Friday, February 29, 2008
The University of Kansas softball team continued their early season success last weekend in the Houston Invitational.
The Jayhawks lost only one game to the 16th ranked Houston Cougars, according to the espn.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25. The Jayhawks earned four victories against Texas State, Centenary, Boston and Cal State Northridge and improved their season record to 12-4
Coach Tracy Bunge said Houston made the Jayhawks pay for their pitching mistakes. Sophomore pitcher Sarah Vertelka picked up the loss, but Bunge said the team was still learning at this point in the season.
“Did they hit her good stuff? No, they hit her mistakes,” Bunge said.
Bunge said she was pleased with the improved offense over the weekend.
“The first two weekends we thought we were pretty passive offensively,” Bunge said.
Bunge believed that the team did a good job of going deeper into the pitch count in at-bats and attacked the ball in the strike zone.
“Even when we had outs, they were better quality at-bats,” Bunge said.
Even with the offensive success, Bunge said she wanted the team to be “pleased, never satisfied”.
That idea is mirrored through her players. Junior third baseman Val Chapple said most of the team thinks it should be more successful.
“We could go back to a few of those losses and we felt we were the better team and we just didn’t show up that day,” Chapple said.
Bunge and the Jayhawks need that unsatisfied attitude to take on the fifth ranked, according to the espn.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 rankings, Northwestern Wildcats this weekend.
“It’s about respecting your opponents, but fearing no one,” Bunge said. Bunge said Northwestern was one of the best offensive teams in the country and they would challenge the Jayhawk pitching staff.
“It’s always exciting to play a team that’s ranked,” Chapple said.
Bunge said that all of the teams in the Southern Illinois Invitational would be tough. Bunge said there were no cakewalks in this tournament and that every team in the tournament was a quality team. This will also be the first time the Jayhawks are playing in cold weather. That could be a factor.
Bunge said she noticed that the teamwork of these Jayhawks is really improving. “I think they truly have really come together as a team,” Bunge said.
The Jayhawks need a complete team effort to compete with the highly ranked Northwestern Wildcats. The Jayhawks play on Saturday and Sunday against Northwestern, Southern Illinois, Western Illinois and Bradley. This tournament will be the biggest test of the season so far for the Jayhawks and they look to keep building on their early season success.
—Kelly Breckunitch
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