By Nick Konotposkyj
Assistant Sports Editor
The Dayton Flyers were not gracious hosts to the St. Bonaventure softball team this past weekend. The Bonnies came away losing all three of their games to kick off Atlantic 10 play, being outscored 19-4 in the process. The series sweep droped the Bonnies to 4-12 overall (0-3 in conference play).
“Last weekend we really struggled,” sophomore pitcher Kristen Hickling said. “It really opened our eyes and helped us to learn what we need to do in order to compete better against other A-10 teams.”
Hickling, a marketing major from Vestal, New York, struggled in the second game of the Saturday doubleheader as she only pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing seven runs on six hits (Hickling has a 4.63 earned run average on the season). In fact, bad starts hurt the Bonnies in the first game and on Sunday as well. Dayton scored seven runs in the second inning on Sunday, creating a lead that the Bonnies could never close.
“We let a few innings get away from us which didn’t help our cause,” junior shortstop Emily McDonough said. “Our offense struggled in pressure situations, but we took a lot of positives out of the 0-3 weekend that we hope to convert to wins this weekend at George Washington.”
McDonough has played well this year, posting a batting average of .375 with seven runs, four runs batted in, and 11 stolen bases on the young season.
Unfortunately for the Bonnies, McDonough only managed to get one hit in nine plate appearances during a tough weekend for the team.
Despite the recent struggles, Hickling and her teammates are optimistic moving forward, she said.
“This year, we finally have all the tools we need to win, so we just need to concentrate on putting everything together like we know we can,” Hickling said. “We definitely need to focus on having confidence in ourselves with everything we do; hitting, pitching and fielding. We just need to work on simplifying the game and playing like we can.”
McDonough said she believes there are a few minor details that need fixing in order to turn things around.
“One thing that we need to take into conference play and improve on is situational hitting and hitting with runners in scoring position,” McDonough said. “Our team is confident that we have the ability to excel in A-10 play this year, but we will certainly need to bring our A game in order for that to happen.”
The Bonnies were supposed to play a double-header on the road against the University of Pittsburgh on Wednesday, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather. Instead, the next games will take place at George Washington March 28 and 29.
“We are very used to playing on the road, so that is nothing new to us,” McDonough said. “This weekend we will really need to bring a lot of energy and confidence into the games. Our pitchers have been working hard. With our offense and defense at full speed, we should be very prepared for the games ahead.”
