After venturing to Florida for its previous eight games the softball team only has to travels across the state tomorrow to Hamden to take on Quinnipiac at 3:30. The team came away with a 4-4 record during the road trip, and now claims a 7-10 record overall on the young season.
"We were and are looking to improve each week, and we definitely had
some strong weekends down in Florida," said head coach Karen Mullins.
The team had to learn some hard lessons during the road trip, as it lost in the final innings of three separate games.
"I think the big lesson we took out of the trip was that you have to play all seven innings in order to win against any team; you have to bring your A-game every time you step on the field," Mullins said.
There were several bright spots during the extended road trip, as pitchers Tricia Sullivan and Rachael Crossin each posted two complete game shut-outs. With a combination of solid hitting and lights-out pitching, the Huskies looked dangerous.
"When have been in a groove pitching of late; we have definitely gotten back on track," Mullins said. "With strong pitching we can beat anyone, but as we know sub-par pitching can hurt us."
Unfortunately for the Huskies, they aren't the only ones with good pitching, Carolyn Schmolz is having a great year for Quinnipiac, boasting a 3.80 ERA and holding opponents to a .209 batting average.
"I know they have three good pitchers they can throw at us but we are not concerned with what they do, we focus on what we do," Mullins said.
The Bobcats have been on a slide of late however, losing their last eight; while the Huskies are currently on a two-game winning streak. Mullins is not looking past Quinnipiac though; previous experiences tell the team it can't.
"Quinnipiac always plays us tough, they get to plate and take some good cuts," said Mullins. "We are going to go out there and try to continue going on our winning track."
The Connecticut weather has limited the team in what it can do in terms of practice. With the weather seemingly turning off late, the team has finally begun to get outdoors and work on its home field.
"We finally had our first outdoor practice and we are going to work on some new things and see if we can't get better," Mullins said.
Although it's not actual live-game experience, Mullins hopes that being able to play on a real field will help the team. It is the closest thing the team can do to simulating game like scenarios.
This is the final road game before they get to play on their home-field, which should look very welcoming after 18 consecutive road games.
"Soon enough we get to open up at home, the season is going by fast and we are getting excited," Mullins said.
Jacob Goldberg can be reach at Jacob.Goldberg@UConn.edu.
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