While the majority of their peers will be sitting in today’s morning classes, calculating how best to spend the weekend, the BG softball team will be in the shadow of the Great Smokey Mountains, preparing for the Tennessee Classic in Knoxville Tennessee. It is the second of four early season tournaments for the women. The Falcons will kick-off their weekend in the Volunteer State this morning at 10 against North Dakota State. Also on the itinerary are games against James Madison and North Carolina as well as contests against No. 8 Tennessee and, unranked-yet still formidable, Marshall. ‘Tennessee and Marshall concern us because they play a style which we haven’t seen so far this year,’ coach Shannon Salsburg said. ‘They both are very fast teams with a lot of left-handed slap hitters. They will definitely have more speed than anyone we have faced so far.’ The Falcons will hope to counter those aggressive offenses with the pitching of senior co-captain Hayley Wiemer and sophomore Melissa Bott, both of whom are expected to shoulder the majority of the load this weekend. ‘We haven’t yet heard what games each of them [Bott and Wiemer} will be throwing in,’ Salsburg said. ‘A lot of it will depend on the scouting reports as well as the weather.’ After coming away from the UCF-Early Bird Tournament with a 3-2 record, Salsburg is pleased with both the physical and mental state of her club. ‘I am very happy with where we are at right now as a team,’ Salsburg said. ‘We played very well in four out of the five games in Florida. We just need to keep working on maturing and being consistent from day-to-day. In the [Mid-American Conference] Tournament you have to put together four straight good days.’ Achieving that consistent day-to-day approach is what Salsburg is hoping her team accomplishes this weekend. ‘With these early season tournaments, we don’t focus so much on wins and losses but rather on just improving the little things and making sure we go out there and play our style no matter who we go up against,’ she said. Salsburg also welcomes these early-season trips as a chance to build team unity. ‘As a team we really enjoy these trips,’ Salsburg said. ‘They give a great chance to come together as a team before conference play. It is always nice to just get away from campus for a few days and just concentrate on playing softball.’
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Softball team looking to continue winning ways after successful first weekend
February 27, 2009
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