After a record breaking 25-win performance last season, the softball team traveled to Denton, Texas to start its 2010 schedule at the Sleep Inn Classic.
The Bulls (2-2) had their high and low points over the weekend, splitting two games on Friday and then again on Saturday.
In game one on Friday, the Bulls' bats were non-existent. It wasn't until the fifth inning that they got their first hit, which came off the bat of senior Sharon Barr, who broke up the no-hitter with a double.
The hit by Barr was one of the few highlights in the game, as the Bulls only managed two more hits and fell to the Drake Bulldogs (6-3), 5-0. Sophomore starting pitcher Terese Diaz, who won 14 games last season, struggled against the Bulldogs but lasted less than two innings, walking four Bulldogs before being pulled.
After a quick turnaround, the Bulls were able to rebound in game two, beating Missouri State (0-7), 1-0, in dramatic fashion.
It was in the top of the sixth inning in the scoreless contest when Bears' pinch-hitter Alaina Burkhart tripled to center field. In a gutsy move, Burkhart attempted to stretch the triple to an in-the-park homerun as the ball trickled past Bulls centerfielder Taylor Franich. In the first game of her Buffalo career, Franich collected the ball and threw a laser to home plate, where sophomore Kristin Waldron applied the tag for the out.
The play saved the game for the Bulls and really impressed second-year head coach Jennifer Teague.
'Taylor recovered the ball as the girl was rounding third base,' Teague said. 'She just really made a great throw. It was one of those all or nothing throws and, lucky for us, she made the play.'
In the bottom of the seventh, the Bulls capitalized on their good fortune. Freshman first baseman Jessica Griffin led off the inning with a line drive single to centerfield. She was then removed by pinch runner Dominique Carcone, who was bunted along by junior shortstop Alex Bejarano.
With one out and the winning run now in scoring position, junior right fielder Candice Sheehan stepped up to the plate. Sheehan hit a grounder to the pitcher, who turned and threw to third to try to throw out Carcone, but overthrew her target. Carcone bolted for home plate and scored the lone run in the game, giving the Bulls the victory.
Barr dominated the game, pitching a complete-game shutout. She finished the outing with six strikeouts and only one walk.
'Her drop-ball is working really well for her,' Teague said. 'She's throwing her drop-curve for strikes and a lot of the batters this weekend were swinging and missing. She was definitely one of our strongest players this weekend. She really kept our pitching anchored.'
In the third game of the tournament – the first game on Saturday – Buffalo's bats were absent once again as they lost to Arkansas (5-4), 6-0.
The Razorbacks accumulated nine hits, while Buffalo only managed two for the game. Freshman Hope McLemore threw a gem for the Razorbacks as she threw a complete-game shutout. Only five batters reached base for Buffalo in the loss.
Teague attributed the two games where the Bulls were shut out to early season jitters.
'I think it was mostly nervousness,' Teague said. 'It was our opening weekend and I think the girls were honestly just nervous as heck.'
Game four of the weekend pitted the Bulls against the North Texas Mean Green (2-3). The Buffalo bats finally woke up in the final game of the weekend.
After only scoring one run in its first three contests in Texas, Buffalo managed to rally for five runs and a 5-3 victory. Buffalo struck in the top of the third for three runs as they capitalized on a North Texas error that started the inning.
Franich reached on a pitcher's throwing error and ended up on second base. Junior second baseman Kristen Gallipani then drove Franich in with a hard hit double to left. Waldron followed with an RBI single and freshman catcher Alyssa Ward followed with an RBI double down the right field line.
In the win against North Texas, Buffalo's two, three, and four hitters combined for a .600 average, three RBIs and three runs. Everything seemed to click, which Teague claimed was a product of their hard work in the offseason.
'We really focused on our hitting in the preseason, so it was only a matter of time until things started clicking,' Teague said. 'We finally made adjustments versus North Texas. We came back from our loss in the morning, played a lot better defense and made the adjustments at the plate that we needed to.'
The Bulls were scheduled to finish off the tournament against the Colorado State Rams, but the day's slate of games was canceled due to inclement weather.
The team will hit the road again this weekend to compete in the McNeese State Tournament. The first game is scheduled for Friday against L.A. Tech at 1 p.m.
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