Video and Transcript: Lonni Alameda, Patty Gasso preview Women’s College World Series Championship Finals

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- No. 3 Florida State softball and No. 1 Oklahoma are set to face off in the Women's College World Series Championship Finals, a best-of-three series. The Seminoles advanced to the finals with a 5-1 win over No. 4 Tennessee on Monday night. Both FSU and OU are 3-0 in OKC this week.

Before the best-of-three series, both teams met with the media on Tuesday to preview the series. Lonni Alameda was joined by Kathryn Sandercock, Jahni Kerr, Michaela Edenfield, and Mack Leonard at the podium. Oklahoma head coach Patty Gasso, along with Grace Lyons, Jayda Coleman, and Alyssa Brito, each spoke as well.

View below for video and transcripts:

Q. Wanted to ask you a little bit about Jayda Coleman. They've switched their lineup around a lot, but she's consistently been that leadoff spot for them. What's the biggest challenge when you face her in specific? I know they've got a lot of good hitters, but her in specific.

LONNI ALAMEDA: Go right into it, first question, that's good, yes. Scouting report. Jayda's an athlete. I remember her playing shortstop in the recruiting days. She is extremely passionate, and you can see that in her at-bats. Again, this will go back to our studying tonight, but facing her, mixing spots, and all that kind of thing can be big. Her speed plays for her, athleticism plays for her, let alone her skill sets. She stays in the zone for a good amount of time with her barrel. Just a really good hitter, and we're excited to compete against her and the rest of the lineup.

Q. Kathryn, you've faced OU a couple times in your career. What have you taken away from those experiences, and what makes this current roster just so tough to face?

KATHRYN SANDERCOCK: Yeah, every time I've faced them, they've had an extremely difficult roster, definitely keeps you on your toes. But I think it's just the coolest challenge as a pitcher to put yourself up against the best and see what you've got. Really excited to face them, and I think it's really cool to have some experience playing them before. They know me a little bit. I know them a little bit. Yeah, it should be just really fun softball this week.

Q. Coach, obviously the off day is something new within the schedule, fairly new within the schedule. Step us through a little bit about what your day looks like today, as far as with the squad. You guys are working out. Are you working out within the complex? Just kind of step us through the day a little bit.

LONNI ALAMEDA: Yeah, we've been fortunate to benefit from how the tournament's been set up, something we've been fighting for. Obviously winning gives you the off days, so it's been really nice to have the day to get up in the morning, get a little regen. We take a little walk as a team. Everyone's in a little different spot in what they need for their bodies. Some family time. Then we have some team time, dinner, then some scouting, and we prep for the next day. It's a very good schedule, put ourselves in a good spot, where a couple of years ago, it's midnight and you get home and you have a game the next day and you're figuring out how to scout, how to get ready. It was also hot. The weather's been incredible too. So we've been in a really good position on the other side of it. It's something that practice-wise, we put our time in in the fall, we put our time in in the season. So to us it's more about mentally being prepared than it is in the physical part. So we take the off days as a complete off day.

Q. Lonni, if you've been able to watch, what kind of things did you see Stanford do that they were able to keep their games against Oklahoma so close? Are there any parts of that that you guys could maybe mimic?

LONNI ALAMEDA: Well, NiJa's 75-mile-an-hour rise ball. We'll try to mimic as best we can. (Laughter.) They do an incredible job. It's super cool I was able to Coach Tori and Jess Allister. To watch what they've done for that program is super special. I think there's some heart and passion in the circle and the team getting to play them. Did see them sell out for Jordy. They got a game plan, and they really stuck to it. That was awesome to see. I know in my time coaching at Stanford, we may not get the top athletes, but they were all in. The athletes were all in. They are going to make adjustments and get after it. We try to keep that with us too. We get some special athletes here, but this is an all-in team too. So when we go to a game plan and get after it, they are selling out left and right. We're going to take some lessons they learned and implement it into our style too.

Q. For any of the players, a lot of people have talked about the margin of error against Oklahoma is so small. If you think back to when you played them earlier in the season, they jumped ahead pretty quickly early in the fourth inning. How do you avoid those moments and avoid them capitalizing really quickly and not being able to catch up?

MICHAELA EDENFIELD: Definitely there's a game plan going into any game. It's just another team. They put on their pants the same way as we do, and I think, just sticking to us and understanding effectively what our pitching staff is doing, I mean, just being able to minimize the damage that they do for sure. They have a great lineup, and I think it goes into our field of knowing what we're trying to accomplish on the field in between me and the pitchers and knowing that we want to limit back to backs and the amount of people that we allow on the base. So if they do hit a home run, it's bound to happen, but we want to minimize how many runs they get in that. I think it's been pretty cool. I enjoy playing against OU. They're a very passionate squad, and you want to play the best.

JAHNI KERR: I would just say as a team, just staying in our circle, staying within ourselves. There's a lot of outside noise right now. Obviously we're in the World Series, one of the final two teams. So I think just staying in ourselves and carrying the left and the right. I don't know, just staying external and within your left and your right. Just competing honestly.

MACK LEONARD: I agree with that. Coach had mentioned earlier today pressure's a privilege. So obviously they're a very great team, and I think that we are as well. We're more than capable of competing with them. As long as we stay with our left and our right and staying present externally, like J.J. said. We can remember that the moments we're in are very much a privilege and we're grateful to be here. As long as we can remember that and stay within that and stay in our circle and play Seminoles softball, I think we're going to be in a really good spot.

KATHRYN SANDERCOCK: Same, I agree. Margin of error super small when you're playing Oklahoma. I would say the same for any team that made it to the World Series. It's the best playing the best here. I think margin of error is really small when you're playing us. Give us an inch, we'll take a mile. That's our mindset. I think it's the same for all the teams that are here.

Q. Michaela, you have as good a view as anyone, maybe better, when it comes to Kat being on the mound. What's it like when she's out there? What's that relationship like? Just in general, what does she bring to the team, maybe the confidence when she's on the mound?

MICHAELA EDENFIELD: Kat brings a lot of things to the table. She's done a great job being head of the pitching staff, taking Kenny under her wing, just teaching everyone that it takes a team. We've been doing this pitching with the roster -- my gosh, it will come to me. Pitching by committee, there we go. (Laughter.) It's interesting sometimes when we're in a really good zone, it's like there is no ball in between us. It's complete. Eye and body language, and it's really, really cool to be in that moment with her. I'm just really grateful that she's opened up to me and allowed me to be a part of that experience.

Q. Lonni, just talk about pitching by committee. You talk about last night, the strategy of using Kat a little bit less. You're using a lot more arms this year. Can you talk to me more broadly about the strategy of that and whether there's any kind of evolution to the thinking there.

LONNI ALAMEDA: I think that we've seen the trends in softball right now of not riding the one-arm pitcher the whole season, and kudos to our game for getting better offensively and strategically. I give a lot of credit to Hack Attack for having these machines that can replicate. I think analytics have gone into it. Everyone knows numbers now, and they know what they're trying to hit. And then TV. It's been incredible we're on TV. The more you get the opportunity to see pitchers and their tendencies, the more adjustments you can make with the great hitting coaches we have in our game. We on the pitching side and the defensive side have to figure out ways to minimize the momentum of teams, and you have to really figure out the different looks that you can do that and try to find different ways to beat certain hitters. Jayda is a great hitter. So is Haley Lee. So it -- so you have to figure out how do we get these hitters out? Do we have that arsenal in our bullpen to be able to do that? I think strategy becomes a play. You've seen it more and more in our game and not overexposing people like Kat in certain situations so we can bring in a rise ball, drop ball, and change-up, which she has the ability to beat people, but maybe I can get less seeing that one hitter at that time. Just really going out on a limb of -- again, Michaela talked about being the leader of the pitching staff. Kat wanted that, wanted to be leader of the pitching staff, but we wanted to talk about how to be a staff. When Michaela says pitching by committee, it's been more of a planned-out situation to get more comfortable with what committee actually means and how to utilize it.

Q. Mack, what was it like when you first entered the pitching group and first started working with Kat? How have you seen her take ownership of everything that Coach Alameda is talking about?

MACK LEONARD: At first it was a lot, just knowing the smarts behind pitching, the smarts behind playing to their best pitch, my best pitch. The defense will sell out to what I have, and what I have is a drop ball and change-up. I think that having Kat as a leader, last year stepping in, I didn't really know who she was, but immediately she took my hand and guided me, and I couldn't be more grateful for that. This year I've seen her step up even more than last year. We've got a really big staff, and she's managed to lead each and every one of us in different ways. It's a testament to her leadership for sure, and just the ability to know each one of us and lead us in this way, and Coach has also done a great job with it. I certainly wouldn't be where I am at with the confidence level I have or the capabilities I have without either of these two behind me.

Q. For Lonni, how do you go about preparing for a defense that doesn't make very many mistakes? I know you guys have played a lot of good teams in the past, but as far as psychologically, how do you go about kind of preparing your team for that situation?

LONNI ALAMEDA: A lot of it just comes down to the pitching. I think your defense is going to be as good as your pitching is consistently. They have some great pitchers in the circle, and they know what to play for. Again, pretty athletic, so they can cover some ground. We've got to do what we do. We like to run the bases, and we need to get on the bases, and we want to push some situations. So if we can push the defense, that can put us in a really good situation to be able to extend some innings and get after some things. It's one thing to tip your hat to what they have, it's another to really get after what we do. And I think that's what we're going to be about.

Q. For any of the players, the golden socks you all have for mental toughness, can you describe how that got started, what that focus has meant to the team this year, and who's been getting the golden socks lately?

MICHAELA EDENFIELD: Ellie Cooper, our mental performance coach, decided randomly. I think she found those socks at some shop, and just talking about our mantra, like let's ride and being rugged, I think that's kind of where it all started. And just being able to give some highlight on the player that really was going, staying through it, staying to her plan regardless of what the outcome was. And I think that's the bigger part is that you don't have to be performing 10 out of 10 to get those socks. It's all about being there for your team and definitely being a part of the circle and sticking to your left and your right. I think it's been super cool just because we're acknowledging the little things, and at this point of the year, that's where the little things are the big things and into this big picture. So it's really cool.

Q. Who got the socks last night?

MICHAELA EDENFIELD: We have no idea. I don't even know if we have the socks here, but we're still acknowledging it. KATHRYN SANDERCOCK: We've been so tough lately that the team is getting the socks. Everyone is. We need 22 pairs now.

Q. Coach, you talked about your base running. So much offensively, you're talking about power exerting pressure on opposing pitching staffs. What is your aggression and how excellent you guys are at running the bases, how does that exert pressure on opposing pitching staffs?

LONNI ALAMEDA: Yeah, I think one is when you look at teams that can run, you put away certain pitches. You're looking at the opportunity for maybe a ball in the air versus a ball on the ground or a strikeout pitch. I wouldn't say just that's our sole thing, it's just something we really make sure we take pride in every day at practice. This isn't like, hey, this week let's work on base running. It is an every week thing for us because, again, you can have power. Last night we had power. So as long as we're training all facets in our offensive strategies, then we have things to go to. I think, when you force the defense to shut us down, when we force defense every day, it makes us better on the defensive side. You realize how the margin of error, a ball here versus a ball here can be safe or out. We really take pride in that piece of pushing that.

Q. Coach, just what is it like being around this team on a daily basis? How much time is spent off the field to build the culture that you've built in this program?

LONNI ALAMEDA: It's been incredible this year. Probably one of my, I guess as a staff and as a coach, a challenge this year. I feel like we had a little bit of still the COVID overhang. I feel like the Gen Z mindset and then the expectation. We had a lot of feelings from last year, the end of last year. So really trying to manage different people from where they're at. I think some people were upset about the season. Some were still trying to figure themselves out. Some were still trying to gain confidence. And we were still trying to figure out how to be a team. We kept pushing the buttons and pushing the buttons. Fortunately, every single player stayed in it from where they were and keep rising up. It's just so cool to see them right now earn this moment. You talk as a coach all along, I kind of want you to experience the World Series. They're going to have that for a lifetime. They'll have these moments for a lifetime. Like I said last night, I chose this career, and I have a passion for it so then they can have these moments of elation that they each earned. Jahni is earning it, Kat's earning it, Michaela's earning it, and they're going to have that forever. I'm so proud of us as a staff to let them keep their arms around the circle and let them have their moments.

Q. Lonni, I know your last three trips now to OKC, you made the Championship Series. I'm sure it's not one thing you point out. What do you look at as the reasons why, when you have made it to OKC lately, it's been long stays?

LONNI ALAMEDA: I always fall back on how we do things. We have a saying, how you do things is how you do everything. What we're doing now is no different than what we did in February or March. We really take pride as a program for building this time of year. As a team, you're going to go up and down in successes throughout the season, but our mindset is always like I want Kat to be the strongest at the end of the season. I want Jahni to learn these moments so at the end of the season she's super comfortable in them. Just all facets of it. I think we have this vision and it's mapped out and we check the boxes as we go along. I feel like, when you're building that process piece, then they can always rely on this is how we do things, and it's not something new at this point in the year. I truly believe that's a big part of it is just our culture and how we live daily. Yes, there is an expectation of how to play the game of softball, but it's off the field too and how you deal with each other on and off the field. I see that show up for them a ton, and they can rely on each other.

Q. Last night on social media, Lonni in the locker room with the players. What does she mean to you and all the coaching staff?

MACK LEONARD: To me Coach gave me a start. She gave me a new chapter in life that I really didn't think I'd get. I say to myself a lot I'm living a dream that I didn't know I had, and it's a lot because of Coach and these girls. To just constantly remind myself that I'm so, so grateful. This is beyond what I believed I was capable of as a player or even as just like from where I grew up or where I was at. This wasn't something that where I came from in Normal, Illinois, you don't go to the World Series. You just go and play softball and then you go get a career after college. This is next level, and this is just a dream. So I'm just grateful.

JAHNI KERR: I was just going to say like I guess from my freshman year till now, I've kind of gone through a lot of things. My freshman year was a little tough for me, I guess you could say. So just having Coach allowing me and Haley, who at the time had torn ACLs in 2021, when we did come to the World Series, we got to experience it in a totally different way than just playing the game. So I feel like just from the scouting aspect of it, we got to learn a lot so that, when we were on the field, I guess you could say this year, at the World Series, actually getting to play it and live the game life of it, we know where to be. We know how to help our pitchers. We know how to back them up for their best stuff. I just feel like the family part of it is so huge that just like the way that she teaches things is so different than anything that I've experienced from coaches, which I very much appreciate.

MICHAELA EDENFIELD: Coach and the staff gave the girl in the backyard of Tallahassee a shot. I talk about it all the time. I chose to come to Florida State to grow not only as a player but as a person. Just thinking of how nurturing of an environment it is. Like we say it takes a village, we do have a village behind us, and it's amazing that I've been able to experience my time here at Florida State. Coach has just allowed me to grow and be myself both on and off the field. I get a lot of comments about my makeup, about I don't know why they let her do that. It's a little much for me. To be able to do something and allow a coaching staff and a community be behind it has been really, really amazing, and just allowing me to grow into the person I am today.

KATHRYN SANDERCOCK: I love Coach. Just from where I was at my freshman year and who I was, I've just completely changed not only as an athlete. I mean, she has transformed me into the pitcher that I am today. I mean, I've always loved softball. I've dreamed of playing on this stage as a little kid. I would not be here at all without Coach A and just what she's allowed me to do, but just as a person too. A lot of tough conversations, growing moments. It hasn't been perfect, but it's been one of the most important and amazing relationships of my life, and I'm so unbelievably grateful for Coach A and the whole coaching staff, support staff, just everybody. I just wouldn't be who I am if I hadn't chose Florida State. I'm just so unbelievably grateful

Q. This is for Alyssa and Jayda. You guys have a lot of energy, especially after walks sometimes. Sometimes you guys celebrate your walks maybe more than home runs. Where do you get that energy from, and how does that maybe rub off on your team, Patty, as well?

ALYSSA BRITO: I just think like, when you really think about the game, walks are so important. That's something that we stress, especially as an offense, of how getting runners on is runs. So to us, we're going to celebrate it, and we're going to celebrate it really hard, and it's just as good as getting a base hit in my eyes. When I bring energy like that, I think we all feel it. As a team, we're all collectively there, and we're on the same page of how important a walk is.

JAYDA COLEMAN: I think, when you know the game, you understand how big those walks come in handy, just like Tiare's double. Instead of scoring only Grace Lyons, I ended up scoring two. Now you're up two instead of just one. Yeah, celebrating those little things is the same thing as getting a hit. I didn't get out. I didn't have to walk back to the dugout. So I'm first base, and that's all I need for my team.

PATTY GASSO: One thing I've told these guys is always be -- you must be unapologetic about the energy and the celebrations that you have because women have worked so hard to get here yet still get judged for those things. That's the way we play, and that's what people enjoy. Or you don't. You either like it or you don't, but we're not going to apologize for these players knowing the game and celebrating it the right way.

Q. Grace, I want to start with you. As a veteran on this team, has been here for the other two championships, if you think back to when this tournament started, what did you guys need to work on to get back to this point? Patty, if you could speak to that too.

GRACE LYONS: I think it starts way back in the fall. The hard work we put in. We all know how hard our falls are, Battle Series, playing against each other, that's what sets the tone for the rest of the year. If we know that we can compete at that high level in practice, the game comes naturally. You can see with a couple tough wins in postseason, just knowing how to compete with adversity and almost feeling like a loss but not actually losing, that's a really cool feeling for us to be challenged with early on in postseason. Then now, now is when you've got to be gritty. We're tired. People can say that it's long days. Those are just excuses that people could have at this point in the season. But we practice that in the fall, and I think now is just when we can go out and compete with the abilities that we've been given and not press too much because the hard work's already been put in.

PATTY GASSO: I think Grace said it best. I think October was a big time for us. To be honest, it hasn't been rosy and wonderful. In the fall, we had to learn a lot. I had to learn a lot. We had a lot of newcomers. I don't know if they even realize that. We had eight newcomers, and that's almost half of our team. There was a lot of learning, a lot of getting to know each other. A lot of good leadership as well. A lot of expectations of what our program is like and newcomers and some kids from the portal coming into a new program that they're not used to. So we had a lot of work we had to get through in the fall, and I think, without question, paying off now.

Q. Coach, the off day is obviously something that's fairly new to the schedule. Can you talk a little bit about your team's schedule today, something you might be doing to keep the team focused, relaxed. Just step us through fairly quick on what the schedule looks like.

PATTY GASSO: This morning had a nice ice bath. They're awake. It's pretty chill really. We just -- we're here doing this, eat lunch. We're going to go back to Norman and get some practice and get into some video and so forth. They've had a lot of time these last couple of days with their families, which I know is very important to them. Again, having a veteran group, a good group of leaders to make sure that everybody knows what they're doing and doing it the right way makes a big difference. I give them a lot of -- I ask them, What do you guys want? How do you want to do it? I give them those options because they've been here and they know what works.

Q. Patty, February 8th of this year, you'd have been about to kick off your season in Irvine, California. If you think back to then, what was the question you had about this group for any confidence that you might have had? What was the question that needed to be answered for you at that point?

PATTY GASSO: What's wrong, you guys? What's going on? I think our first weekend there were just a lot of big eyes. So we won. We played okay. But there was just -- the groove was different because we had always been playing against each other, and now we're all in one dugout, and it's just different. Like I guess we should have practiced all being in one dugout and what it felt like. So it was not what I expected. I think they would tell you, if you look back, we got through some games, but we were not even close to being -- we were close to being ready, but we weren't, I would say our first weekend, completely ready. We can look back and learn. We learned a lot of things. I had to learn a lot about them. They had to learn a lot about who's playing next to them because, when we're in those Battle Series or whenever I'm doing practice, a lot of times the full starting infield is not together. They're split in half. So I felt a little bit of, wow, this is newer. You feel a lot of newness on this team, but again, you just need time to allow these upperclassmen to lead them in a way they know this whole championship mindset process is supposed to look like.

Q. Put it to any of you guys, the players, to learn at this point. This particular season, what have you learned over the course of it?

GRACE LYONS: I think it's been cool to embrace so many different personalities. I don't think I've ever been on a team where there's so many unique people. I think we talked about this earlier this week of how everyone is so different but we all gel some way or the other. I think that has made it so much fun. We may not be hitting as many home runs as last year and stuff like that, but we are making memories. We are gelling as a team. That's what makes this season super unique and something I'll never forget for my last season of just how we were able to gel so many different people together. At this point, we're united, and we're excited for anyone to come through at any moment. Like that's where the trust that we've built comes into play. We're so excited for anyone's success. We have full confidence that anyone can do it -- pitchers, hitters, defense. Like we've got that trust with everyone.

JAYDA COLEMAN: Just to go on with what Grace was saying, I think we really needed to learn that it was us versus everyone. The only people that know what we go through is the 19 girls that are right next to me, and just the struggles we go through. We compete against each other all fall fighting for a spot, and even through the spring we're still fighting for a spot. Sometimes it gets really competitive between us players, and just to understand that it is us 20 going against other teams. It's not us trying to go against each other. If you have that going against each other, you're not going to be successful. So like she said, celebrating other people and always having their back, but I think really just understanding that it's us 20 versus everyone.

ALYSSA BRITO: One thing about this season that I've really noticed is how much joy we have as a team. I know Lyons touched on it a little bit, but this is honestly the most fun I've ever had. Like she's saying, we have some of the craziest memories together, and it's some of those things that you look back on later in life and you're just so grateful. So I'm just so glad that this team was put together and all these great girls, like even with all the newness, it was like first weekend we were all playing volleyball together, just celebrating each other and having just so many good memories early on in the season. Then when we get here on the field in the biggest stage, it's just like it's a party, and we're just having so much fun together. I think that's where our joy comes from. You see that in all the big smiles we have on the field and just how much we love up on each other.

Q. Patty, a lot of us were there mid-March. Florida State came to Norman and how important that game was. How big was that game for this team in terms of your learning and growing? Was there ever a point where you start to realize, you know what, we might see this team again in the Championship Series?

PATTY GASSO: It's too early for me back then to even care about any of that except really worrying about our team. It was a good matchup. It was good for fans if you were watching. They're very well coached. They're hard working. They have some returners who have been through this. So they're very similar to us. Am I surprised that we're both here? No. But they're very similar. But we're a different team than we were in March, as are they. So we're familiar with names and their style, but we've got to go back to the drawing board like we haven't seen them before.

Q. For the players, I know you talked about keeping the joy of the game, but I'm curious, it's a long season. You guys have had the target on your back the entire time, the win streak being number one. How do you handle the unique pressure that comes with it? How do you keep the joy for so long when anxiety seems like a thing that could very easily set in?

GRACE LYONS: The only way that you can have a joy that doesn't fade away is from the Lord, and any other type of joy is actually happiness that comes from circumstances and outcomes. I think Coach has said this before, but joy from the Lord is really the only thing that can keep you motivated, just in a good mindset no matter the outcomes. Thankfully we've had a lot of success this year, but if it was the other way around, joy from the Lord is the only thing that can keep you embracing those memories, those moments, those friendships, and all of that. That's really the only answer to that because there's no other way softball can bring you that because of how much failure comes in it and just how much of a roller coaster the game can be.

JAYDA COLEMAN: 1,000 percent agree with Grace Lyons. I went through that my freshman year. I've talked about this before, but I was so happy we won the women's College World Series, but I didn't have joy. I didn't know what to do the next day. I didn't know what to do for the following week, but I didn't feel filled, and I had to find Christ. I think that's what makes our team so strong because we're not afraid to lose. It's not the end of the world if we do lose. Yes, obviously we worked our butts off to be here and we want to win, but it's not the end of the world because our life is in Christ and that's all that matters.

ALYSSA BRITO: I think a huge thing that we've really just latched onto is eyes up. You guys see us doing this and pointing up, but we're really like fixing our eyes on Christ, and that's something where like they were saying, you can't find a fulfillment in outcome, whether it's good or bad. I think that's why we're so steady in what we do and our love for each other and our love for the game because we know this game is giving us the opportunity to glorify God. I just think, once we figured that out and that was our purpose and everyone was all in with that, it's really changed so much for us. I know myself, I've seen so much of a growth in myself with once I turned to Jesus and I realized how He had changed my outlook on life, not just softball, but understanding how much I have to live for, and that's living to exemplify the Kingdom, I think that brings so much freedom. I'm sure everyone's story is similar, but we all have those great testimonies of really showing how awesome it is to play for something bigger. I think that's just what brings me so much joy. No matter the outcome, whether we get a trophy in the end or not, this isn't our home, and I think that's what's amazing about it. We have so much more. We have an eternity of joy with our Father, and I'm so excited about that. Yes, I live in the moment, but I know this isn't my home, and no matter what, my sisters in Christ will be with me there in the end when we're with our King.

Q. Patty, you've got to keep your eyes on the prize and really work with these players on their skill set, but I think from a human nature perspective it's easier to learn from failure and from losing than it is from winning. How do you stay on top of these players and keep improving throughout the year when there is that kind of challenge within there?

PATTY GASSO: I think they just gave you the answer. Again, they are unapologetic about the way they feel and what they believe. That makes my job easier because I'm with them in that. We're not looking at what could happen or, oh, the pressure. There is pressure, right? But these guys have embraced it. They love it. They love the big moments because the big moments are the moments they'll never forget and how it happened. When we come back ten years from now, they're going to laugh and remember some fun times and so forth, but they just don't break because they have the right mentality about the way they play the game.

Q. Alyssa, with all the newcomers on this team, with you coming in as a transfer last year, was there anything in particular you learned about how to enter this program and adjust that you were able to pass on to other transfers this year?

ALYSSA BRITO: I had a lot of conversations with them obviously being in that spot. A big thing I had to learn was coming in you can't expect anything. This is such a unique program in the way that we have so much talent. There's a reason why you come here, and it's because people just elevate you, not just as a player, but as a person. Coming in, I knew I can't expect anything to be handed to me. You have to work your butt off, but you also have to stay true to yourself. I think that's something that Coach really stresses when you come in. She's like, I'm going to let you be you, and that's exactly what we need from you. We don't need you to be anyone else. There's obviously struggles, being a transfer. You're new. You're trying to figure it out. People are feeling you out. I think one thing I stressed is you don't need to be anyone other than exactly who you are. She wants that from you, and you don't have to prove yourself. There's a reason why you're here. So that was kind of a big thing in a lot of the conversations that I've had with them.

Q. Is there anything in particular that you did in October, November, those early months that aren't so easy, to incorporate those new players?

PATTY GASSO: I think that Battle Series that we played was just a whole other level of -- it felt like to me two top ten teams playing against each other. So much so that OU took the liberty to put it on ESPN+, and there were a lot of people watching. The Jordy versus Tiare matchup or the Nicole May versus Grace, I mean, there are matchups that you want to watch. So these were battles that was truly a battle, and there was trophies, and there were prizes, and there was all kinds of stuff affiliated with it. But the best way that I could or our staff could create what it should feel like is having them go against each other and having the right leaders on each team to lead them into so-called battle. I think that was extremely valuable, and it was so competitive. There were sellout crowds for it in October. So that's taking the game to a whole other level.

Q. Grace, you guys faced off against Kathryn Sandercock a couple of years ago in the Champ Series and saw her this year. What about her makes her so challenging for you guys as a lineup?

GRACE LYONS: She's such a competitive pitcher. I think we've seen a lot of competitive pitchers this year, but she has a really cool just way she pitches. She does a lot of different things and keeps hitters on edge. So I think we're just excited to get her best and Florida State's best because it's going to take a complete team on both sides to win a series. It's not just one pitcher and it's not just one-hitter on our side or anything like that. So I think we're excited to bring complete teams on both sides and just compete against each other. I think it's just going to be a battle, just kind of the theme of the fall and all that, it's going to be a battle in June. We're excited for that. We have seen them before, but also we can't treat it like we've seen them before. It's a brand-new team on both sides. So we're just excited to prepare and give them our best.

Q. Jayda, you guys have had some battles recently with Clemson and Stanford, where they're going down the wire and you guys have to find ways to make plays to win. How important were those experiences and you guys finding ways to win heading into this week? Patty, along those lines, how important is it for you as a coach to have those experiences and see players make plays going into this series?

JAYDA COLEMAN: Those games are the best games. I won't forget that Clemson game, and I probably won't ever forget that Stanford game. Just knowing that we're never out of it. You all probably heard Hansen say that a billion times, but we're never out of it. Just the fact that we get down to two strikes, two outs, and we can come through at any time, I think that just builds confidence in our team that, if we have another out, if we have another strike, we still have a chance. It doesn't matter what the score is. Just having that confidence with each other. It doesn't matter who's up to bat. We have a freshman coming up to bat. Joce came up right after Tiare, and she could have easily gotten another base hit. But just knowing and having that confidence in each other.

PATTY GASSO: I would say the beauty of this team is they never panic and they always believe that whatever the circumstances, they're going to get through it. I think Florida State feels the same way. That's why I think you're going to see a really outstanding Championship Series. It will be truly a battle, and there's a lot of things that are going to be at stake in the way of who can pitch better, who can get the timely hits, all those things. This is not run rule territory here. It's just going to be fun. I tell you, these players love this stuff. They would rather have a team that looks like them and play against them than anything because we love when people can bring out our best, and Stanford did that and Clemson did that and lots of teams throughout the season, and we appreciate it because it makes us learn, makes us work. There were a lot of people like, oh, gosh, I wish you had another loss so you could learn from it. What do you want, everyone go up there and just stand there, don't swing the bat? We can learn from close wins. We can learn from anything we do, if we choose to. We don't take winning for granted. We take lessons every time we play, and we make ourselves better.

Q. For each of the players, you heard Patty earlier talk about sort of being unapologetic and celebrating wins and the enthusiasm that you all played with. We've seen that here the last few years. How do you react to maybe some of the criticisms that go along with that? Do you feel like there is a double standard?

ALYSSA BRITO: I think we've seen so much on social media. I think the great thing is we can put our phone down and not even look at it. I think understanding that no one's ever going to be happy no matter what, you can't satisfy anyone. That's not why we play this game, and that's not why we're here doing what we're doing is to satisfy anyone. So I'm just -- I think for me I'm going to stay being who I am and stay true to who I am, and if that's that passion that I have offends anyone, it's just kind of like, okay. I'm not going to allow anyone to kind of change my game. I think that's a huge thing that we stress here is there's a reason why we have an excellence and a standard here, and that's because we have never changed for anyone exactly who we are. I think just carrying that mentality throughout this Champ Series and the rest of the way is a huge thing, but just not really feeding into what the negative talk is and focusing on the good things, and that's exactly in our circle and on this team.

JAYDA COLEMAN: I kind of talked about the double standard thing. I really don't get it. I think we continuously in softball itself are just breaking barriers. I've seen it with my own eyes. I feel like it's just very disappointing to just see people just trying to tear us down in that type of way. Maybe not tearing us down, but just kind of making it into a negative light when you're seeing the MLB players doing the exact same thing, the NBA or the NFL throwing their helmets or having emotion. Why can't we have emotion? We're at the same stake as them. We're athletes just like them. Why can we not wear our emotions on our sleeves? I just think that's kind of disappointing, and like she said, I try to stay off of social media because that would fire me up and make me just want to do it even more, to be honest. No, it really disappoints me on the double standard and just seeing how male athletes slide with things and how female athletes don't. Hopefully that stuff will change very soon.

GRACE LYONS: I just think, kind of as the leader of this team and taking on all of our different personalities, we never mean it disrespectfully or against anyone else, like they're saying. It's in our circle. So what we do is to bring passion to our own circle, and it's never against anyone else. So I just want to say that. That's not how we play. People may take it that way, but it's all for our own joy and passion, never to tear down anyone else.