It was 88 degrees Monday afternoon, the perfect weather to take a break from school and studies and watch a softball game.
The Lady Bulldogs lost that game to Mississippi College, and then again to Maryville University Wednesday. It has been a tough season for Union’s softball team. As they lost pitching depth from last year and had a few unexpected injuries this year, the Lady Bulldogs are left shorthanded.
Though the team is still trying to figure out how to fill in the gaps, sophomore sports management major, Emily Bennett knows her teammates are capable.
“We have a lot of potential and good players on our team,” Bennett said. “It’s just a matter of figuring out how to play together as a team with everyone doing their role well.”
The Lady Bulldogs will start spring break by playing #17 Valdosta State University. They play Miles College in the middle of the week and finish spring break by playing at University of West Alabama March 25-26.
“This season has been very rough,” Bennett said. “There are a lot of things we can all do as a team to improve. Most of it comes from the mental aspect because that’s where most of our errors have come from so far this season.”
Meanwhile, Union’s baseball team improved a lot in the past year. Union baseball finished last year with 7 wins and 39 losses. The Bulldogs are now 7-4 in conference play and 13-7 overall. The men are barely halfway through the year and are playing better than they have in past years.
Although they lost 18-26 Tuesday to University of Arkansas at Monticello, it was apparent the team is hitting well.
“Our bats are starting to come around,” Dylan Moore, junior economics major, said. “We are starting to gain confidence on the offensive side that was lacking at the beginning of the season.”
Moore is also proud of the pitching Union has been throwing. He thinks if they continue to pitch the way they have been, the team will finish strong in the conference.
“We are about to start a stretch of games that are going to challenge us as a team,” Moore said. “I feel confident in our ability to compete and win games.”
Teddy Christie, junior physical education major, said this week is very important. He feels like the team has yet to put a full game together and he believes this is the week they will get it done.
“We all have areas of our game that we need to work on,” Christie said. “We either have a great game hitting, pitching or fielding, but have not finished a game where everyone is doing everything well. It’s important we play well as a team this upcoming week.”
It will be a tough week for the Bulldogs as they play #27 Valdosta, Harding University March 22, and finish the break playing at the University of West Alabama, who is #10 in the nation, March 25-26.
The Bulldogs are looking forward to the challenge. Moore said he is excited to play during spring break where he and his teammates can solely focus on baseball.
“We will only have to worry about baseball for a week,” Moore said. “It will be fun especially if we get some nice weather.”