I guess you know the result by now. JSU sweeps Tennessee in softball to move on to the Super Regional in Tuscaloosa.
Quotes after the game yesterday, originally posted at this site
JACKSONVILLE STATE HEAD COACH JANA MCGINNIS
Opening Statement
“We’re living the dream. That’s been these girls philosophy since the end of the conference tournament when we thought our
season was over and we were getting ready to turn in our equipment, and then found out the NCAA had given us an at-large bid
and put us in the tournament. And I know that at least three of these girls, they came up with the philosophy we’re living the dream,
we’re getting to play another day of softball. I think if any of you watched our games, you saw the excitement, the energy our team
played with and they played like they were living the dream. They had the opportunity to play another day of softball and I couldn’t
be more proud of this team. They fought hard, they earned every play, they earned every run that they scored. Hey, it’s a dream
come true.”
Can you speak to winning three games in one day to move on to the Super Regional?
“It never bothered me with this team. Like I said, this team had the philosophy, coming in here, that we will fight, we will fight, we
will fight until the end. I’ve been on them that you take one inning at a time, one pitch at a time. You don’t look at three games. This
morning when we woke up, all we were focused on was Nebraska, the first inning, the second inning, then the third inning. I’m sure
these girls had the same mentality that I did, it was just one pitch at a time. And we never looked at it as three games. All it ever
seems as one, now it seems like we’ve played 21 innings, basically. That was our philosophy. We were going to play it one pitch at a
time, one play at a time. You can’t look at the third game when you’re playing the first game, you have to take it one pitch at a time.
And I’m proud of these girls.”
Was freshness a factor in bringing in Ashley Eliasson in when you did?
“I think so. When I woke up this morning, and we went to breakfast as a team, I sat there with the coaching staff, I said ‘Ashley
Eliasson is going to be the difference maker today’. She started the Nebraska game, and I knew if she could win the first game, get
the first game for us, (Karla Pittman) Pitt could start the second game for Tennessee. Then we knew Ashley would be in the third
game. It took us a while to decide if we’d start Pitt or would we start Ashley. I’m very proud of both of them. If there was one thing
I knew we’d have an advantage in with going through our regular season, we have two pitchers here who could start for any team
we’ve played against.”
SOPHOMORE PITCHER ASHLEY ELIASSON
On getting an at-large bid after you thought the season was over:
“I think that we all learned our lessons last week when we were saying good-bye to all the seniors, crying our eyes out. And we got
another chance. Friday we didn’t take advantage of it, we slept a little, and we realized that this was our second chance and we
weren’t going lose it. So we gave everything we had.”
Did you feel any pressure when you came into the game, in a win or die situation?
“I knew that if I held Tennessee that my team would have my back. If I gave it everything I had, it would be fine. You can’t really put
pressure on yourself, you just gotta play the game because if you put pressure on yourself, you’re just going to fail.”
SENIOR PITCHER KARLA PITTMAN
On getting an at-large bid after you thought the season was over:
“I have to go along with her, we did it. Us pitchers, defense, hitting, we all came through. Like I told you I thought we would today,
we came in and won three and shut ‘em out.”
Were you getting tired in the second game?
“I wasn’t getting tired I guess I just wasn’t hitting my corners as good as I was in the first game threw. I wasn’t getting tired I was too
pumped up to get tired.”
SENIOR OUTFIELDER JACKIE JARMAN
On getting an at-large bid after you thought the season was over:
“I thought everybody on the team, it was awesome. Everyone contributed, everyone did their job. We’re just living it up.”
On her RBI single to give JSU the 2-1 lead:
“I’m kind of a free swinger up there. I’m pretty aggressive, you know what I mean. I was just looking to put the bat on the ball, really,
just hit it solid. Just see the ball, hit the ball.”
SENIOR CATCHER ALLIE BARKER
On getting an at-large bid after you thought the season was over:
““I mean, thank you Lord. That’s what I have to say first. Without him, we wouldn’t be here. Like coach said, every day, we yell at
each other, in each other’s faces ‘we’re living the dream’. I think if you guys watched our game, it was give everything you have,
every second you have. Like coach said, for us three, we were turning in our stuff and anybody that’s ever played college sports, it’s
your life. You wake up, go to weights, throw some class in there, go to practice and for me, back to the cage, it’s all day. It’s your
life, really, when we lost in the tournament, it was like my life had been taken away, so to speak, when we got it back, we were going
to make sure we went one step further. That’s been our motto since last year, ‘one step further’. I don’t what else to say, we’re
going one step further.”
On going to Tuscaloosa, where last year you were sent for the regional and being two games from the College World Series:
“I think for me and I think also for the team, we’re going to have to keep doing it like coach said, one game at a time, one pitch at a
time, one play at a time. Not worry about the name on the front of the jersey, just worry about our team, and sticking together, and
playing as a team. When we play as a team, who knows what we can do. Just slow down the game, play it one pitch at a time.”
Here is a link to the OVC website, with an article on the JSU vs. Tennessee games on Sunday...
http://www.ovcsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=3739873&db_oem_id=6200
Way to go Gamecocks! You make us proud!!
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