The Pitt State softball team opened the 2019 season this past weekend from Friday, Feb. 1 to Sunday, Feb. 3 when they traveled to Conroe, TX to attend the Arkansas Tech University Winter Invitational.
The team lost the first two games on Friday, Feb. 1 against Texas A&M-Kingsville (2-5) and Southeastern Oklahoma (1-4).
The Gorillas made a comeback on Saturday, Feb. 2 when they played Texas Women’s University and won (10-1). They also played Tarleton State on Saturday but lost (1-2).
The Gorillas exited the weekend on Sunday, Feb. 3 with two victories against Texas A&M-International (7-4) and Cameron (5-3).
Head coach Ashley Balazs believes the team improved over the course of the weekend.
“All weekend our pitchers threw great. They did a great job with all types of hitters… it took our offense a little bit to get going,” Balazs said. “… Then on Sunday, we had a really solid day (and) put everything together. Our backs really came alive and we did a really good job of situational hitting. We really battled at the plate. So, I’m really proud with how we finished and most importantly at the end of game six we were better than we were at the start of game one.”
A couple of players stood out to Balazs during the matches.
“Offensively, Kaity and Dru really catapulted us. Dru is a great hitter, she can do anything at the plate and she’s got a lot of speed… so those two really were kind of our tone setters and did a great job,” Balazs said. “…Offensively, everyone had their moments, but it was Dru and Kaity who stuck out over the six-game span.”
The team is going to rest for a bit after playing this past weekend, then work on preparing for the upcoming matches.
“Before we play again, first and foremost we just need to rest up a little bit. So, we have today (Monday, Feb. 4) off and then tomorrow we will just go with a little light cardio… and then we will really get back after it Wednesday, Thursday, (and) Friday… The fields will be a little bit smaller where we play next, so we are going to have to work (on) keeping the ball off the plate a little bit,” Balazs said. “Some of those long balls we will turn into homeruns and then offensively we need to stay in our legs a little bit. We were very antsy early on… So, we are going to get back to some basics…”
The Alvy Early Memorial Classic is set for Friday, Feb. 15-Sunday, Feb. 17 in Bentonville, AR.
“We do have a couple pretty good opponents, but we are going to need to be ready to go for sure. We need to start where we left off and if we do that we are going to be able to compete with every team that we have there,” Balazs said. “We had a lot of competitive fire when we left that field and I think as long as we bring that we will be alright.”
The softball team is currently 3-3 overall.