After poor weather kept them off the field for two weeks, the Huskies softball team faces another storm this weekend.
UConn heads to New York Saturday to take on the St. John's Red Storm in a doubleheader that begins at noon. The Huskies will then travel about 30 miles south to take on Seton Hall in another doubleheader at noon.
Having to cancel and reschedule games as well as practice indoors, the Huskies (11-9, 1-2) haven't had the luxury of any kind of set schedule the past few weeks, and this lack of consistency off the field has translated onto it as well.
Like the weather, the Huskies' play has fluctuated throughout the young season. For a team picked to bottom-feed in the always competitive Big East this season, their winning record thus far has turned some heads in the conference.
However, despite there high level of performance early on, the Huskies have dropped four of their last five games and head coach Karen Mullins admits that her team can, at times, play like the one it was projected to be rather than the one she knows they can be.
This consistency problem reared its ugly head against Syracuse this past weekend as the Huskies played a doubleheader against the Orange and a game against Pittsburgh last Sunday and Monday at Raymond Field in Providence.
On Sunday, the Orange jumped out to a big lead, tagging senior right-hander Krista Michalczyk and sophomore Rachael Crossin for 7 runs in less than three innings.
"It was obviously a difficult start for us," Mullins said. "We didn't really get into our flow until the third or fourth inning and by then we dug ourselves a hole and we were trying to get out."
Although the Huskies' late offensive surge - highlighted by homeruns from Micah Truax, Danielle Del Ponte and Jillian Ortega - would send the game into extra innings, the Orange put up a run in the seventh inning and the Huskies were unable to match them, ultimately losing, 9-8.
Similar problems occurred the following day. In games against both Syracuse and the Panthers, UConn couldn't seem to get their offense going until the end of the game.
While their late spurt would not prove to be enough against the Orange, their four-run showing in the bottom of the sixth allowed the Huskies to pick up their lone win of the weekend against the Panthers, 5-2.
Although the problems in the first two games were not pleasing to see, Mullins acknowledged that she left Providence pleased with the Huskies' ability to bounce back.
"We just felt, after the first two games, we ready to just turn the corner," Mullins said. "We just needed to break through and do it. It was really good to do that in the third game. I think we have turned the corner and are ready to start our way up."
The Huskies look to prove that they've turned this corner against the Red Storm and Seton Hall.
While the Huskies have struggled to play well on a consistent basis, both St. John's (5-22, 0-4) and the Pirates (4-21, 0-4) have struggled to play well in general, as they currently sit in 11th and 12th place in the conference, respectively.
Both teams come into the game struggling offensively, sitting at the bottom of the Big East in team batting. But while Seton Hall also clings to the bottom in team pitching, the Red Storm have managed to put forth some respectable outings and sit in ninth, led by Kim Lerch's team-high 3.53 ERA.
Last season, UConn dropped the two games they played against the Red Storm, falling 4-12 and 6-9 in 10 innings in a home doubleheader on April 26. The Huskies didn't face Seton Hall at all in 2006.
But while both teams may not be the strongest in the league, Mullins said that the Huskies will not be overlooking their opponents if they don't want to see the Pirates or St. John's raining on their parade.
"You can't afford to [take anyone for granted]," Mullins said. "It's not like we're a No. 1 seed yet. What were we picked, 10th in the conference? We can hardly take anyone for granted. We need to go out there and take it. Nobody's going to give us anything."
With the inclement weather finally behind them, the Huskies hope the only storm they'll be seeing this weekend is themselves storming the field after their games.
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