The Lady Buffs, ranked second in the nation, will return to Schaeffer Park for a doubleheader on March 31 and a pair of doubleheaders on April 3 and April 4. The Lady Buffs have been dominant this season at Schaeffer Park, compiling a home record of 16-2. Since the opening of Schaeffer Park prior to the 2011 season, WT has gone 124-21 at home. The success at home for the Lady Buffs bodes well for them as they start the final stretch of games before the start of the conference tournament on May 1. Out of the Lady Buffs last 18 games, 14 of those are home games.
“The great thing right now, other than next week, is that everything’s at home,” Softball head coach Kevin Blaskowski said. “We have 18 games left and four of them are on the road and 14 at home, so we have a chance to really get on a roll now and start gearing ourselves up for the postseason.”
The Lady Buffs also come into the home stand on top of the conference after taking their series with #25 Cameron this past week, three games to one. The Lady Buffs, who seem to be hitting their offensive stride at the right time of year, hit nine homeruns in the last two games of the four game series, with senior outfielder Renee Erwin contributing to that number with four homeruns of her own.
“We had a talk on Friday night with the coaches and the team, and we decided we just needed to make some changes at the plate,” Erwin said. “I just went in a little more relaxed on Saturday and I guess it just kind of happened.”
The Lady Buffs, after dropping out of the top spot in the rankings for the first time in a record 56 weeks, will now try to hit their stride and regain that top spot in the rankings. Coach Blaskowski feels as if the team still has a target on their back.
“I think we’re understanding that concept that every time we go out there we’ve got to be at our best, because we know we’re getting the best from our opponents,” Blaskowski said. “You know, it was that atmosphere this weekend where Cameron was one up on us in the conference and had a lot of energy, and a lot of media there, and a good size crowd, and I thought we did a good job of taking that out of the issue on Saturday, and I think it’s to the point now where we understand that people are going to give us their best shot.”
The players for the Lady Buffs also believe they are hitting their stride at the right time going into the final stretch of the season.
“I think after this weekend and after Friday when we had our little talk, we woke up on Saturday,” Erwin said. “Some of us were saying that we had this gut feeling that something was going to happen that would give us that spark. I think after this weekend and the fact that we control our destiny, we’re going to be just fine.”
Freshman pitcher Kilee Halbert also believes the team is coming together, though they hit a tough stretch.
“I think we’re really coming together better. We had a rough spot, but now we’re doing better,” Halbert said.
The Lady Buffs start their home stand with a doubleheader against Lubbock Christian on March 31, a team that the Lady Buffs split a doubleheader with just last week in Lubbock.
“I think Lubbock Christian is a very good ball club. They always have been. They’re very offensice,” Blaskowski said. “I think it’ll be a great challenge for us. We’ll use our whole pitching staff.”
The Lady Buffs play the Javelinas from TAMUK also in a four game LSC series on April 3 and April 4.
