Lowe on the team bouncing back after getting blown out Saturday: “I love the way they showed up today, the way they prepared. They had a short memory, but also came out and went for it to win a series. I thought we put ourselves in really good positions to win the series, and a […]
Lowe on the team bouncing back after getting blown out Saturday: “I love the way they showed up today, the way they prepared. They had a short memory, but also came out and went for it to win a series. I thought we put ourselves in really good positions to win the series, and a few moments we want back and it stings. We had chances to score and put up some more runs, and I think’s gonna fuel us for the rest of the season.”
On putting in Jenae Berry briefly: “Yeah, Janae has some good matchups for her. She did well all weekend. So we have full confidence in what she can do. And that’s the thing, we learned a lot about our pitching staff, what they can do against them, and really in what roles. I thought Jalen left it out on the field today and all weekend long. Jenae, we learned a whole lot about what she would do on now. So it’s going to help us in the long run.”
On what most stands out about the team after one weekend: “They’re tough. We have guts. We know how to play the game the right way. I think we know how to bounce back, but just they’re gritty. I think one through nine in the lineup, plus off the bench. I was really happy with, like, you know, Emma (Kavanagh) coming in and executing right away, (Anyssa Wild) in the DP spot, having good at bats, like we made adjustments, and we’re tough to face when we have a lot of different things that we can do throughout the lineup. So, impressed with that. I thought defensively was sound. I thought we didn’t love everything yesterday, so did a good job. (Addison Duke’s) play … was huge, and Tayler’s play at shortstop to create momentum defensively, and that’s what we’re used to. Jalen, super impressive. I saw bright spots with Jenae, and I think we’re gonna learn and grow from here. This is what we needed. We have so many new faces on the team that we needed (this series).”
On the significance of playing Oklahoma early in the season: “I think you look around the country, there were matchups week one were awesome. So I think it’s great for our sport and at the same time I think we had a packed house yesterday, packed house today. Softball is growing. People love to watch it, and I think it’s because of what these players do on the field.”
On what the team will focus on this next week: “I think controlling our moment when it’s time, you want to see exactly what people do when they’re put in to the spot where there’s 2,600 people here and it’s their time to execute. And so now we talk through what that looks like, how we can be better, and it just changes the way you work. It changes the way you throw in the bullpen. It changes the way you execute your rounds of batting practice. It changes the pace of what you do defensively … It changes all of that. We have a team that’s going to buy into getting better. We should be a different team every week. We should see us getting better and better. We knew we were going to grow every week. And I think that’s the biggest thing is, are we going to take something away and be better for it?”
On what it takes to schedule a home series like this one: “Yeah, the toughest thing, honestly, with softball is that we have 56 games we’re trying to get into the schedule, and we don’t have a lot of midweek opponents, so we have to fill our schedule five or six games a weekend. So that’s particular by games a weekend. … Scheduling is hard. It’s getting people to come here, and it’s making sure you get all the games you need, all the matchups you need.”
Adams on her first weekend pitching at Arizona: “It was amazing. This is exactly what I came here for, to push myself, test my limits, and I think I got that. And I’m really proud of the team. I think we’re just gonna be stronger and better because of this series and this weekend in general, and I’m excited to see what we have.”
On what’s been most impressive about the team so far: “I just feel like the offense always you can never count us out of a game no matter what the score is. They always try to be super clutch, whether it’s a small game or having the big hit. Everyone knows their role, and they really lean into that. And I think just across the board, that’s really cool that I can say that.”
On being the leader on the pitching staff: “I think it’s just an opportunity to just help lead the bullpen. And we’re gonna have to pitch by staff. You know, there’s four of us, but it’s a strong four. Come June, we’re gonna be ready to go. So I think just leaning into that, learning from the losses, and keep moving forward. That’s all you do.”
On having young pitchers behind her: “They’re very mature, and I feel like they’re really eager to learn. I feel like I was the same way, and I still am always trying to learn something new. So that’s really promising, really optimistic. There’s always an opportunity for them to get better at something so I feel like that’s the biggest thing. They they have open ears, and they’re always willing to learn something new.”
On playing in front of packed crowds at Hillenbrand: “It’s great. I love it. I don’t think it really gets better than this. The support’s amazing. And I think we really lean into that, especially in those big moments. So yeah, it’s great.”
Stewart on the team fighting back after the Saturday loss: “We learned a lot after yesterday, I feel like just leaving that in the past and taking the next step forward that we need to take. And I feel like we came out where we needed to be, and we’re definitely gonna learn from the series and this weekend and a long season ahead.”
On her three-run triple: “I just wanted to be on time. I knew that she’s really good at changing speed, so being able to either sit hard but also fight for that change. I’m just thinking on both for everything off of her. But got the pitch that I wanted.”
On facing Oklahoma to start the season: “It’s awesome. Just to have high competition, have fans show out too, gives you that World Series caliber type of game, especially against a team like Oklahoma. So it’s really special to be able to play teams like that and have them come out to us.”
On whether this series could help the team down the road: “Yeah, I think 100%. We play Texas in the future, we play Stanford. We have some good matchups in the Big 12. So definitely, 100% prepares us for the future.”
On Tayler Biehl’s offensive start: “I’ve seen her really step up. Just really tuned going in on her swing. Obviousl her defense is really good, but her offensive side just seeing her her work and work and work. It’s really cool to see her racking up those RBIs and producing. Just really cool to see.”
On how the pitching staff fared in the first weekend: “I think they did amazing. I think the communication is awesome. Jalen and I are always working hard staying with the other pitchers. I just think that we’re really locked in, really connected, and it’s cool to see the feedback and the response that we get just because we’re so connected.”
Category: General Sports
