The Oswego State softball team is heading to the SUNYAC playoffs for the second year in a row to take on the No. 2 seeded SUNY Geneseo Knights, after going 9-3 to finish the season.
It was not a great start to the season for the Lakers, as they started 8-16 overall and 3-5 in the conference before going on a nine-game winning streak that put them in real contention for the SUNYAC playoffs. The Lakers did lose their final three games of the year against Alfred State and SUNY Cortland to finish their season 17-19 and 11-7 in conference play, which was good enough for the No. 5 seed and a spot in the playoffs. Despite losing those last three games, head coach Abby Martin does not feel as if the team lost momentum.
“What snapped was the All-American pitcher from Alfred,” Martin said. “We put some really good at bats together and lost 1-0. Then, [at] Cortland, we went without our two best pitchers and a big part of our offense, so we are best at our full staff. So it’s really those challenges that set us back, but looking to the tournament, we have no excuses.”
Despite the three-game skid, senior catcher Emily Knowlden is still confident.
“It wasn’t ideal, but I think we learned a lot about ourselves,” Knowlden said. “Obviously, with Rebecca [Vilchez] out and [Brianna] Harrington with her back injury, I think we lost a little bit, but not mentally.”
The Lakers were here last year in the same spot before losing to SUNY Oneonta and SUNY Geneseo in the first round, but they hope for a different result this time around. Despite a slightly better record last year at 19-15, they had the same conference record at 11-7. Although the situation is not ideal, senior Angela Frampton is not making excuses.
“We have [to] take what we are given and make it work,” Frampton said. “We are put in a tough position, but we just have to do what we can to overcome [what] comes our way and just keep rolling with it.”
Although the team struggled last year, losing both its SUNYAC playoff games, Martin will have her team focus on this year.
“We just have to play our game,” Martin said. “We are not worried about what happened last year, we are not worried about who we are playing, we just have to play our game. If we pitch the ball well, and we make plays, and we hit the ball the way we can, then really kind of everything else is out of our hands, so just control the controllables and whatever happens from there is what is meant to be.”
In the first day of the SUNYAC playoffs, the Lakers went 1-1 to advance to day two. The tournament is two-game elimination, and the Lakers lost their first game to the No. 2 seed SUNY Geneseo by a score of 5-0. SUNY Geneseo’s Ashlyn Kersh pitched a complete game, no-hitter. In game two, the Lakers battled back from a 3-1 deficit with three runs in the sixth inning.
Despite having a worse overall record this year, this is a different team from last year, and the Lakers feel they are better. They are confident in this offense, outscoring their opponents 64-34 over the past 12 games, which is good for five runs a game and a team ERA of 2.83, which is well below league average. Regardless of the numbers, Knowlden senses a difference in this year’s team.
“We have a really good chemistry this year,” Knowlden said. “This year we have each other’s back, and we trust that we have each other’s back, and we have faith in everyone on the field that they are going to get it done”
Martin feels the team is hungrier than last year which will help in SUNYAC playoffs.
“They want it a little more,” Martin said. “They are playing together more. With all the adversity we faced, it has made us a stronger more mentally tough team, which is going to help in the postseason. We are just going in [with] no excuses, play hard with what we got and we will see what happens.”
Photo by Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
