The baseball team played a series against Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Okla. on Friday, March 6, the team lost (3-5) but bounced back on Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8 and won the last two games of the series (8-7, 6-4). They continued their win streak on Wednesday, March 11 when they defeated William Jewel in Liberty, Missouri (7-3).
The softball team split doubleheaders with Emporia on Friday in Emporia and Washburn on Saturday in Topeka. The Gorillas took game one against ESU (4-0) but lost the second game (6-7). Against Washburn, the team lost the first game (0-4) but took the second game (4-3).
Head Baseball Coach Bob Fornelli was pleased to see the team make a comeback after losing the first game on Friday.
“I think we played pretty well after Friday,” Fornelli said. “Friday losing the game of the series, maybe didn’t execute enough. But to come back and win the next two games was good for us.”
Head Softball Coach Ashley Balazs was happy overall with the turnout of the weekend.
“We did really well,” Balazs said. “I mean anytime that you can come and get a split against the quality teams that we did, it’s a good thing. Our bats showed up at times and our pitchers showed up at times. So, we got a lot of good things going for us to start conference play.”
The main thing that the team needs to work on is consistency, according to Balazs.
“(We) just (need to work on) consistency,” Balazs said. “We’ve shown that we’ve been able to do things offensively, defensively and pitching. We just need to continue to find some consistency (and) continue to put balls in play more frequently.”
A couple of players stood out to Balazs during the doubleheaders.
“Katie and Mack had a good weekend there at the plate and then Kaylee had another great weekend for us,” Balazs said.
Junior pitcher Dawson Pomeroy and senior pitcher Nick Brown played well at Northeastern State.
“Dawson Pomeroy and Nick Brown both pitched well to give us the opportunity to win on Saturday and Sunday,” Fornelli said.
Pomeroy stood out to Fornelli during the series.
“… Pomeroy was probably the best player of the weekend,” Fornelli said. “He hit a game winning home run on Saturday and then got the win and then like I said Nick Brown got a couple saves on the weekend.”
Fornelli hopes to see the team continue working hard and competing going into their next series against Washburn from Friday, March 13 to Sunday, March 15 in Topeka.
“(I hope to see the team) just keep working hard each and every day,” Fornelli said.
Next up for the softball team is two more doubleheaders against Central Oklahoma and Newman on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14. Both doubleheaders are at home. Game one against Central Oklahoma is set to start at 2 p.m. and game two is at 4 p.m. Game one against Newman is set to begin at 12 p.m. and game two will begin at 2 p.m.
“Going into this weekend, we just need to find that consistency and continue to do what we do,” Balazs said. “Continue to compete and hopefully come away as the good guys.”