Anyone who has been involved in a young sports program knows the ups, the downs, and the bumps along the way to building a contender. The UB softball team, a young squad looking to finally make its mark in the MAC, is no exception.
The Bulls only have five juniors on their roster, but all five will be expected to contribute and are instrumental in the success of the team. The other 13 players are all sophomores and freshmen, and because of positional differences in each class, three freshmen will have to start in the field for UB.
Like the baseball program, Buffalo will begin play without going through their normal spring training trip, as the spring break scheduled for the university this semester coincides with the beginning of league play. The lack of time on the road together means that team building and time for the newcomers to get to know the returning players will be limited.
To combat this, UB Head Coach Marie Curran has scheduled some very competitive tournaments before the break that will give the team a chance to see some sunshine and play some softball. The team will travel to Charleston, S.C. as well as San Jose, Calif. - where they are scheduled to play sixth-ranked Iowa and eighth-ranked Arizona State.
Coaching
Marie Curran will enter her third year as head coach of the Bulls. She was hired to help UB make the jump to Division-IA softball three years ago. Previously she was an assistant coach on a very successful Northern Illinois program.
She will be assisted by Jackie Beavers, who will be concentrating her efforts on the pitching staff, and by newcomer Rosie Pagana, who will serve as a positional coach.
Pitching
The Bulls have four pitchers on staff: juniors Andrea Sage and Jessica Kensy, sophomore Heather Robbins, and freshman Stacey Evans. The pitchers will try to develop three or four good pitches, each girl already having a particular pitch that they throw very well.
The individual talents of the pitching staff will help UB match up to other teams in the MAC by starting the pitcher the coaches feel will give their opponent the most difficulty. Each player's strongest pitch is such that between the four girls they cover the whole strike zone. As a result, some pitchers may be extremely busy one weekend, and the next weekend see limited action.
Catching
The Bulls have a catcher in every class. Junior Kelly Malone will handle most of the pitches this season, assuming she stays healthy. Malone appeared in 30 games last season, but missed time due to a right knee injury. Curran thinks Malone can be an impact player in the conference.
Sophomore Missy Switzer and freshmen Julie Hibner and Katie Shannon (a walk-on) will back up Malone.
Infield
UB has been able to add some depth this year, and the coaches feel confident that they can go two-deep at every position in the infield.
Either Erica Pace or Dominique Jones will start for the Bulls at shortstop this season, and the coaches are pleased with the off-season work both have done. The rock of the infield will be second baseman Marce Ross; the rest of the infield will look to her to right the ship when things get rough.
Outfield
Sophomore Breanne Nasti will be able to go back to her natural position this year, after completing her freshman campaign at shortstop. Curran is excited to see what Nasti can do in her natural position after having an All-Region season at shortstop last year.
Anne Magur and Allison Round will most likely be the other two outfielders for the Bulls this season. UB has depth at all the positions in the outfield, with the majority of the depth coming from freshmen.
Hitting
Nasti is Buffalo's most exciting offensive player. Last season she set UB single-season records for hits (59), doubles (18), home runs (10), and RBIs (43). Nasti also led the MAC in batting average (.373), doubles, home runs, RBIs, total bases, and slugging percentage.
The coaching staff will try to make teams pitch to Nasti more this year than last, and that will be helped by the return of Malone and transfer player Anne Magur.
Hibner is a power hitter who Curran thinks can be ready to contribute early and often at the plate. Robbins should be more consistent this year simply because she is not a freshman anymore.
If things go the Bulls way at the plate, they hope to create a batting order that will be difficult to pitch against, with batters 3-6 having the potential to go deep on every pitch, and the early and late batters consistently getting on base. UB will also hope to create match-up problems by consistently having four left-handed hitters every game.
Outlook
The Bulls were 12-40 during last season, but the record can be deceiving. UB won more games as the season progressed and went 5-1 against WNY teams. Even more deceiving is that the Bulls lost 13 of those games by only one run.
The thinking is that at least half of those games go your way the next year, as was the case with the football and men's basketball teams. Of course, the next step is being able to close out those close games and come out on top.
Although the Bulls are a young team, Curran isn't worried about playing so many freshmen.
"Every freshman that we've recruited to bring on this campus has played softball at the national level. They've been in the biggest tournaments in the country, and they've played kids who are currently playing for UCLA for example," Curran said. "Stacey Evans has pitched against two Olympians already, and the Olympic Team last summer. There isn't going to be a hitter in our conference that Evans hasn't faced talent-wise, she has pitched against Lisa Fernandez and Dot Richardson, who are our country's best players right now."
If things go right, and UB doesn't get hit by the injury bug, they could be the next team to take the step into respectability in the MAC.
Upcoming
The Bulls travel to Charleston, S.C. to take on Charleston Southern, Central Florida, and Furman in the Charleston Southern Tournament this weekend. Saturday will be the Bulls' first game as they take on Charleston Southern.
