Having already completed a third of its schedule, the softball team will finally set foot on its home turf this afternoon, locking horns with Bates for a three-game series starting this afternoon.
"Overall, we're looking to finesse our play and get used to playing on our field, which we haven't done yet this season," said junior Erica Bailey, who is also a senior staff writer for the Daily.
Tufts overwhelmed Bates last season in a doubleheader that saw both games cut short by the mercy rule with scores of 11-1 and 9-1. Despite last season's commanding wins, the squad refuses to be complacent this time around.
"We have to take every NESCAC game seriously, no matter who we are facing," senior tri-captain Megan Cusick said. "I think this weekend we would like to continue to get used to playing with each other, especially the newer players."
The squad spent the duration of its spring break in southern California at the Sun West Tournament in Orange County. Finishing with a more than respectable 8-4 record, the Jumbos had plenty of opportunity to gauge their strengths and weaknesses against some of the nation's best before entering conference play.
"California enabled us to become more comfortable playing with one another," Cusick said. "Now that we have some games under our belt, I think that our goal for NESCAC play is to keep hitting the ball like we are, and be as sharp as possible on defense. We want to go into every game with a winning attitude and never let up."
"Offense was really strong in California," Bailey said. "We swung the bat fearlessly."
During the spring break trip, hits came from both the rookies and the veterans, who combined for a team batting average of .376. Freshman Christy Tinker currently leads the Jumbos, hitting an impressive .500, while Bailey and sophomore Samantha Kuhles follow closely on her heels, swinging .483 and .478, respectively.
While the Jumbos are looking comfortable offensively, their defensive game is still in its developing stages.
"Defensively, we're a young team," Bailey said. "We need to get comfortable in our positions, play with authority and not be scared to fail."
With three seniors graduated and the loss of offensive juggernaut and junior Danielle Lopez, the team's leading scorer and regular second baseman, to injury, coach Cheryl Milligan has had some roster holes to fill. After adding seven freshmen to the mix during the offseason, the team remains focused on uniting the array of players in the infield and outfield.
Although the team is confident that it will emerge on top of the Bobcats today and tomorrow, it won't be writing off any of its conference match-ups. Instead, the Jumbos hope to utilize the game time to fine-tune their skills and adapt to playing together.
"I think on an individual level, everybody took something from California that they would like to improve upon and this weekend is a great opportunity to work on those little things," Cusick said.
"There were times in California when we got into lulls," sophomore Maya Ripecky added. "I think from that we learned that we have to go with your highest intensity going into every game, no matter who our opponent is."
