Georgia Southwestern softball coach Eddie Ward couldn’t be
any happier after the first week of the 2008 season. His Lady
Hurricanes defeated Claflin University 16-0, Savannah State
University 19-0, and Armstrong Atlantic State University 2-1 in a
weekend tournament and then dropped Wesleyan College 7-1 and 6-3
yesterday to arrive at their current 5-0 record .
“I don’t believe we could have played any better this
week,” he said. “The team gets along well with one
another, and they come to the ball park ready to play. They want to
play and it shows on the field with their enthusiasm and
teamwork.”
GSW is batting .399 as a team and has racked up 61 hits and 50 runs
in just five games. There are four players – Emily Oglesby,
Heather Chambers, Brandi Pratt, and Kassi Reneau – who are
batting .500 or better. The Lady Canes have also accumulated a .529
team slugging percentage and a .475 team on-base percentage.
While performing so well on the offensive side of the ball, GSW has
also been strong defensively. Opponents have been limited to only
11 hits and 5 runs, averaging just .103 at the plate. GSW has also
put two shut-outs in the books so far, with hopes of more to
come.
The Lady Hurricanes are hoping to improve on last year's record,
and Ward said this team won’t let that kind of season happen
again.
“I thought we might be a sleeper — maybe move up to the
middle of the pack like sixth or seventh — and that’s
still the case, but we will compete in each and every ball
game,” he said. “We have too many ball players on this
team that are gamers and won’t allow that to
happen.”
GSW will host Anderson University this Friday before opening Peach
Belt competition on Saturday against Armstrong Atlantic State
University. Games will be played at Hurricane Field, and times for
both days will be 3:00 and 5:00.