4/15/08

Softball fans, welcome back. With conference heating up and school slowly coming to an end, an aim at first place is still in our reach. Last week proved to be challenging as we hosted the North Texas Mean Green in a doubleheader and traveled to Southern Utah University for our most competitive conference series yet.

The games against UNT went by so fast as we dropped both on our home field—the first two of the year. Little to mention as we left our field that night looking ahead rather than behind.

Thursday came quick enough with packed travel bags and our build-a-bears/cat/tiger strapped to our backpacks. We were heading to VEGAS! Okay—so not really...I mean, we arrived in Vegas, saw a few city lights and then were heading to Cedar City, Utah.

On Friday, we faced Southern Utah in a doubleheader. The Thunderbirds are probably one of the tougher conference opponents and every year it seems to be an exciting series with homeruns, pitching duels, and amazing defensive plays to save games. This year was no different.

Even though we lost game one to SUU, we ended up bouncing back in game two and three on Saturday to win the series, taking two out of three on their home field, where anything and everything can happen in the bright Utah sun and the chilly, windy climate.

Game 1 was nothing more than a pitcher’s battle. Our bats seem to have been left in our bags as we could only muster up a few hits—losing the close contest 4-3. However, needing a win, we picked it up, made things happen, and pushed out 10 runs on the Thunderbirds in game two winning with our sticks, 10-9. Game 3 was intense, I must say. Going into extra innings, an amazing game-saving catch in the seventh by senior outfielder Jennifer Martin proved to be all we needed to garner a 10-5 win.

Key hits, solid pitching, and manufacturing runs off of SUU errors led to a victory. Southern Utah is a team you can never lay down too. They always seem to plate runs in the most needed situations. Every player on their roster is capable of hitting a homerun at anytime and that alone makes them dangerous. That is why these two wins this weekend were so exciting to celebrate—especially on their home field.

With those two wins, we sit in first place in the conference with a 12-3 record—inching closer and closer to our first team goal of the season—to win The Summit League regular season.

After celebrating two huge wins, we headed back to Vegas early Sunday morning to see the “city that never sleeps” in action. Though, having been here several times already, the amount of people on the streets that early in the morning was quite entertaining to say the least.

We were able to walk around several notable Vegas locations, like Caesar’s Palace hotel, Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, MGM Grand Hotel, and the M&M store on the strip. Dressed in maroon and white, walking around as a team seemed to entertain many of the tourists—sometimes many of us felt like celebrities, as people would stop, stare, and then ask, where’s Centenary College?

Overall, the weekend ended up favoring us in many ways. We were able to win the series, shop around in Vegas, and cross three time zones all in the process. Sounds like fun, right? I thought so. Just a little insight on the great life of a Centenary College athlete—and boy do we have many to remember.

We are back in action tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16, against Alcorn State at their place. This weekend we play host to conference newcomer North Dakota State in a three game series beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday on our field.

Come out and support us as we strive for the #1 seed in the conference tournament.

See you on the field and back here next week!

“I come to play everyday.” –David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox

For the love of the game,

-Allison McClain #8