started to fall, we were getting more excited. But we need that energy throughout the whole game, no matter how we're doing."
On a loss potentially affecting the Wolverines' confidence ... "That doesn't affect us at all. They still have to beat us twice. So the second time is going to be even harder. We'll come out there ready to fight. And we're not going to give it to them easy."
