The Huskies’ run to Oklahoma City came to an abrupt end on Saturday night, as they would lose 6-4 to South Florida. Things were looking up earlier in the day after they beat the Rams of Fordham, 5-2. In that contest, Sophia Ramuno and Morgan Reimer combined to pitch a gem, with Reimer getting the save and Ramuno getting the decision. But, as I said yesterday, pitching ruined the Huskies’ chances in the second game of the day against the Bulls, capping off a frustrating last month and a half, which
ends an up and down season for the softball program.
First, the positives. Ramuno is the only senior on the roster. This is a young team with plenty of talent, especially in the batting department. Alexis Deboer had 2 RBI singles against Fordham, Junior catcher Jaydn Glab had a 2-4 game against the Rams with an RBI, and started the scoring off with a big fly of her own against South Florida, giving her 2 against the Bulls on the weekend. Giselle Alvarez went 3-3 against South Florida, including a homer in the 4th. They have the bats.
Once again, as on Friday, the pitching doomed the Dawgs against the Bulls. The game started with Reimer getting relieved by Sophia Ramuno after 1 and 1/3rd innings. Ramuno and the defense cleared the jam, only giving up a solitary run on a sacrifice fly. That run would be the only score until the 4th, when Jaydn Glab and Ava Carroll would hit back to back solo home runs. The Huskies would have an opportunity in the 5th, but would ultimately leave 3 stranded, leaving USF room to capitalize off of Husky pitcher Allie Thomsen, who entered the game for Ramuno. The Bulls did just that, plating 2 on 4 hits in the inning. After Melody Acevedo singled, and Sophi Mazzola singled and swiped second, Giselle Alvarez once again came in clutch, hitting a 2 run triple, putting the Huskies up 4-3 after 6. But then, disaster struck. First, Olivia Elliot hit her 4th homer of the year for the Bulls (on a ball that just barely got out), and then Karhys Pierce drove in 2 on a single to right center field, putting the Huskies down 6-4, a deficit from which they wouldn’t recover.
I put the blame for this game squarely on the pitching, more specifically the decisions made in terms of personnel. Outside of Reimer and Ramuno, the Huskies have no true ace. Gabbie Plain isn’t walking back through that door, Ruby Meylan isn’t walking back through that door, so we’ll have to make do with what we have. What we have us good enough to feast on weaker teams, but falls apart against better ones. USF was clearly better than what their seeding would suggest, obviously, but this performance this weekend suggests that reinforcements on the pitching front are not a luxury, but rather a necessity if this team is to compete against both conference and national heavyweights. Outside of that, Alvarez, Glab, Deboer, Carroll and the rest are a solid offensive core that Tarr and company should absolutely look to retain and build around. I’m hopeful that there won’t be an exodus in the offing, and the Huskies can build on this season (which had some great moments) so frustrating losses like this are fewer. In the words of Minnesota Vikings radio man Paul Allen, “The season can’t end like that”.
Which makes the times when it does even more disappointing.
