A couple of weeks prior, we had been a little too patient. We've been on them to be a little more aggressive. |
Alabama is a great program in the SEC and Louisville won a very good Conference-USA last year. Louisville beat us on our field in the fall so we'll be excited to play them again when we're at full strength. |
As a team, you feed off each other. We've really started to swing the bats well here in the last couple of weeks. |
Coming off facing some of the best teams and best pitchers last weekend in Palm Springs, I told the team this weekend was pivotal. Those first weekends were a part of our growth and now we need to be in full swing and show who we are this time. I'm so proud of our kids that we stayed tough tonight. Alabama doesn't lose much on their field. |
I think there is a little bit of mental letdown there for sure. We've done a little bit of that here in the last couple of weeks, and we're certainly not happy with them. |
I was pleased with how we executed and came out ready to play after the rain delay. Kim gave us great effort on the mound and we backed her up with the hits and runs we needed. |
I'm not sure if it is the best we've played, but we're getting better and that's what we're working towards. As long as our kids keep putting in the effort and keep responding to the challenges we put in front of them, we can't ask for much more. |
I'm so proud of the way we came out. We were intense, and we were attacking. We made a couple critical mistakes, too. |
If anything, we've maybe not gotten the recognition that we deserve. And then when you put the challenges of practicing indoors for this amount of time and not being able to have the team outside (unlike some of the West Coast and southern schools) I'm not sure how many of those guys can do what we do and be as good as we are. |
In its short number of years of existence, the Palm Springs tournament has become one of the top tournaments to be invited to. Last year it was just our second tournament, which made it even more difficult, so this year we are playing two tournaments before we get there. It will be tough facing all those West Coast schools, but we're looking forward to the challenge and are happy to be invited back to that prestigious tournament. |
It's the kids getting a little ahead of themselves and trying to make the next play. We have to stop making mistakes on routine plays. |
Later in the game we put our outfield back because (Michigan) had been hitting a lot of gap shots, and it came back to bite us. |
Megan probably gets to the ball quicker than anyone in our outfield. Offensively she has good instincts and loves to hit with runners on base. Liz became our starting centerfielder by the end of the year last year and became an even better hitter through the fall. She has as good an arm as anyone in the Big Ten in centerfield. |
No one knows this program better than Belinda. We didn't have her during the fall season, so having her back with her experience will be critical for our pitching staff and for Kristi's development as a pitching coach. And I love Kristi's passion for the game - she still wants to be out there on the field. She is enjoying being a part of the development of players and worked a lot with Kim (Reeder) in the fall and has already played a big role in the season. |
Our biggest question is how do we replace the consistency at shortstop that we had the last four years with Jennifer Johnson . We also need to establish our pitching depth and the catcher position. Like last year, I feel very good about our offense, which is why our defense will be so important. |