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The baseball and softball teams opened their 2020 season this past weekend.
The baseball team played four games in Edmond. On Friday, Jan. 31 the baseball team played against Southwestern Oklahoma and Emporia State but lost both games (0-14, 0-6). On Saturday, Feb. 1 they played Henderson State and won that game (6-2). They ended the weekend with a loss against Northwestern Oklahoma (10-13).
Head baseball coach Bob Fornelli believes that the team learned some lessons during the weekend games.
“We learned a lot about ourselves,” Fornelli said. “I don’t think we played extremely well, but we learned a little bit about ourselves. We have a lot of new guys. I think we have a lot to learn or have a lot to get better on next week and hopefully continue that as the season progresses.”
The softball team had six games over the course of the weekend in Houston. On Friday, Jan. 31 they played two games against Texas A&M- Kingsville but lost (2-4) and then Texas Woman’s and they won that game (12-9). On Saturday, Feb. 1 they played against Texas A&M- Commerce and lost (0-4) and then Texas A&M International and won (5-4). On Sunday, Feb. 2 they closed the weekend with two losses against Angelo State and Cameron (0-9, 0-4).
Head softball coach Ashley Balazs thought the team played well in many aspects of the game.
“Our pitches did a good job of giving us a chance to win five out of six, which is pretty impressive opening weekend,” Balazs said. “So, they really kept us in in those games and gave us a chance to win. Now, offensively we just need to be a little bit better… but we definitely showed… we’re capable of being in a couple of those games. So, a lot of positives on all sides we just need to continue to get better… and get back at it on Saturday.”
Despite the rough weekend, Fornelli believes it wasn’t all bad for the baseball team.
“I thought we played defense pretty well,” Fornelli said. “…We made one error in 36 innings which is good for us. We just didn’t put our game together as a whole. So, we have to get better each and every day.”
A couple of players on the baseball team stood out to Fornelli during the games.
“Tanner Lane really threw the baseball well in game three, we won 6-2,” Fornelli said. “… I think, offensively, Austin Bonnel was our best player over the weekend. (We are) so excited about what he brings to the team.”
A few players stood out to Balazs over the weekend.
“Shelby gave two really good starts and I thought that was fantastic,” Balazs said. “Kayla did a good job… and Mareika had a couple big games…, had a lot of RBIs for us. But those are probably a couple awesome ones.”
Fornelli hopes to see continual improvement from the team.
“(I hope to see the team) just get better and learn from our mistakes last weekend, not back down in certain situations, and don’t hope to win, go find a way to win,” Fornelli said.
Like Fornelli, Balazs hopes to see continual improvement from the softball team throughout the rest of the season.
“We just need to get a little bit better in situational hitting,” Balazs said. “We need to do a better job of, once the offense does get going to shut down the opposing team. Too many times we scored and then the next half inning we gave up runs. So, just continuing to get better and continue to figure out who we are on game day.”
