Allsooners
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Oklahoma Softball Postgame (3/2/24)
Transcript
00:00 >> Patty, just general thoughts on the day,
00:01 it looked like the team was way more settled in today as opposed to.
00:04 >> I think we got comfortable in our new house a little more,
00:08 definitely felt a difference.
00:10 Very confident, just still feeling out a little bit,
00:15 like the wind flow is different.
00:17 I mean, there's some things that we're trying to learn about the stadium, but
00:21 definitely the jitters were out and they played the way they're capable of.
00:27 >> Alyssa and Jayden, did you guys feel that same way?
00:29 Kenzie and Alina talked yesterday about it took a little bit to get settled in.
00:32 Did you guys feel that, a little bit more comfortable today?
00:35 >> Yeah, for sure.
00:36 I felt like yesterday, kind of since it was the first time we've been on there,
00:39 it felt like a new home.
00:41 Kind of just like a visiting team in a way, but now we kind of got a feel for it
00:45 and got a feel for the crowd too, so.
00:48 >> Yeah, same as she said, I was kind of mesmerized about how many people were
00:52 watching and just being in the best stadium in the country, it's kind of
00:57 hard to wrap my brain around while I was playing, but
00:59 today was definitely more settled in.
01:02 >> Jayden, what have you learned about how the outfield plays here,
01:08 here through four games?
01:09 >> It looks like right field, it shoots straight out.
01:12 If you get a pop fly over there, it's gonna keep carrying, but
01:15 I mean, that's really the only big thing I've seen.
01:18 And it gets over the little hangover thing, it's gonna start blowing.
01:23 So I think we do a really good job, though, practicing with the wind,
01:27 calling balls and that kind of stuff.
01:28 But I'll be excited to practice on here for a week.
01:31 >> And you've always been a master with your lineups.
01:35 Today, kind of shocked me with Jada and I, not that Riley is not a great hitter or
01:42 anything, but talk about some of the things you think about when you're making
01:45 it into lineup every day.
01:46 >> I think we're really into analytics, and it does make a difference.
01:51 And they know that, I mean, it's not, Jada, all of a sudden you're in the net.
01:54 It's strategic, we set them up for
01:59 success by what pitcher is on the mound and who.
02:03 Maybe I like balls that are up, but this is a down ball pitcher.
02:07 Maybe I should be lower in the lineup, or maybe we make a switch.
02:12 I mean, it's all about that.
02:14 Or sometimes I'm just trying to get some of these guys off their feet a little bit.
02:19 But Boone's been hot, Boone's been really hot.
02:21 >> Your nine of all hitters has always been a key element of your lineup.
02:25 >> Well, the nine, one is really a nice combo,
02:28 whether it's these two or even Avery in the nine with Jada.
02:33 Sometimes Boone is one, Jada two, or Boone two, Jada one.
02:39 I mean, we can do a lot of things, but
02:41 it does have a lot to do with lefty, righty matchups versus who we think we're
02:46 gonna face, so I'm really writing out three different lineups.
02:50 >> Still Jada, have you ever hit ninth in your life until today?
02:54 >> Yeah, I'm sure I have.
02:56 I like it though.
02:57 You get to watch everybody else and learn from their mistakes.
03:00 >> [LAUGH] >> Cuz for the past year or two,
03:03 I've been the one that's kinda had to be the guinea pig and relay the information.
03:07 So it's really nice though to kinda go down there and get to see it out.
03:10 And I like the nine to roll over the lineup.
03:14 >> Okay, all right.
03:15 >> She likes the one better, but.
03:17 >> [LAUGH] >> I'll end up being the second inning.
03:21 >> She's got 700 that she's been in the title, so I don't know.
03:25 >> Whatever works, whatever I get to hit, that's what works.
03:28 >> Alyssa, not a lot of bad for Jada to learn from you today at the plate.
03:31 Just what were you seeing all day,
03:32 except you look extra locked in from the jump, even in game one?
03:36 >> Yeah, I just feel like my game plans are very, I just go in and be confident.
03:43 Not try to do too much, don't really read into a lot of things.
03:46 Like for me as a hitter, I just need to know speed and
03:50 a tendency and that's kind of what I go off of.
03:52 But yeah, just kind of settling in.
03:55 I love the crowd noise.
03:56 I love getting amped and
03:58 kind of feeling from the other girls in the dugout too.
04:01 So yeah, I'm just kind of going for it, basically.
04:05 >> Patty, you feel like Kirsten just building off of her last couple appearances?
04:10 >> Yeah, and there's a lot of confidence there.
04:11 It's been really fun to watch her, well,
04:15 it wasn't fun to watch her first appearance.
04:18 But to see her response to it has been really incredible.
04:22 It's a good testimony to just believing in yourself.
04:28 And she got that back, and she didn't let it lay it all out on that first weekend.
04:34 So I've been really happy with her performance, and we need that right now.
04:39 Our pitching staff got buffed up a little bit this weekend, and
04:43 we've got some work to do.
04:44 >> Well, listen, can you sort of describe, well,
04:49 you're hitting in the 400s now, your freshman year,
04:53 you hit in the twos, last year you hit in the threes, now you're in the fours.
04:58 This seems to be who you are.
05:00 How did you get from there to here?
05:04 >> I think I had a hitting coach that actually poured into me, and
05:08 who knows his stuff.
05:09 So I think being a sponge, honestly, the last couple of years has been really cool.
05:14 And learning from people like Jocelyn Allo, Tiarra Jennings,
05:18 like Jada, all of them and their game plans.
05:20 Coming in, it was like night and day, and I loved it.
05:24 And it was exciting to see how much information and
05:27 just what I can build myself to be.
05:30 And he just believes in us, and I think that's what's encouraging.
05:33 You can go in with a game plan and you know he's riding there with you.
05:37 But yeah, that's kind of the improvement piece.
05:39 And being confident and having a game plan now when I go in the box,
05:43 I feel very steady.
05:44 >> Was there any one thing that just sort of opened the doors to everything else?
05:49 That he gave you a tip?
05:52 >> I mean, he gives tips all the time, honestly.
05:57 He can do some pretty crazy stuff and you're like, what?
05:59 And then it works.
06:00 So he knows his stuff and I think we prepared more than anyone.
06:05 So that's what, you can go in the box just completely confident in your training.
06:09 >> How do you defense helped you out today in both games?
06:14 >> I took a lot of pride in that, because everybody talks a lot about pitching,
06:18 a lot about the big hits.
06:20 But the defense is really getting us out of big innings.
06:23 And there is opportunities for everyone.
06:28 So you saw Lena make a really great play at the middle and
06:31 then Avery's fighting in there as well.
06:34 There's just a Hannah Corr made a great play in the outfield.
06:37 So these guys are getting their opportunity instead of griping about it,
06:42 which they really aren't.
06:43 They're just getting in and saying, let me show.
06:46 Sid Sanders had a nice day today, but Riley Ludlum's been swinging well.
06:51 So we've got wonderful problems.
06:53 I wouldn't even call them problems.
06:55 We've just got wonderful depth that we can really look at what this matchup
07:00 looks like.
07:01 And it may not make sense to the people out there, but
07:04 that's not what we care about.
07:06 It's more of what makes sense to our offense.
07:10 And that's why you have to be good on both sides of the ball.
07:13 You can't just be a great hitter and an average defender here.
07:16 And that's how you win championships.
07:18 You gotta be good on both sides.
07:19 >> You touched on her there, but how valuable has Alina been with her
07:23 versatility defensively and then obviously what she's done at the plate
07:27 the last couple days?
07:28 >> Yeah, she's been good.
07:29 These guys can get really upset with themselves cuz they know that they're
07:33 better and things sometimes are depressing.
07:36 And once they kinda let it down and let their guard down,
07:39 then things start building back up.
07:41 And she has been building herself back up and really being valuable for us.
07:45 So I mean, I've had her at first, she can play second, she can play third.
07:49 I've had her in the outfield, and that keeps her in the game.
07:52 >> Patty, a question about Tiara.
07:56 I wonder if maybe because she overlapped with Jocelyn,
08:01 that people don't quite get how good she's been from the start and how good.
08:08 I mean, it may be historic by the time she's done.
08:14 And I don't know if you can speak to that, can you?
08:17 [LAUGH] Is that correct?
08:20 Is she underappreciated, is she better than we think,
08:24 even while we think she's terrific?
08:27 >> She may have been a little overshadowed by Jocelyn.
08:32 Jocelyn's were big monster home runs.
08:37 Tiara is just the most clutch hitter I've ever seen.
08:40 And if she is being underappreciated,
08:46 true fans and people that know the game will understand how valuable she's been
08:52 since she arrived here as a freshman.
08:54 So I think we know how good she is, and
08:58 she has been steady since she arrived on campus.
09:01 So yeah, I mean, she'll go down as one of the best in softball history here.
09:07 >> Good to get Sid going at the plate.
09:12 >> Yeah.
09:13 Yeah, I mean, she's feeling a little bit oppressed from other people that are
09:17 working out over at first.
09:18 And again, you can either say, no, I have to, I have to, I've got to.
09:23 Or you say, this is my spot, give me the bat, let me show you.
09:28 And that's kind of what I felt from her today.
09:30 She's gonna fight for that.
09:32 But we know how capable she is.
09:35 She has shown it since her freshman year at Arizona State.
09:39 So she's fighting, and that's good.
09:42 >> I know you preach a lot at the beginning of the season,
09:44 just don't look in the rear view.
09:45 But for Sid, who had a slow start last year in the way she finished,
09:49 has that been something that can be helpful for her?
09:51 Just, hey, work out of it, it's gonna come, that type of thing?
09:54 >> No, I don't think we talk to her much about it.
09:56 She knows, she knows how to do it.
09:58 She's been in that spot, and it took her a while to get rolling here in this
10:04 program, but again, I mean, like Alyssa said, you're coming from a different
10:09 program, so you're used to that, and it takes a little while to get used to
10:14 some of what JT is talking about, but Sid absolutely knows it now.
10:20 And she knows what it feels like to be in a not so good place, so
10:25 I'm not worried about her.
10:26 And she's strong willed, and I think she's been there,
10:32 done that, and knows how to get through it.
10:35 >> Patti, you might have been asked this yesterday, but I'm here.
10:39 When you see this stadium, is there one thing for
10:43 you that it's like, I can't believe we got this here?
10:46 I can't believe this is in this facility, or is there any?
10:50 I'm stunned that if it's raining, you might be able to get a majority of
10:56 the fans underneath some sort of something.
10:59 I mean, which- >> Good point.
11:00 >> The walking space.
11:03 >> It's everything.
11:05 I mean, I walked on the concourse yesterday, I'm like, look at all this room.
11:10 Like people can really, like five people can walk together and not run into.
11:15 It's just, it's very spacious.
11:17 It's very comfortable.
11:20 It's very fun to play in front of, you can feel the crowd.
11:24 You felt it at Marie de Hines, but this is different.
11:28 This is World Series feel.
11:30 I think that's what it feels like.
11:32 And we had no idea, like I said, so it took us a while.
11:36 Yesterday, we were just like, where are we?
11:39 It was just like a dream.
11:41 And to be out there and hear the crowd and the clapping,
11:45 it does have a sound like the College World Series.
11:49 It does have, you feel the chills a little bit when the crowd raises up.
11:54 It's just beautiful to look at.
11:58 I just can't stop looking at the scoreboard.
12:01 It's like a wow factor, especially it's different at night too.
12:06 It's a little more of a wow factor at night because it's just lit up.
12:11 And we don't even have our sound system in yet, and
12:14 that's what these guys are waiting for.
12:16 Cuz that's gonna give you a different feel as well.
12:19 So, it's just been incredible, and today felt really good.
12:24 It felt like, okay, this is real, this is not a dream, and
12:28 this is where we're gonna be living for the rest of our softball life.
12:32 >> Hey, J, do you have a chance to test the wall yet or anything?
12:35 I mean, get a feel for it cuz you're so good at climbing that thing.
12:39 Have you worked it out here yet?
12:41 >> I mean, yesterday we threw it off the wall.
12:43 This guy and I kinda ran into it to see how I would kinda bounce off of it.
12:47 But, I know I keep waiting for one of those.
12:50 I feel like it's gonna fly right over the fence.
12:52 I can just run up there and catch it.
12:54 I'll be ready for it.
12:55 >> It's a foot taller.
12:57 >> I know it is.
12:58 >> [CROSSTALK]
13:02 >> I've been waiting for that one too.
13:03 >> It's a foot taller?
13:04 >> Yeah.
13:06 So I gotta run up and jump, which would be way cooler.