With an 0-5 week of road games, the Tabor College softball team dropped five games below .500. Even so, coach John Bassett has reason to believe that ?these close games will start to turn into some wins.?
Bassett pointed out that several of the squad?s hitters started the week with batting averages near .600?and despite a difficult week, both Dorene Dodson and Alyssa Voth continue to hit in the .520s.
?We just didn’t hit well in the tournament,? he said. ?Even after the tournament, our team batting average is .350 and our opponents are at .287. Our ERA is 4.10 to our opponents 3.70. We’re just not getting timely hitting.?
Bassett has been happier with his team?s pitching staff.
?They’re going to give us an opportunity to win nearly every game,? he said. ?Danielle (Cronauer) has been solid all year and Dori could have easily given up when we fell behind. Instead, she didn’t allow another run the entire game and gave us a chance to come back.
?We have a lot of talent this year,? he added. ?We’re still trying learning about each other and striving to put it all together.?
Tabor started the month being swept by Haskell Indian Nations, then swung through the Hastings Bronco Invitational weekend tournament, going 0-for-3 with two rain-outs.
Hastings tournament?The Bluejays scored just one run in three games Friday, beginning with a 5-0 loss to Mayville in which starting pitcher Danielle Cronauer allowed only two earned runs. Tabor met host Hastings in the second game and was beaten 9-0.
The Bluejays played the closest game of the set in a 4-1 loss to Jamestown Friday night.
Tabor was slated to play Midland Lutheran and Dana on Saturday, but the double-header was rained out, with no makeup dates yet announced.
Haskell?Tabor was defeated by scores of 7-4 and 9-7 in a March 3 doubleheader.
Tabor led the first game 1-0 and 2-1 before Haskell tied it in the fourth and took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth. The Bluejays tied it at 3-all in the top of the sixth, but lost its focus, misplaying two bunts en route to a big half-inning for Haskell.
On top of the defensive miscues, the Bluejays were let down by their offense.
“We left 16 runners on base,? Bassett said. ?That’s way too many…we had an opportunity in every inning to score a lot of runs. We had a lot of hits, but we never got that big hit.”
Danielle Cronauer allowed two earned runs in seven innings pitched.
In the second game, Tabor again scored first?but was outscored 9-1 during Haskell?s first nine outs.
?They blooped a lot of hits in on us and we really got down on ourselves and lacked some mental toughness,? Bassett said. ?They tested our defense by running a lot and we weren’t up to the challenge. However, our ladies really responded by scoring in every inning after the third and making it a very close game.?
Trailing 9-7 in the seventh, Tabor put runners on second and third with one out ahead of Cronauer who drilled a line drive caught by diving second baseman Rachel Thompson. The sharply hit ball allowed Haskell to double-up Dori Dodson to end the game.
?If that line drive was another six inches away, the game would have been tied,? Bassett said.
Coming?Tabor (2-7) hosts Dakota State Thursday then takes on a 5-team field at the McPherson Tournament Friday and Saturday.
