Feb. 12, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Head Coach Robin Petrini
Opening Statement:
As you know, we've already played so we got a taste of what our team could potentially look like on both directions. It was a good weekend for us and we saw a vast improvement from day one to day two and we're looking forward to the rest of the season.
What do you like about this year's team?
The tenacity. I think that they're a hard-working group and they're anxious to get after it. I think the first day of the tournament we played a little bit nervous and the second day of the tournament, we played more like I would expect us to play.
Last weekend, you came on strong in the second day. What makes you think that you're going to continue that this weekend?
Every weekend is a new outing but we're ready to play and we competed really well on the second day, so the team is ready to compete.
Aside from the tenacity, is there anything you've learned about this team after just a handful of games?
It's really hard to say after a handful of games. I thought that Jackie (Hill) pitched really well. I was pleased with how Lisa (Akamine) pitched. Kimi's (Wong) coming along, so we kind of got a feel for our pitching staff and the potential that's there. Then as far as the batting order, I'm pretty confident with one through four and I don't know how the rest of the order will shake out. I never know that and it'll change all year long. But we got to see a couple different people in different positions. Christana Crivellaro got to play some right field, came up with a big play in the Arizona State game. It was good to see a lot of different kids got in and had some opportunities and for the most part, everyone came through.
You mentioned Lisa (Akamine) and Jackie (Hill). How integral will they be to the success of this team this year?
Well, Jackie's just one of three pitchers but we are counting on her to carry her fair share of the load and then the other two need to carry their fair share, as well. We don't know what that is yet.
How do you look at these early season games? Is it a sort of shaking out process?
It is a shaking out process, but you have to win along the way. You can't afford to try and give kids experience and not make sure that you're in a position to win games. But it is a shaking out process. You find out how people's confidence are, what their tendencies are, and you start finding out what kind of season your kids are going to amount up to.
Do you have a feel of what the strength of this team is going to be? Will they be more predicated on pitching and hard-nose defense or will you try to score 13 runs?
Well, 13 runs is pretty hard to come by. I think that you have to have pitching and defense to be successful and you have to have enough offense to win the game. One of the things that I think we are very good at, and it makes our defense look very bad in practice, is base running. We are very good at base running, and although that may seem like a minor thing to you, base running generates a lot of runs. I think that's probably one of our biggest strengths right now, but again you have to have enough pitching and defense to stay in the game and you have to have enough offense to win. Western Michigan was an example of that. We had enough offense but our pitching and defense kept us in that game. When Lisa came in in relief, bases were loaded with one out, and to my surprise, they sent their runner at third and Ashley Griffith had a double play, caught the fly ball and then threw her out at the plate. We had two outfield double plays this weekend, which I don't think you'll see an outfield double play. You can go years without seeing an outfield double play and we saw two in four games. Our defense is up to the challenge and we'll see if our pitchers are up to the challenge. They were up to it this weekend. I thought that Jackie pitched extremely well against Arizona State. You take Cochran out of their lineup, which you can't because she is who they rely on, but she was the only one who really hurt us and she hurt us so they could win. Jackie handled the rest of their lineup very, very well so we just have to pitch around people's big hitters.
Is the bottom half of the order youth or mechanics?
No, no not at all. If you go back and look at the history of my line-up card, there are probably two people that are in the same spot in the batting order all year. I constantly shake up the batting order. The team knows that I constantly shake up the batting order. So, they're not attached to a position on the batting order. Like, Danielle (Kinley) is hitting three now. I might bump her to one. I might bump her to two. Last year she hit three, she hit one, she hit two, she hit five. The order just bumps around. The team knows that. When it's your opportunity to come through, no matter where you are in the order, it's your opportunity to come through. So, I don't think that they get that attached to the batting order.
What's the status of your new field?
It's currently on hold due to the economy. They told me to anticipate a one-year. So, I'm hoping that the stimulus package stimulates the economy so we can get off that one-year thing. That's the latest. That decision was made. Graham made that in December when he sent out that financial e-mail to everyone affiliated with Penn State.
How is Danielle Noll doing?
She's doing great. She's getting better every day. She got into the (Cal State) Bakersfield game. She actually forced an error on the shortstop she hit it so hard at her. We were able to score a run.
Do you have a big type of player that you think can step up in pressure situations?
Actually, Danielle (Kinley) does tremendous under pressure. I think that some of the other kids are going to emerge this year under pressure. But if the game is on the line and I were able to select on person that I could put at the plate, it would be Danielle. But other kids have to step up because unfortunately I don't get to select.
Danielle Kinley is starting to move up some pretty big lists in school history. How do you feel about that? I know your goals are probably always team oriented, but how does it feel to have her moving up the lists?
I think one of the interesting things that Danielle has done through her career is that her stats have improved through her career. If you look at kids in the program through the years, there's usually a year in which they dip a little bit. She hasn't had any of that. Probably one of my favorite stories is that when she was a freshman the number four-hole was the kiss of death. No matter who I put in that position, they just failed miserably. They'd be hitting .350, .400 and I'd put them in the four-hole and they'd hit a buck fifty (.150). So I went to her in the middle of the year and said "the four-hole is an opening and its been the kiss of death for every player I've put in there but I have confidence that you can fulfill that role, are you up for the challenge?" And she said "absolutely." She went on to hit whatever it was for the season, over .300 and never looked back and filled that hole for us as a freshman. She's just a tremendous competitor. She loves the challenge. When the game's on the line she wants to be in that position. Not all kids feel that way.
Is her (Danielle Kinley) stroke any different at all after surgery?
No. No. We worked really hard on it. At the beginning it was. That was one of the things when we talked about doing the surgery this fall we knew it was going to be a full six months. She's actually five months out. We knew it was going to be full six-month rehab until she was full on throwing. She is throwing now, but she's not throwing at 100 percent yet. One of the catches of the surgery is that she would be able to hit from the first game that we had. She's been right on track and actually ahead of schedule with all of that. She didn't miss a beat at practice when we came back in January. She's been hitting full on with the whole team all the time. So far so good with all of the promises of the surgery.
You had mentioned the difficulty of the schedule. Maybe it's the toughest it's been in years, maybe even ever since you've been here. Why did you decide to challenge this particular group with the weekly grind?
You know when you commit to going to tournaments you don't necessarily know what you're going to get. Two of the tournaments I knew what I was going to get. I committed to Cal State Fullerton, that's always a loaded tournament. We do that tournament every other year. It's just kind of the cycle we're on. Whatever team comes through, that's the cycle we're on. And committing to the (NFCA) Leadoff Classic is also a loaded tournament. Going down to UNC, did I know that Cal Berkley was going to be there? No. Going out to Arizona State, did I know I was going to draw ASU? No. So when you commit to these tournaments you don't know what you're going to get until everybody commits to the tournaments and in the case with Arizona State, until they set up the pool. You don't know who's going to be in your pool. There are 24 teams down there. We face four of them. So you don't know what you're going to get. So it just so happens that, and even when you go to the Leadoff Classics, even though you know there aren't any weak teams, you don't know which teams you're going to get. Same thing with Cal State Fullerton. When you go there there's 24 to 30 teams there. You don't know which teams you're going to get. So then when you get your schedule you go "we drew a pretty good schedule." You have to play everybody anyway and it is great experience for the team. It gets you ready for Big Ten play. I'm not concerned about it. I think it's a tremendous challenge for us. I think we will be equal to the challenge. As Danielle said, we do play up. I expect that this group will play up.
Where do you see yourselves falling in the Big Ten?
Every year it's a dog-eat-dog and you have to get after it. I want us to improve on what we've done the in the last couple years because we have not done well in the Big Ten. We need to improve that vastly. I'll be able to give you a better pulse as we get closer to that on where I think we can actually compete in there. We saw Northwestern this last weekend. They have one good pitcher. You get to her, and they have nothing behind that. Michigan again is a perennial, and she's got a two pitcher staff. But we've had great success against Michigan. After that, you throw it up in the air and we see how it shakes out. The Big Ten is always tough. It's a solid conference. I think that this might be one of the stronger years in our conference. We will see how it shakes out.
All-American Danielle Kinley talks about her role on the team and what to expect from the Nittany Lions this spring. |
Senior Captain Danielle Kinley
How has your role changed this year? Has it changed at all?
It has changed a little bit because I just had surgery on my shoulder and I'm a DH right now. A lot of my role at the moment is getting everybody up and getting everybody excited and I really enjoy it because it's fun to see the freshmen have a lot of fun and just realize that it's okay to have a good time and have them come out of their shells a little bit. That's been really fun.
Which shoulder?
My left one. My throwing shoulder.
When did you have surgery?
Four months ago, but I'm hitting fully and I should be throwing soon.
You're playing a lot of highly ranked teams right away. How much does that help the team when you guys are just thrown right in the fire?
I think it helps a lot and honestly, we play up really well. I think that if we can play at that level at all times, we're going to be incredible. I think that it just shows us and gives us the confidence that we are as good as these other teams and I think it's good to know that right away.
Is there anything specific you're looking for this weekend? Any specific goals?
Play well and win.
As one of the stronger hitters on the team, are you worried that you're going to have to pull more weight and try to score as many runs as you can?
I don't think that's a worry. I have confidence in my teammates, definitely. I think that everybody will pull through at some point. I mean hitting is such a team aspect. You can't rely on one hitter. I don't feel that's a bad thing either. Being in that heart of the line-up, me, Sam (Hovanec), and whoever else is in there. I think we take that as a challenge. We like being in those positions.
How nice is it to be able to go down south and get out of the cold State College weather and play games?
It's really nice. It's really nice to get out on the dirt and the grass. We get to practice everything that we need to practice indoors and that's fine. But, it's always nice to feel the sun: to just get real hops, get that kind of stuff going. Today it was really nice out. We were actually practicing outside which was great.
Is that the first time you have been able to practice outside?
This winter, yeah.
You're starting to move up some pretty big lists in school history. How do you feel about that? I know your goals are probably always team oriented, but how does it feel to be moving up the lists?
It's always an honor, and it's an honor to be a part of Penn State history because Penn State is such an incredible school and program. I don't really know which ones I'm on or anything like that but I'll look at it when I graduate.
Were you worried coming into the first weekend coming off the surgery? Did you have any doubts?
No, because we have been practicing for two or three weeks before hand. We practice live off of our pitchers and stuff like that. Everything feels the same. Hitting is, I mean obviously practice is going to make you better, but I've been doing it for a long time. So, it just comes back naturally I think.<>