Kentucky softball coach Rachel Lawson talks about Kentucky’s Super Regional series against UCLA.
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On what Kentucky can gain from past Super Regional experience …
“Last year when we went out to Tempe we had so many freshmen. We were starting five freshmen and they really hadn’t been on that stage and didn’t know what that moment was about and I think they were just happy to be there. But I think that when they left the field last year they weren’t satisfied, they felt good about the season they had, but they weren’t satisfied. I think that has been the driving force all year and I think the experience of playing at an elite level and against such a great team has pushed us forward and hopefully we will correct some of the mistakes we made last year.”
On having played a tough schedule and how it will prepare them for a very good UCLA team …
“What I think it does is it helps calm the nerves. When you see a hitter get into the box that is 5-foot-10 and big and strong and all that, you get a little nervous if you haven’t faced that before. But because we play in the SEC and play so many ranked teams, we are used to seeing outstanding hitters and outstanding players. UCLA obviously is a program that is just like that and is one of the best programs in college softball. But the fact that we have seen it before, I think helps keep us focused on the task at hand and not so much the team that we are playing.”
On building the program and what it would mean to take the next step to the WCWS …
“It would be everything. It would validate everything that we have done here at Kentucky. We have an outstanding facility and incredible support from the athletic department, president and university and the fan base. Every game that we do better and every step that we take really validates the blueprint that we have put out here at Kentucky. To get to the World Series would mean so much not just to the program, but to the players and everyone.”
On UCLA …
“They do a lot of things well. First of all, Southern California is probably the hotbed in college softball. So they have outstanding athletes and a tradition of winning that goes back even longer than I’ve been playing. I think the winning tradition is something they’ve handed down throughout the program and they continue to get outstanding athletes and they know how to win. And they play the game the right way and do everything the right way. It is a great team. They are used to being on the national scene and used to going to the World Series. When they play a team like Kentucky, we are just a stepping stone to where they want to go. They are not going to feel a lot of pressure and we are just another cog in that wheel for them. That presents a little bit of a problem for us and ease for them. They are on a mission to get back to the World Series because they haven’t been there in a couple of years. That is some of the things we face when we go out to L.A.”
On if you use that as motivation …
“We are not really motivated like that. We try to focus on what we need to do well. With that being said, I am probably sure our team knows that. I think our team focuses on what they need to do. I think they focus on each pitch at a time and that is not just a trite think to say, that is really what they have to do. If they start thinking about UCLA and how good they are and how they want to step on us, it will take their focus away from what they need to do, which is put runs on the board. They know that they have to stay focused. Also, in the SEC everybody has looked at Kentucky that way for a number of years and recently we have understood that we belong on the national stage with everybody else and we are a program to deal with. I think we have been through that before so it won’t be a new thing for them at all.”
On playing UCLA in 2012 and what they can gain from that …
“We were horrible the last time we were out there, but the team is completely different now. The players that we had at that point were good, but it was the first weekend of that year in 2012 and we were much different at the end of that season than we were at the beginning. At that point I think we were just shell-shocked to be in L.A. and that is softball mecca out there. We made a lot of mistakes and things that looked like hits should have been caught and ended up scoring multiple runs and it snowballed from there. To be honest with you, it’s a completely different year and I am not expecting that to happen. The other thing is that Kelsey Nunley is steady and hopefully she will be able to keep the runs down so that we can outscore our opponent.”
