Senior outfielder Maddie Edmonston has a batting average of .319 this season. File Photo/The Lion's Roar
The university softball team completed the 2018 Mizzou Tournament with a win and three loses.
The tournament lasted from March 2-3 where the Lady Lions played against Creighton University, University of Missouri and Drake University.
The team started the competition with a 4-3 win against Creighton University and an 8-0 loss against University of Missouri. On March 3, the Lady Lions lost 7-2 against Drake University and 6-4 against University of Missouri. The overall record for the season is now 10-8.
Head Coach Rick Fremin discussed the competition the team faced during the tournament.
“Competition at the Mizzou Tournament was very high,” said Fremin. “Missouri is a very experienced team. Also, our other opponents, Drake and Creighton, had winning records and competed at a high level as well.”
Sophomore pitcher Tanner Wright described her experience facing the tough competition.
“It was a good thing for us to go in that tournament because we faced a tough competition, and that’s really good going into the next weekend as our first conference series,” said Wright.
Fremin was happy with the team’s performance against the tough competitors.
“We did a better job of competing on the road away from home,” said Fremin. “We did not have a very good win over Creighton, but it was a very respected softball team. And we also led against University of Missouri the entire game and lost the next straight against. So, I was very proud of our team to compete against that type of program at that level throughout the game.”
Senior infielder Alli Daigle thinks the team is learning new things and was happy with team’s performance on the second day of the tournament.
“I think overall, we grew as a team throughout the four games,” said Daigle. “We learned a lot of stuff about each other, and on the second day, I think we really played our best as a team. Everybody was in each other’s back pocket.”
Fremin discussed how the team learned to face tough competitors after playing the tournament.
“I feel the team now believes that they can continue to play with the bigger schools and the confidence is rising,” said Fremin. “With that being said, surely when the team realizes that they can play at a high level it helps in the win column as well. They cannot be overwhelmed by the opponents.”
Wright feels the games helped the team grow physically and mentally.
“I think that there were some things we could have done more as a team to win more games,” said Wright. “We like to win more games, but I feel that seeing that competition just helped us all, mentally and physically.”
The upcoming game for the Lady Lions is the pre-conference play on Tuesday, March 6 where the team will be traveling to University of Southern Mississippi for a contest at 6 p.m. in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
