Softball struggles in weekend series but remains confident

By Zion Guillory |Staff writer|

This past weekend CSUSB’s  softball team traveled to Las Vegas, Feb.11 and 12, where they took on fierce competition.

Saturday Feb. 2 proved to be a tough schedule as the Coyotes played two games in one day.

Their first matchup was against the undefeated Cal Baptist University Lancers.

The Coyotes got off to a strong start, racking up three runs in the first inning. However, a strong sixth inning in which the Lancers scored 10 runs was the difference in the game. The Coyotes went on to score another run, but would go on to lose the game 12-4.

They had little time to hang their heads as they Coyotes found themselves in another dog fight against the Montana State-Billings Yellowjackets  later that afternoon.

The Coyotes had dug themselves into an early hole, as they faced a 1-0 deficit entering the second inning. The long ball got the Coyotes back in the game however, as Alyssa Flores belted out a solo homerun to tie the game at one.

Alex Mitchell went on to give them the lead later in the second inning with a run-scoring single that put CSUSB up 2-1.

The Coyotes added two runs in the third with Victoria Lievanos’ RBI double to left and Jamie Leffingwell’s single up the middle. The Yellowjackets were able to score two runs of their own in the fourth inning, cutting the lead  to 4-3.

The Coyotes would go on to win by that final score.

The final matchup was on Feb. 12 against Dixie State. Much like their first matchup of the weekend, the Coyotes couldn’t stop the opposing offense as they fell 12-4 against Dixie State.

Despite the two losses, players are still confident.

“This past weekend was a big test for us, I think we played pretty good though,” said Britney Ybarra.

“As far as things we need to work on, we have so much talent it’s ridiculous, but in order for us to separate our team from the rest we need to execute the easy things and get those together, and without a doubt we will bring home more wins.”

Head coach Tacy Duncan feels that defense is definitely a facet of the team’s game that must improve.

“She was disappointed in our defense but was excited because we were winning and haven’t even played to our full potential,” said Ybarra.

The season is young, however, and the Coyotes have time to figure things out and reach their full potential.