The Lady Buffs Softball team won five out of their six games this weekend and finished with a 10-1 record in Tucson, Ariz.
The Lady Buffs went to Tucson this weekend hoping to add to their winning streak they built in Las Vegas, Nev. The Lady Buffs went 5-0 last weekend and traveled to Tucson in hopes of extending their winning streak to 11-0. But they went 5-1 this weekend, finishing with a 10-1 record. Their loss did not come until the last game and head coach Kevin Blaskowski said the Lady Buffs are focused and treating every game like it’s their only game.
“Our mindset is the most important game is the next one,” Blaskowski said. “We cannot worry about past performances, only control the present. I do feel that we have done a great job of sharing the load and everyone has stepped up at different times and that has been a big key to this point. We are not putting the pressure on one person to carry this team.”
Junior infielder Jessica Sipe leads the Lady Buffs with 14 RBIs and four home runs. Fellow junior infielder Alyssa Lemos is the runner up with eight RBIs and two home runs. Overall it has been a team effort as the entire team has 66 RBIs and 15 home runs.
“This is a very talented team and we have been fortunate to score a lot of runs (except for the first game [when they won 1-0]) and our pitchers have done a great job to this point of limiting our opponents’ scoring opportunities,” Blaskowski said. “One of our goals is to score at least seven runs per game and we feel if we do that, we can be successful.”
The Lady Buffs travel a little closer to home next week when they will head to Edmond, Okla., for the Central Oklahoma Invite as they take on Emporia State, Missouri Southern, Southwest Minnesota, and Central Oklahoma. Coach Blaskowski said the Lady Buffs are only worried about the next game, which is against Emporia State.
“Our goal is to be better the next day and/or game,” Blaskowski said. “We do not talk about streaks or past games. We stay in the present.”
As far as the drive of the Lady Buffs, despite losing the last game in Arizona, Blaskowski said his team is focused and have great drive. They will stay energized and focused for any challenge.
“This team has a great drive for the game,” Blaskowski said. “They have a very high level of expectation and they challenge each other to perform at a high level. We do not concern ourselves with playing away or home. We just expect to be better the next time we get to take the field.”
The Lady Buffs return to the diamond on Friday, Feb. 22, against Emporia State. For a full schedule of the Lady Buffs softball action, fans can visit gobuffsgo.com under the “Women’s Sports” tab and “Softball” pull-down menu.
