2008 Woodie Awards
Big Weekend Before Postseason For Softball
Jake Goldberg
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: Sports
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USF is currently in first place, while the Cardinals are in fourth.
"Both USF and Louisville are playing well as of late," said head coach Karen Mullins. "They both have veteran teams that are solid in most parts of the game."
The two teams played a doubleheader against each other this past weekend with Louisville taking both games. The Cardinals beat the Bulls 11-0 in the first encounter and 3-2 in the second.
With Wednesday's game against UMass canceled, it means the Huskies will not have played a game in nearly a week.
"We needed some time off, it's just a hectic time of the year for the women," Mullins said. "It's good to get our heads together and become ready for this weekend."
The Huskies will need to wash away what happened last weekend and regain their composure.
"Last week we expected tough games, but we were disappointed in defensive breakdowns," Mullins said. "The key to this week will be simply don't beat ourselves, we have to make teams earn wins. I feel like our pitching wasn't bad this weekend, [Rachael] Crossin and [Tricia] Sullivan pitched good games. It's just we couldn't stay solid defensively and didn't get hits at the right times."
Junior shortstop Jillian Ortega has been making pitchers earn wins all season long. With a .317 batting average and a .414 on base percentage Ortega has been a thorn in the side of opposing pitchers all season long. A leader in the field and batting first in the lineup has made her one of the leaders on this team.
"Jillian Ortega is taking some good swings for us of late," Mullins said. "Hitting is momentum, if Ortega can get on base from the lead off slot in the order, then the rest of the team takes note and performs well."
This has been the case for most of the Huskies' wins - if Ortega is able to get on the base paths a strong middle of the lineup generally brings her home. Ortega is second in the team in runs scored, only behind Micah Truax who has a team-leading seven home runs.
Louisville comes in batting .268 as a team and have limited other teams batting averages to a measly .218. They are lead by sophomore pitcher Kristen Wadwell who's ERA is a small 2.08.
The Huskies on the other hand are batting .280 on the season and are holding other teams to a .251 average.
The doubleheaders will conclude the Huskies' regular season. UConn will take part in the Big East tournament, which will take place at Ulmer Stadium on the campus the University of Louisville. The tournament begins May 8.
Contact Jake Goldberg at Jacob.Goldberg@UConn.edu.
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