Southwestern College Collegian

Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Sports

They'd planned on playing four games this week. Unfortunately that wasn't exactly how things turned out for the softball team. Due to lack of a pitcher, Tabor College had to forfeit last week's game against the Lady Moundbuilders. Chrissy Mauzey, junior pitcher, said, "They didn't have a pitcher because I think at the last game she got hurt really bad, so they just decided not to come because they didn't have anyone else to pitch." The forfeit came as a surprise to Southwestern, but anytime a team can be awarded two victories it is a good thing, especially this time of year. The team is slowly getting healthy after facing several injuries early in the year, but the wear and tear of the season is evident. Nicole Wilson, freshman second base, said, "We do finally seem healthy, but there are always pains and sores associated with sports. We got some key players back on the field and are pretty much 100 percent." Mauzey said, "Our team has made them doctors lots of money, and that did affect us more in the beginning rather than now, but some of us still do have those nagging pains." The team's health will be among its biggest concerns for the rest of season. That health could decide whether the team, currently fifth in conference, is going to be able to compete for a league title in conference play or in the conference tournament. Talia Clark, freshman short stop, said, "Each game we get better and better. We have very solid defense and our offense is getting a lot better. By the conference tournament, I believe we will be at our peak and very hard to beat. Teams are going to overlook us and we're going to give it everything we've got so winning the conference title is a very realistic goal." The ladies will play Saturday in a double header against Mid-American Christian University. They will also play a double header April 14 against St. Mary. The team is coming off a close double header against Bethany, who is currently second in the conference standings. The Moundbuilders fell short 10-6 and 9-8. The Warriors were a well-prepared team that capitalized on even the smallest mistakes. Mauzey said, "From a pitcher's standpoint if I didn't hit my spot and let it get into their sweet spot they would normally get a good hit." The women see many positives out of the close games against a conference powerhouse.   Clark said, "If we eliminate that one bad inning in each game we would have won both games. I don't think anyone was aware that they were ranked that high in our conference. But knowing that shows that we do have the talent to compete with the better teams in our conference. Once we are able to put an entire game together defensively and offensively we will be a hard team to beat. We just need to prove it to ourselves." Also, the women expect to be able to win the same type of game later on in the season. Amber Good, head coach, said, "We should have won both games against Bethany. We are a better team than they are. We just have to learn how to play seven full innings of softball. "We made too many mental errors and that cost us two games." Anthony Cook is a junior majoring in communication. You may e-mail him at Anthony.cook@sckans.edu.

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