No-Hitter May Take Mental Toll

Softball

By: Jake Goldberg

Posted: 4/24/08

The final stretch of the softball team's season hasn't been easy physically. When you add tests, homework and life in general to a schedule that requires a game basically every other day, things begin to wear on you a bit.

Add being no-hit by Massachusetts All-American Brandice Balschmiter and the mental toll can be even greater. The question for each player on the softball team now becomes "Are you strong enough to continue?" The resounding answer was "yes."

"It doesn't really affect me, we just have to come back this weekend; it's a big game," said outfielder Sarah Neuschwander. "It's not like a big deal, we would have liked to beat them but you can't win them all."

"I try to, once we get off the field, just shake it off because it's not going to help if I carry it over to something else," said first baseman Justyne Roy.

Head coach Karen Mullins knows from experience that being no-hit can serve as a wake-up call, but she acknowledged it's still a blow to morale.

"It's always disappointing. We went against Pittsburgh a few weeks ago and got no-hit but the next day we came out and hit like a house on fire, so you never know how you are going to react," Mullins said. "If you're a competitor sometimes it can really fire you up but it's certainly disappointing."

The Huskies were no-hit by Pittsburgh on April 5 and the very next day they took out their frustrations on bitter rivals Syracuse beating them 9-1. Nine different Huskies were able to capture a hit and eight were able to score at least one run.

The difference between the two no-hitters is that the Pittsburgh game was in the middle of the season and Wednesday's comes with finals only two weeks away.

"Academics definitely affect us, obviously your No. 1 concern is your grades so when you can't get those and you have tests coming up it can affect your rest," Neuschwander said. "So you start getting sick and it might be hard to focus but that's just part of the game."

This is something that the coaching staff has to address both the season and academic semester comes to an end.

"We have study halls on the road, and we will certainly have them this weekend when we are away," Mullins said. "We have really been cutting back dramatically on our practice time, we are trying to open up more space and give them some extra time to buckle down."

A similar thought was felt after the game by both coaches and players, let's get some rest and get back at it this weekend.

With a pair of Big East double headers coming up the team will need to harness all their energy and focus in order to keep pace with the rest of the Big East. Perhaps more important to some of the players is a rematch with UMass on April 29.

"We know that we have them again next week, so we just try to concentrate on some things we have to work on and kind of finish up with some defensive stuff," Roy said. "We're loving it, we can't wait to see her [Balschmiter] again next week."

Contact Jake Goldberg at

Jacob.Goldberg@UConn.edu.