Lady Lions softball wins three games in Lion Classic tournament

Junior outfielder Maddie Edmonston steals a base in the game against Morehead State. 
Nikisun Shrestha/ The Lion's Roar

The Lady Lions softball team go 6-2 in the season with an impressive showing in the Lion Classic II.

The team won against University of Buffalo 9-1, University of Middle Tennessee 6-5 and Morehead State University 4-2 but lost against Southeast Missouri State University 2-0 while their game against University of Texas at Arlington was incomplete due to rain.

“I’m very pleased with the performance of our team on the weekend,” said Head softball Coach Rick Fremin. “We played extremely well at home. Of course, we would have liked to get last night’s game, but we faced a really good pitcher, and I think our outfield did a phenomenal job this game. Just locking down our defense and a lot of balls hit to them, but they closed the gaps. So, I am really proud of them and our pitching staff. All weekend, I think they did a fabulous job no matter who we put out there.”

Junior pitcher Lacey Hill was pleased with her performance in the tournament.  

“I felt like I did really good,” said Hill. “I struggled last night a little bit, but I came back today, and I just had a new mindset. So, that helped me out really good and my defense is always behind me and my outfield was amazing. We’re making plays we should make and plays that other people might not make. So, it’s really encouraging to have them behind me.”

Hill praised Coach Fremin and his decisiveness in the tournament. 

“I felt we had a lot of adversity and he does a really good job of knowing when to put people in,” said Hill. “Like last night Nielson came in for just two batters and she did her job and she was done. I just feel we can go in and out, and we have confidence in every one of pitchers. It’s just a good start this year.”

Fremin thought the team was consistent throughout the tournament but feels there are areas they can improve on.

“I think we were very consistent throughout this weekend and that was probably a key factor in us winning two of the games,” said Fremin. “We got to do a better job in pitch selection, hitting early in the count and we gotta do a better job at our short game.” 

Hill also feels the team needs to improve going into the season.

“Overall, I think we can improve on scoring early,” said Hill. “We’re doing a good job of running the bases. We can clean up our defense a little bit.” 

The Lady Lions are facing a tough run of games ahead of their conference games.

“For the next month, we’re about to hit a gruelling schedule and I really feel it’s gonna test our team in a number of areas,” said Fremin. “We’ve put that schedule together for a reason. Just to prepare them for conference. So, the next month is gonna be extremely tough for us.”    

Hill says that the team is expecting a good season ahead.

“I’m expecting a lot out of this season,” said Hill. “Coming from a juco that did really well for two years and then other people in the team are also from the jucos that did very well, I’m just expecting us to do big things this year. We have a special team.”

The team will face Louisiana Tech University on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m.

 

Junior pitcher Lacey Hill at the mound.The softball team won three games, lost one and had one game cancelled due to rain during the Lion Classic II tournament.
Nikisun Shrestha/ The Lion's Roar