BATON ROUGE — Florida’s Mary Ratliff answered Alabama’s go-ahead run with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to win the 2008 SEC Softball Tournament on Sunday at LSU’s Tiger Park.
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2008 SEC All-Tournament Team
OF Erin Webb, Tennessee
IF Tonya Callahan, Tennessee
IF Shannon Stein, LSU
OF Quinlan Duhon, LSU
P/DP Charlotte Morgan, Alabama
IF Whitney Larsen, Alabama
P Kelsi Dunne, Alabama
IF Ali Gardiner, Florida
OF Francesca Enea, Florida
OF Mary Ratliff, Florida
MVP
P Stacey Nelson, Florida
2008 SEC Softball Tournament
Championship Game
No. 1 Florida def. No. 2 Alabama, 4-1
Quotes
Florida Pitcher Stacey Nelson
On helping the Gators win their first SEC Tournament championship…
“Winning for the first time is just awesome. It was a hard fought tournament, and to come out on top feels just feels so good after all the games were so close.”
On her performance throughout the tournament…
“I came into the tournament feeling good about both sides of the plate, and I was able to just mix it up enough to keep the runs at a low count.”
On facing a tough Alabama lineup…
“They’re a great lineup and all of the hitters do different things and all have different tendencies. So, trying to learn the hitters was very tough. A pitcher has to be on her toes at all times because their one through nine hole hitter can take it to the fence at any time.”
On being named the SEC Tournament MVP…
“I kind of think it should go to my right fielder Mary Ratliff for hitting that grand slam. She kind of saved us there. It’s great, but really it’s the whole team is what does it.”
Florida Outfielder Mary Ratliff
On her third at-bat against Alabama pitcher Kelsi Dunne…
“I guess just having another round to see her (Kelsi Dunne) was a key for me. Any time you get to see a pitcher multiple times, it’s going to help you in the end. I just got a good pitch to hit, and thank goodness was able to park it for a lead, which was nice.”
On the adjustments she made during the at-bat…
“I made an adjustment. I got on the plate a little bit because most of the pitches I had been seeing all day had been on the outer half of the plate. I decided that I was going to crowd the plate a little bit. I did and got a pitch that was inside, and thank goodness I was able to get my bat head out on the front because if you’re on the plate and the pitcher throws you inside then you better be quick. It was all about making a small adjustment from seeing her the first couple of times. I felt like I had decent at-bats, but not great. It was a real learning experience the first few times, and also talking to the other girls about what they saw.”
On her thoughts when the ball left her bat…
“Please, go ball go. I am famous for watching the ball go out of the ballpark, and I was definitely watching that one. I was just praying it got out, and fortunately for me, it did.”
Florida Head Coach Tim Walton
On Florida winning its first SEC Tournament championship…
“This was a big win for our team and for our program. We made some adjustments in the game and had some good hitters come through with some good clutch hits. Most importantly, you can look at Mary Ratliff being able to put the ball in play right there with two strikes. There were a number of clutch performances out there for us today.”
On coming into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and coming out on top…
“I think it says a lot. It’s one of those things that you know you don’t get caught up in numbers like that. But when you start to develop the target on your back, to see a team respond on the road really says a lot about how they prepared themselves and how much they really focused on taking care of business this weekend.”
Alabama Head Coach Patrick Murphy
On the game…
“It was one pitch and they capitalized on it. [Florida] just got the hit when they needed to and I thought our one run was going to stand up because we were throwing a good game and playing good defense.”
On his game plan against Florida …
“[Stacey] Nelson is a great pitcher and we were just hoping for some more hits, more opportunities. I thought that when we got a runner at third with one out and Charlotte [Morgan] drove in the run in the top of the sixth, that run would stand up.”
On preparing for the NCAA regional tournaments announcement …
“We will take tomorrow off to watch the [NCAA announcements] tomorrow night and then start to get scouting reports on where we are going. After that, the team is going to be practicing all week and start lifting weights again to get ready for the regional.”