Coming off a series sweep against the Bowling Green State University Falcons, the Eastern Michigan University softball team sets its sights on a Friday doubleheader against the Miami University of Ohio RedHawks and games against the Ball State University Cardinals on Saturday and Sunday.
“We have to go out and keep playing,” EMU coach Karen Baird said. “We just have to keep fighting at this point. It’s a matter of pride and being a fighting team.”
Both games against Bowling Green were not good in terms of the Eagle bats. As a team, EMU had a batting average of .149 (7-for-47) on Saturday and Sunday combined. Compare that to the team’s doubleheader against the University of Toledo on Friday, where the Eagles had a .391 average (27-for-69).
The reason for the team’s lack of success at the plate, Baird said, was because the team was not attacking pitches early in the count. The Eagles struck out nine times against Bowling Green over the weekend and 12 against Toledo.
The middle innings have also proven difficult for the team. Against the Falcons, EMU gave up the only runs of either game in innings 3-7. Against Toledo in game two, the Rockets scored in every inning but the fifth, sixth and eighth. In game one, Toledo scored in all but the first and sixth innings.
“I guess just towards the end of the game, we start falling apart a little bit,” junior pitcher Lauren Wells said. “We just make little mistakes like fumbling balls a little bit, letting opponents get extra bases. I think we did good the first half of the game in getting those outs and being crisp with that, but the second half of the game I think we kind of let that go.”
Game one of the doubleheader is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on Friday at Varsity Field.
Saturday’s first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. and Sunday’s is set for 1 p.m.
Check out our website (easternecho.com) for recaps of all three games as well as more stories about the softball team and the other teams here at Eastern.
Follow Al Willman on Twitter: @AlWillmanEcho
