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Printer-Friendly ModeHitting woes continue for Cards
March 20, 2006 —
Streaks on both sides of the win-loss column have been the story for the SVSU softball team so far this year.
The Cardinals opened their season over spring break in Ft. Myers, Florida, by losing their first four games and seven of their first 10. At 3-7, SVSU responded by winning five in a row to climb above .500, but have lost their last seven games and find themselves at 8-14.
Their last five losses have come at the South Carolina Fast Pitch Classic at the University of South Carolina Upstate. Only scores were available as of press time.
Out of the Cardinals' 40 games last year, 13 were one-run games; that number will surely be eclipsed this year, as 12 of the Cardinals' 22 games thus far have been decided by one run, and SVSU has gone 5-7 in those games. Coach Sabrina Lane said before the season that SVSU would need to play "small ball" in order to win those games this year.
The Cardinals have done just that. As of March 15, before SVSU traveled to the tournament, they had 15 sacrifice hits and six sacrifice flies, the latter of which is already more than last year. SVSU had also stolen 19 bases on 24 attempts, a 79 percent success rate.
Those numbers have not translated into a winning record in one-run games, though, because the Cards are batting .219 and have an on-base percentage of .300.
As was the case last year, pitching has kept the Cardinals afloat. Before the South Carolina tournament, SVSU had an overall ERA of 2.27 and were allowing opposing hitters to hit just .225. Senior Karen Ray, a Second Team All-Region performer a year ago, is leading the way again. Despite a 3-4 record, Ray has an ERA of 1.90 in 48 innings. She has struck out 44 batters while giving up 38 hits, and has thrown four complete games and one shutout.
Freshman Stacy Kraatz has been the Cardinals' second best pitcher thus far, as she has gone 2-3 with a 2.16 ERA in 35.2 innings, including three complete games. Kraatz, who is not as much of a power pitcher as Ray, has struck out 27 batters and has allowed a .265 batting average.
Junior Lorelea Rice, who has spent most of her time in the field after pitching 105 innings a year ago, has made just four appearances and had a 2.93 ERA. One of those appearances was a special one, though, as Rice threw a no-hitter against the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia during the Gene Cusic Classic in Ft. Myers. Rice allowed just two walks and struck out two and helped herself at the plate, going 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run.
Rice has spent most of her time in the outfield and is second on the team with a .306 batting average and .327 on-base percentage. She leads SVSU with 11 RBIs and is third on the team with a .367 slugging percentage.
Freshman catcher Jessica Anhel is leading the team with a .341 batting average and .426 on-base percentage, and has struck out just four times in 44 at-bats.
SVSU will go on another road trip for two doubleheaders next weekend, as they travel to Wisconsin-Parkside then to Lewis in Romeoville, Illinois. The Cardinals begin their GLIAC season on Saturday, April 1 at home against Grand Valley State.