May 19, 2007
Quotes from Game 6 of Regionals - BYU vs. ASU
Coach Myers:
On BYU coming back in the game to tie it: "There's always hope with that team, they are an outstanding team with great coaches and players and they never quit. I hope that you see that as well in our team. My hats off to that team and program, they are a tremendous club and I wish them the best. I feel for their seniors as I know what it feels like to get to the NCAA Tournament and play your best but fall short. I have nothing but respect for the BYU team and I know they'll go places in the future."
On the back-to-back home runs: "Well, Ashley was actually supposed to bunt in that situation and after missing on two attempts she knew that she had to do something to avoid catching grief from me, so she hit it out. She's had a great freshman year, and it's tough as a freshman to come into the Pac-10 and be successful, but she's found a way. I didn't actually see Jackie's homerun, which may be a good thing for how much I'd hear about it, but I'm extremely proud of both of them, they came to play as did the rest of the team."
Did you give the team any extra motivation in the fourth inning?
"I'm intense all the time, that never lets down. My motivation level stays the same. You can't just give motivation to a team, it has to come from the heart, and that's exactly where it came from today with this team. BYU battled back and they never let themselves or each other down."
On the advantage of having Super Regionals at home: "It's a huge advantage to be at home, we've found a lot of success there, we've only lost three there and we hosted five home tournaments, we know that park in and out. You also heard BYU's crowd today, that's a huge factor, our crowd and attendance have been amazing all season and supported us every step of the way. Now we get to play in front of them, hopefully as we advance to the World Series, we owe them that much for the support they've shown us all season. We also have the heat on our side. Whichever team comes down has to face us in 105 degree temperatures, which we train in. It's going to be hard for another team to come in and take two, but we have an amazing opponent coming down either way between Stanford and LSU."
On possibly losing Katie Burkhart to the National Team next season: "She has the opportunity of a lifetime to represent her country and if she were to make the team she'd redshirt through next season to play with them. It'd be a tough loss for the season, but it's the highest level, there is no greater honor than to hear the national anthem of the when you are representing the entire country. We'd take care of business, but there's no doubt if she makes the US Team that she'll be redshirting and representing our country in the Olympics."
On coming back strong after BYU tied the score: "The coaches and I collaborated on thoughts and ideas about how I need to regroup and attack them on the next time out. They know how to fire me up, but as a team, we motivate ourselves, we're our own biggest fans and support system and we need that in big games like this."
On her phenomenal pitching over the weekend: "I never know stats or strikeout number or perfect game situations when I'm out there. I just go out and pitch. I go out to keep us in games until the offense can take it from there. Stats don't mean anything near what a win means."
On her home run: "I was actually pretty mad at myself for not getting the bunt down, that's what I was told to do and I didn't get it done. All weekend long I was struggling inside, so I knew she was going to pitch me inside, I saw it coming and just got on top of it and it went out. I got lucky and saved myself in a tough spot."