Fresno State Athletics
Excerpts From NCAA Softball Press Conference
5/17/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball
For more information, visit GOBULLDOGS.COM's NCAA Regional page
UMBC coach Michelle Neveling
General comments on her team
We came into the tournament as a No. 4 seed, so we are kind of used being the underdog in a tournament. We came in fourth in the regular season. We lost our first game of our conference tournament to LIU and had to fight our way back through the losers bracket. I'm very proud of our kids for doing so. We also had to play a fifth game against LIU, and we were able to win four games in a row, giving up only one run in 30 innings.
It's a pretty tough draw because we are a pretty young team. But the good part about a young team is sometimes they don't realize what they are up against or what the odds are.
On playing top seed Fresno State in the first game
I think having such a great tournament last weekend at the Northeast Conference tournament really helped us out. It proved to us that we can come back when the odds are against us.
UMBC player Crystal Ray
On playing the top seeded team in the first game
I don't really look at the caliber of the other team. I just try and stay at my own level.
How she views herself as a pitcher
I characterize myself as an aggressive pitcher. I like to try to go from angles where they wouldn't expect you to throw certain pitches. And I try not to follow any patterns.
On playing in front of a large crowd
I thrive off of hostile crowds. The louder they yell, the stronger I feel out on the mound.
Texas coach Connie Clark
General comments on her team
I don't think our record is an indication of the type of ballclub we have. We had an extremely difficult non-conference schedule early in the year and have played, I think, the best teams in the country, like we usually do year-in and year-out.
On the difficult schedule her team faced this year
I think that will help us down the stretch. As we went into conference at the end of March, we kind of caught fire finally and ended up finishing third in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma and Nebraska. We are just looking forward to being back in postseason.
Florida head coach Larry Ray
Like Texas, we are a fourth year program. This is the first time in the history of our program I can say I've had seniors who have been with me four years. Those five young ladies were a big part of why we are here right now.
We are really excited to be here. My team is not here yet...they are supposed to be in around 8:30 this evening. And we are very excited to play Cal.
On the team's late arrival into the Fresno area
The reason for the late arrival was the problems getting out of Gainesville, which is a small airport. The airlines are very limited. The team had to drive to Jacksonville this morning and flew out of there. I don't feel the travel situation is going to affect us much. We have a pretty loose group and we'll get in tonight, get something to eat, let them sleep in tomorrow morning and get to the ballpark two hours before the game tomorrow.
Characterizing his team
We hit a lot of home runs this year for some unknown reason. I've got a little bit of power in the three, four, five spots, but I'm getting some home runs from the one and two hitters and even seven and eight. It's kind of unexpected.
California coach Diane Ninemire
Our team picked up this year where it left off last year. We graduated seven seniors last year, and a lot of people wondered how good Cal could be this year. Well, we brought in seven new freshman and played played four to five freshmen in every game. This team had the best start ever with 19 straight wins before we lost to our conference foe Oregon State. We won a lot of games outside our conference. We play in a really tough conference, and we only managed to win five games. But we learned a lot of things through our losses in the Pac-10, and hopefully it has prepared us for this weekend in this regional.
On using freshmen players
I had no choice [but to use the freshman] because we only carry 15 ballplayers. We had to use those freshmen and they've come in and done a great job this year.
Cal State Fullerton head coach Michelle Gromacki
This is my first time here, so I'm extremely excited. We lost seven seniors last year, and we brought in seven freshmen, several of them starters.
My goal at the beginning of the year was to compete well. That was the goal of the year. We started off with a bang. We had a little lull in the middle of the season and we are ending pretty strong. I couldn't be more proud of our team.
Fresno State head coach Margie Wright
As usual, we have a very tough regional. Everybody here has had a great year, otherwise they wouldn't be here. We are very excited to be hosting the tournament and host to all of the teams that are here. It's going to be a battle, and we are all going to be fighting until the end.
Fresno State pitcher Amanda Scott
From the very beginning of the season we set our goals. That starts with the WAC championships then going to the regionals, then winning the regionals and going to the World Series. We've had our goals in mind the whole year and we've done the things we've had to do along the way to accomplish those goals.
