Mike Howells/The Collegian
After having five of their games cancelled recently due to inclement weather, the Fresno State softball team is ready and anxious to take the diamond again as they participate in the Cathedral City Classic this weekend.
“It was a little unfortunate we couldn’t play against [No. 10/11 Washington, Davis and San Diego] this last weekend we got rained out and everything,” shortstop Haley Gilleland said.
“But we’re 3-0 right now and hopefully come out of there 8-0 and hopefully we go from there. It’s one game at a time that we’re sticking to.”
The Bulldogs will play five games in three days, taking on Virginia and No. 19/18 Oklahoma State today, Syracuse on Saturday and finishing up with Massachusetts and Oregon State on Sunday.
The team is excited to be facing such talented opponents and will be looking forward to stiff competition and hopefully ending the weekend with several additional wins on their record.
“We’re looking forward to all five of them,” pitcher Mackenzie Oakes said. “We look forward to every game and it’d be great to come out of this weekend 5-0 and the team’s working really hard to get there.”
In its last outing, Fresno State beat then-No. 8 ranked Missouri to give them a 3-0 record for the season, which has not only given them increased confidence but positive momentum as they move forward in their schedule.
“Oh that was really big,” freshman Demi Walker said about the win. “It was really big; it was something that we needed to do. It shows that we have what it takes to go above and beyond this year.”
In that game junior Michelle Moses earned his first win as starting pitcher this season and increased her home run tally to five in three games. Moses said their offensive effort as a team enabled them to win and helps them look forward to a winning season.
“Oh it’s huge,” said Moses. “I mean we start off the season on the right foot, I think we’ve been doing it, so we just want to take that momentum and run with it through conference, post-conference and everything else.”
Against their upcoming opponents the Bulldogs all-time series records are 3-2 against the Virginia Cavaliers, 6-6 against the Oklahoma State Cowgirls, 6-3 against Syracuse, 11-2 against the Massachusetts Minutewomen and 20-6 against the Oregon State Beavers.
With so many games packed into such a short time-frame the team has learned to condition themselves for the constant action and mental preparation it takes to quickly get past one game and move on to the next.
“It’s been like that for years,” Gilleland said. “If you suffer a loss you’re able to bounce back from it. We have another game right after that, so it’s no worries. You just come in and got to get your job done. We focus on what we did wrong, and talk about it, and we make sure it doesn’t happen again and then move forward.”
Throughout this weekend, the Bulldogs will continue to lean on and look toward their talented seniors for leadership, but are confident in every member of their team to provide contributions as they remain in the middle of an 11-game road trip.
“I think we have a great group of seniors and leadership,” Oakes said. “And a good core of juniors and sophomores and then a really good group of freshmen. You know it’s always important to have the freshmen step up too and I think they’ve showed that they can.”
Should the Bulldogs successfully garner a sweep at the Cathedral City Classic, they will be just one win shy of the program’s 1,500 all-time victory.
