Softball attempts to refocus after rough preseason

By Cecile Nguyen

According to new Head Coach Lisa Mize, the softball team is off to a "frustrating" preseason after earning their first win yesterday against San Jose State. The Broncos are now 1-16, after losing the first match-up on Wednesday 6-1 and winning the second 2-0.

"It could be a combination of things," said Mize. "Adjusting to the new coaches, trying to find the starting nine, and injuries."

Last season, the Broncos went 12 games into the preseason before registering their first win, a 3-0 shutout of Texas-San Antonio.

Before Wednesday's win, Santa Clara's previous victory came on April 28 of last year, when they beat Portland State 2-1 on the road. The Broncos then lost their final seven games of the 2006-07 season.

One of the Broncos' toughest losses this year came against then-No. 10 UCLA in a record-setting 27-1 defeat in four and a half innings. The Bruins set five new school records in the blowout victory, including most runs scored in a single game; their previous mark was 22.

"We're off to a rocky start, having not won a game yet," senior pitcher Jerrica Castagno said before Wednesday's victory. "We're a young team and need to work together with the recent injuries to key players."

Castagno said that both starting and back-up catchers were injured in games over the weekend and the team is looking to freshman Stephanie Smith to fill the role until they are healthy. Mize, who was an assistant coach last year before being named head coach during the off-season, thinks that this year's young team just needs time and more practice.

"We know what we're capable of, and we're working hard at practice on fundamentals and improving mentally and physically," said Mize.

Mize estimates that at least half of this season's losses have been due to careless mental errors. Castagno agreed and said the team needs to change their mentality because too much focus is on trying not to lose, rather than trying to win.

"We need to have a 'we-can-beat-anyone' approach and not look at who we're playing and their record," she said. "We shouldn't be intimidated by our opponents instead of focusing on ourselves."

Another problem the Broncos have encountered this season is their inability to complete games and remain consistent.

"One game, our pitching is working, but our defense isn't," Castagno said. "The next game could be that our defense is there, but not our pitching. We haven't had everything working at the same time."

Mize agrees and believes that their winless record reflects an inability to come together as a complete unit.

"Nothing comes together at the same time, and it's our biggest frustration," said Mize.

But Castagno said that Santa Clara's 7-5 extra-inning loss to Cal on Feb. 20 was a step in the right direction.

"We would have won if we closed the door late, but we let our nerves get to us," Castagno said. "In the very last inning, we weren't hitting and we left runners on the base. We should have won the game 5-3, not lose."

Mize and the team hope that reflecting on the close loss to the Bears will help them continue to improve throughout the remainder of the early season. The Broncos remain confident that they can still turn the season around if they do well during conference play.

Their goal is still to win conference, something Santa Clara has not been able to do for some time, said Castagno.

"We can still turn this season around; doing well in conference is still obtainable," Mize said. "We can look at this as a bad start, but it means a whole lot of nothing if we have success in conference play."

Contact Cecile Nguyen at (408) 551-1918 or cnguyen5@scu.edu.