By Jack Perdek

The Oswego State softball team stands 3-8 to begin their 2022 season, recently defeating RIT in a two-game series.

For teams like the Lakers playing a season in 2021, they have the advantage of developing a young core and building off last Spring. This year they have also brought in a freshman class that has been very productive at bat. First-year player Kylie Detz is the fifth leading batter on the team averaging a .200 AVG and has three runs on the season in her 14 at-bats. Similarly, Mattison Phinney has been slugging the softball just as well with three runs and 14 hits in this young season. 

Returning players such as Zoe Mennig, Taylor Dubois and pitcher Fiona Higgins have also seemed to increase their stat percentages throughout the season. Starting on the mound, Higgins is on pace to record a better season than her last with a 1.03 ERA through 11 games. The junior averaged a 6.5 ERA last season but was a total for the whole season opposed to the early start she has gotten off to. Higgins’s pitching has been superb thus far, especially with her no-hitter performance against Defiance college in which she shut out their batters in seven total innings allowing zero hits or runs. 

Zoe Mennig has picked up right where she left off for the green and gold from last year’s batting average of .423 and sits currently at a .387. As of now, she is atop the stat chart for the Lakers with two runs, 12 hits and four RBIs. Her best game thus far was at home versus Washington College where she averaged a .368 and ran home once off her two hits. Mennig is also the starting catcher for the Lakers and has recorded 69 PO’s thus far. 13 of them came from the Lakers’ first win against Houghten on March 22.

Another big contributor to this team has been Samantha Morgan and the boost she has given at the plate. As a junior, she now averages a .286 batting average and owns the third-most hits on the squad with seven. Morgan has already surpassed her previous average of .236 and if she keeps it up she may be able to double the number of hits that she had in the pandemic season. 

It is never too late to see where this Oswego State softball team matches up against their opponents in the SUNYAC conference. With runs, they rank fifth at 88, forth at hits with 156, forth in home runs at eight and fifth at RBIs with 76. Looking at these offensive statistics they rank just about in the middle of the 10 team pack behind SUNY New Paltz, Suny Cortland and Buffalo State. With their out-of-conference schedule coming to a near close before they start playing SUNYAC teams, they will need to increase these numbers to compete amongst the top seven. 

The Lakers, who started their season on a  five-game losing streak, found flashes of who they can be in their victories against Defiance College and RIT. Their main issue at the moment is finishing innings offensively and putting more runs on the scoreboard. Oswego State has been shut out twice and often outscored by three runs a game. With the exception of their blowout losses to Franklin and Marshall College Ramapo college, they have been tight with every team they have played so far. This set of victories against RIT was an example of a close game where they came out victorious and played strong fielding the softball. 

This Saturday, March 26 the team will host St. John Fisher and get their last dose of experience before they play SUNY Fredonia the following Friday. Fredonia has an overall record of 3-11 and should be a favorable opponent for the Lakers considering both squads have been up and down for the most part statistically. 

SUNY Fredonia is in a  similar situation losing three of their closest games by a differential of three runs, if the Lakers hope to slow them down, they will need their pitching and fielding in good shape. 

William Rogers | The Oswegonian