Oklahoma State 3, Georgia 2
THE MODERATOR: This is the Game 2 press conference featuring Georgia. Joined by student-athletes Sydney Kuma and Ellie Armistead.
Sydney, could you walk me through that game. You fell behind early. You had base runners and base runners. You had some key hits but could never come up with the eventual game winner.
SYDNEY KUMA: Yes, of course it's always hard falling short, letting them get ahead of us in the beginning. We tried to fight. Our hits just were not getting through. I could say we did pull through a fight towards the end. It didn't end up like how we wanted. Of course, nobody wants to lose.
We did have fight, we did have grit. I'm proud of this team for that. We're going to bounce back on Saturday and get it done.
THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions.
Q. What did you learn in this game to get you better for tomorrow or the weekend?
ELLIE ARMISTEAD: Just bouncing back from the failures. Really just learning from it, getting better next time, playing out Saturday.
SYDNEY KUMA: I would say just allowing to still let us work, let us not let this loss take advantage of us. I think we will pull through. Our fight will come, our heart and our grit. I think it will help us in the long run, help this team string together a win.
Q. Sydney, it seems like you like to do things the hard way. Here you are in the loser's bracket. All you got to do is beat No. 1 Oklahoma in the state of Oklahoma. Have you got it set up just like you guys want it?
SYDNEY KUMA: I mean, just because it's Oklahoma, it's just another game. We faced them before and we have won them, they won us. I think it's going to be a good battle.
I think we're going to bring our best fight out. So are they. It's going to be a good game. It's going to be really competitive. It's going to be a hard fight, but I think we can pull together and fight through it together and have all this grit. I think it will be really successful in the end.
Q. Dog Nation.
SYDNEY KUMA: Yes, sir.
Q. About the earlier game against Oklahoma, facing them in Athens, how different will it be playing them in Oklahoma City? They had a pretty big crowd.
SYDNEY KUMA: Yeah, I mean, I don't think the crowd is a big worry for us or just me as an individual because I'm focused on the game. I'm not focused on what's happening around me. I'm tuned into the game, every single pitch, every single at-bat. I think the whole team is like that.
They can bring as many fans as they want out there. I still think we're going to pull together and we're going to fight.
ELLIE ARMISTEAD: I think we were at Florida with all those fans. We can repeat it here in Oklahoma.
Q. It felt so electric. The more and more it kept going, you could feel that both sides were giving everything. How was all of that, feeling all that energy?
ELLIE ARMISTEAD: I think it's just cool, just like all the energy. It gives us energy as players, just makes us want to fight for each other even more. I think we did that. We will continue to do that Saturday.
SYDNEY KUMA: I think once we stepped on that field, all the fans, it kind of got to us at first. We have had to focus in on what we're here for. I just think it's an amazing thing. Both teams are going to compete. This is the best of the best right here. I expect them to compete. They have to expect we're going to compete, too. It's going to be head-to-head. It's going to be real good competition here.
Q. The last at-bat you started 0-2. That's a tough spot to be in. Talk about that at-bat.
ELLIE ARMISTEAD: Yes, sir. Thank you. I just wanted to do it for the team, keep my process. We've been working all week in practice. Just wanted to get the ball through and score my runner. Just working on that.
Q. Ellie, you guys had some chances there, how frustrating was it to come so close there and not be able to push it over?
ELLIE ARMISTEAD: Yeah, that was pretty frustrating. I'm glad I could bounce back with this past inning. Just didn't get that outcome I wanted. Bouncing back's what's important for us, so...
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time. We'll see you on Saturday.
ELLIE ARMISTEAD: Thank you.
SYDNEY KUMA: Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by head coach Lu Harris-Champer. We'll have questions for Coach.
Q. Obviously a tough loss, that close. You're right there in the middle of the action at third base. Talk about what happened on the play that Sydney gets called out at home. I wasn't sure if you were stopping her or what transpired there. What did you see?
LU HARRIS-CHAMPER: Well, I thought we had a chance to get to the plate when the ball got kind of past the second baseman. I was sending her, but when I turned around, she was coming back at me. I didn't have time to reel her back in. I have to be able to get in a position where she can see me better so we don't have that mishap.
Q. The homer by Factor kind of broke the glass for them a little bit. Mary has been so good in the post-season. Did she let one hang?
LU HARRIS-CHAMPER: I thought Mary was outstanding all day. The way Mary pitched, the way our defense played, we absolutely had an opportunity to get the job done in that game. When you go back and look at the game, you'll see how many beautiful change-ups she threw, again able to move the ball around the zone. I thought she did a great job. You have to tip your hat. We're playing a good team. They got one. That's just how it is. They had a chance to throw punches, so did we with our at-bats. That's just the breaks.
When you're a really good pitcher, you're playing a really good team sometimes, that's going to happen. I tip my hat to Mary, I thought she pitched outstanding. I thought the defense was outstanding behind her.
Jayda Kearny almost robbed that home run. She was super close to catching that ball.
Q. Sorry for the Monday morning quarterbacking. The last inning, you only got one out. Feel pretty good holding the runner? Is that what was going through your mind?
LU HARRIS-CHAMPER: When I looked at C.J. coming around, I saw the ball. If I could do it again, I'd absolutely send her. I did think it was going to be really close at the plate.
Q. Your thoughts on having a day to get ready for Oklahoma, playing a team that you faced twice already with an exciting win and a loss.
LU HARRIS-CHAMPER: Yeah, the good thing about it is we know them. The girls know that they can compete. I think like Sidney said, we're going to come out and play Georgia softball, do the best that we can to get the job done for our team, our university.
They're a great team. You watch them through the year, they do a lot of really good things, but so have our girls. I can't wait to get out and play again. The crowd was pretty awesome today. It was really fun. I love the stadium improvements. It's really fun to see it just be so well-enclosed. I just think they need to finish, go all the way around.
Anyway, it was an awesome environment to be in today. I'm looking forward to it on Saturday. I think it will be electric, it will be an awesome, rocking atmosphere to play some softball in.
Q. The defense Oklahoma State played, a couple of uncharacteristic errors for them. Talking about sending or not sending runners, they're good defensively in the infield. Did that cross your mind in those moments?
LU HARRIS-CHAMPER: I thought they made some really good clutch double plays. I don't know that that factored into anything I was doing at third base. I just thought, you know, obviously I could have been further up where Sydney could see me better and I could have potentially sent C.J.
I'm proud of the girls. I thought they came out and played hard. If we could go back and do things different, you always have a chance to figure that out. I thought the pitching and defense gave us a chance to get things done. I'm proud of the girls the way they fought hard, particularly after the way they settled in at the beginning of the game when we did give a couple of groundball double plays. We were able to make a little bit of an adjustment to help get the ball through.
Q. I think you started four freshmen today. Talk about the decision to let Ellie hit. She came through with the double. Talk about the growth, the confidence you had in her.
LU HARRIS-CHAMPER: Ellie is a great hitter. She's in our nine hole because she has got some wheels, can lay down a bunt. She literally is a great hitter. It's fun to watch her growing into herself, allowing the ball to get a little deeper so she can put the ball in play more. I trust her with the bat every time. She really, really is an outstanding hitter.
You'll see that more as the years go on. She's a true freshmen. I thought she did such a good job for us today and has been all year long.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you for your time. We'll see you on Saturday.
LU HARRIS-CHAMPER: We'll see you then.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports