Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech softball, which is the No. 3 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, held a press conference on Thursday ahead of its regional, with head coach Pete D'Amour and select players meeting with the media. For what the Hokies had to say:
HEAD COACH PETE D'AMOUR
On hitting with power in the postseason and preventing the opponent from doing so:
"For example, if you look at the games that we won at regionals last year, we had a lot of homers and extra base hits and we didn't give up many. You look at the first game at UCLA, we had a triple there, a double here, and then the next two games they tagged us with a couple of homers. So, if you can score runs with one swing of the bat, it just really helps during this part of the season."
PITCHER KEELY ROCHARD
On how much of a boost it will be to be playing a regional at home:
"It just helps being in front of your home crowd. Inside the lines, nothing really changes – it's still the same game. But being in front of your fanbase is a huge help."
PITCHER EMMA LEMLEY
On handling the expectations of being a No. 3 national seed:
"We were actually just talking about this before practice. We have a pretty high ranking and people expect us to win. I think we just have to think back to the beginning of the season, when rankings really didn't matter. We just have to go into every game with the same mindset – win each pitch, win each inning, win each game."
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DESIGNATED PLAYER MEREDITH SLAW
On the level of confidence within the team heading into the weekend:
"I think our level of confidence is pretty high, like we all have touched on. We have experience and have been here before. We know what to expect, but we have to show up pitch to pitch and game to game."