The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Dan Gindraux Micah Truax won Big East Softball Player of the Week as her bat has heated up for UConn.

The softball team (8-16 7-3 Big East) hosts Quinnipiac (16-27) today at 3:30 p.m., with the game being broadcasted by Cox Sports TV. The Huskies defeated the Bobcats earlier this season at their home field 9-0.

Coming off of an impressive 3-1 weekend, the team looks to continue its success in some of the smaller parts of the game.

"That's something we have been working that the little things become big things," said head coach Karen Mullins "I was disappointed with our bunting game, but I liked that we had aggressive base running and we did some other things real well and I was pleased."

The weekend as a whole was a great success for UConn as they were able to capture three key victories in the Big East conference. The Huskies are currently in fifth place in a very competitive conference.

"I liked the way we played, I think we had a solid outing, we set a tune offensively right away and we stayed focused through games," Mullins said. "We got some solid pitching efforts, and we got some runs and got ourselves going and created momentum."

During their first meeting with the Bobcats the Huskies used the mercy rule in five innings. Tricia Sullivan pitched a near-flawless game, only letting up one hit. Eight separate Huskies had a hit, three of which drove in two runs apiece.

The win came in the middle of a five game win streak that turned the Huskies season around. Since that first meeting, UConn has gone 10-6.

Driving those aggressive base runners in are eight different Husky players that are batting .300 or above. The team is driving in over four runs a game and is letting up less than three and a half.

Micah Truax was named Big East Softball Player of the Week for the second time this year. After batting .556 last week, she has been a downright terror to opposing pitchers. Saturday, in the first game of the double-header against St. John's, Truax sent a double off the wall in order to win the game in the bottom of the seventh. She collected a hit in all six games last week and showed indifference to anyone who was on the mound.

With Truax back in last year's form, many teams are not prepared to face the middle of the Huskies lineup. Around Truax in the order are right fielder Sarah Neuschwander (.324 batting average), catcher Danielle Del Ponte (.313) and when she returns from an appendectomy Melissa Lucas (.400).

"The part of the order that was ok we hitting the ball well, Micah (Truax) has been hitting the ball well so we feel good with the position we are in," Mullins said.

To go with their dominant hitting, the Huskies now have an over 10 game winner on their staff in Tricia Sullivan. Sullivan is currently 11-7 with 2.70 ERA, added to those numbers are 13 complete games and four shutouts.



Contact Jake Goldberg at Jacob.Goldberg@UConn.edu.

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