We are very optimistic. I like the depth of our pitching staff, I think we have a lot of versatility and offensively, I think this is a strong team.

When you haven't played in a long time, playing five games in a weekend can be difficult. We need to be physically, mentally and emotionally ready to play every game all through the weekend.

We've moved her around a little bit. That versatility defensively has helped us quite a bit. I feel she can play either of three positions (including third base). I may still move her around. She's doing really well. It's a huge bonus for us.

Playing in a conference like ours, you need to always bring your A game. If you don't bring your A game against UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, really anybody, you'll get beat.

If the church doesn't want to affirm our relationship, that's fine. What I am talking about is the civil contract of marriage.

She came in with a lot of expectations for her to do well. When you're a highly touted blue-chip recruit like she was, sometimes that pressure can weigh on a freshman. But she's just very confident in her abilities, and has a wonderful work ethic that has made the transition into being an integral part of the offense go very smoothly.

We're not as deep as last year as far as the roster is concerned. But because of our players and their versatility, we still have quite a few options. We can move people around and be an effective team defensively. And we have a lot of strength and speed from top to bottom in our hitting lineup.