Patience is going to be required after the third and decisive game between Oklahoma and James Madison was postponed until 3:00 (CT) on Monday. The Sooners forced the final game by way of a 6-3 decision on Sunday afternoon. After that game Tiare Jennings and Kinzie Hansen, along with Patty Gasso, met with members of the media. Here’s what they had to say about the win.
Something about Boone is she knows how to get on base, for sure. Whenever we need it she does it. She does it all the time on us at practice. When she got that down the whole dugout just erupted. It was something that we absolutely needed to get the ball rolling, for sure.
Kinzie Hansen on how Rylie Boone’s bunt single to lead off the seventh lifted the team
I had the chills. I just kept smiling at second base and just kind of looking because that’s how cool it was at that moment. Definitely had chills. Definitely gave us that spark to do what we did. It was super cool.
Tiare Jennings on interacting with the crowd before the top of the seventh
It’s always a little bit easier the second — not easier, but you have more knowledge the second time around. And having never faced her, we were not prepared for what she was bringing.
I think facing Rachel Garcia really helped us prepare for today. It wasn’t easy. Don’t get me wrong. She still had a lot of our numbers. But I just felt like we felt more confident, a little more prepared with what we needed to do to get to the ball quicker than what we were doing yesterday.
Patty Gasso on facing Oddici Alexander for the second time
Definitely my game plan was just to be aggressive. Swing at strikes. Control the middle of the plate. And just be aggressive was my game plan. And just line drives, hard hits. And so far it’s been working.
Jennings on her game plan against Oddici Alexander
Nicole May always has the greatest demeanor on the mound, remains calm, always has that very focused approach. I’ve caught her for about four years now even though she’s a freshman, back in travel ball and things is like that. She got on the mound and I knew she was going to get it done.
When I’m behind the plate I love bringing that aggression, that fiery edge. So, when she was on the mound I was like, I’ve got you right here I’m going to get you going. And it worked.
Hansen on Nicole May entering the game to pitch
Definitely super amazing. I’m not surprised that she made it. As soon as I saw the ball hit and Jayda was going after it I was, like, it’s going to get caught. No matter what it’s going to get caught. Definitely started the momentum for the team.
Jayda always finds a way to fire us up. That’s what the hype man does. And just seeing Kinzie in that play, I’ve never seen her do that play before so I was hyped. I got super hyped up. The team got super hyped up. And you could tell how we responded to that.
Jennings on Jayda Coleman’s diving catch in center field
Obviously Jayda Coleman’s play in center field, she’s been doing it all year long. It was an absolute momentum builder for us and a timely, timely play. As much as we’ve made some really good plays, we also uncharacteristically didn’t make some plays that really got us in some jams. So important that our defense get a little bit tighter here, clutch up for us. The big plays we’ll take all day long, but the routine plays we need. We need those and we’re better than what we showed defensively that let JMU in the game. We’ve got to clean that up. But we’ve been known for big plays. And Jayda Coleman seems to always be in the middle of that.
Gasso on Coleman’s diving catch
So I’ve actually — that’s the one play that I think I dream about. When I go to bed at night I dream about the popups behind the plate that I get to lay out and dive for. I used to do that exact play at catching lessons every single night over at Jen’s.
So when it happened I thought immediately of her and I was, like, I’ve been training for that my whole life. When it happened I was like that’s it, that’s what I’ve been dreaming about for a long time.
Hansen on her diving catch behind home plate
You know what, with that gladiator mentality, I like to say our tank doesn’t get empty.
Hansen on if they have anything left in the tank for game three against JMU
Follow us on Twitter: @SportsHeartland