2008 Woodie Awards
Another lengthy stretch for softball
Neil Benjamin
Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: Sports
Originally published: 4/24/08 at 4:07 PM EST
Last update: 4/24/08 at 5:09 PM EST
After playing 26 straight away games, the Plattsburgh State women's softball team (21-11, 11-3 SUNYAC) was finally able to play in the cozy confines of Cardinal Park this past weekend.
The team has officially come alive, winning nine out of 10, including its past eight, and is fourth in SUNYAC standings.
This weekend the team plays a doubleheader in Oswego, followed by back-to-back home doubleheaders against SUNYIT Saturday and Geneseo Sunday.
Senior starting pitcher Jaclyn Leitze earned the SUNYAC Pitcher of the Week after going 3-0 with 32 strikeouts, improving her record to 9-7. She said the recent success of the team is due to the offense and defense coming together at the same time.
Friday's 11 run outburst and back-to-back shutouts gave the team the swagger it needs going into the latter part of the season.
"We have always known we had a good team, but we struggled at the beginning," Leitze said. "Now it's come together and we are all playing the way we knew we could."
Against Brockport Sunday the team had its first come from behind victory of the season. Late in the game Leitze walked in the tying run, which forced the game into extra innings. Senior catcher Tiffany Burek bunted in the winning run in the eighth inning.
The win was important for a few reasons. First, it showed the younger players that they can win any game at any time. Second, it showed that they can win close games, which is important because in the SUNYAC tournament the games are going to be tight.
"That win was the most important of the year," senior pitcher Stephanie Zweig said. "It was our first come-from-behind, but in the end it was the result that we wanted. We showed we can win through adversity."
On Friday against Oswego (15-13, 11-8 SUNYAC), the game plan is to play above them the whole time. Senior first basemen Andrea Stupp said that Oswego's offense is playing at a high level, so PSUC must play at a higher level.
The team has officially come alive, winning nine out of 10, including its past eight, and is fourth in SUNYAC standings.
This weekend the team plays a doubleheader in Oswego, followed by back-to-back home doubleheaders against SUNYIT Saturday and Geneseo Sunday.
Senior starting pitcher Jaclyn Leitze earned the SUNYAC Pitcher of the Week after going 3-0 with 32 strikeouts, improving her record to 9-7. She said the recent success of the team is due to the offense and defense coming together at the same time.
Friday's 11 run outburst and back-to-back shutouts gave the team the swagger it needs going into the latter part of the season.
"We have always known we had a good team, but we struggled at the beginning," Leitze said. "Now it's come together and we are all playing the way we knew we could."
Against Brockport Sunday the team had its first come from behind victory of the season. Late in the game Leitze walked in the tying run, which forced the game into extra innings. Senior catcher Tiffany Burek bunted in the winning run in the eighth inning.
The win was important for a few reasons. First, it showed the younger players that they can win any game at any time. Second, it showed that they can win close games, which is important because in the SUNYAC tournament the games are going to be tight.
"That win was the most important of the year," senior pitcher Stephanie Zweig said. "It was our first come-from-behind, but in the end it was the result that we wanted. We showed we can win through adversity."
On Friday against Oswego (15-13, 11-8 SUNYAC), the game plan is to play above them the whole time. Senior first basemen Andrea Stupp said that Oswego's offense is playing at a high level, so PSUC must play at a higher level.
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