The Virginia softball team's early-season tour through sunny cities resumes today when it heads to Palm Springs, Calif. to play in the Palm Springs Classic.
Stiff competition lies ahead again for the team.
"Every team we face is a national program," Virginia coach Karen Johns said. "They all have strong traditions, and we'll see how we stack up, then come home and see how we move on from there." Virginia's first game is against the 9-3 Rebels of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas tonight. UNLV, from the Mountain West Conference, has won back-to-back games.
Virginia (5-5) will then face 8-2 Brigham Young later tonight. BYU, also from the Mountain West Conference, is enjoying a three-game winning streak.
Tomorrow night, Virginia matches up against the team from California State University, Fullerton, which is sporting a 5-5 record. Virginia will then face California Polytechnic (6-3) in the second half of tomorrow's double-header. Both Cal State Fullerton and Cal Tech are from the Big West Conference.
Virginia will play Fresno State (6-3) Saturday. The Bulldogs, from the Western Athletic Conference, are ranked No. 23 by ESPN.com and won their last contest.
Oregon State, against whom Virginia will square off Saturday night, will pose the biggest threat to the Cavaliers. The Beavers, from the PAC-10, have won three games in a row and are ranked No. 7.
To be successful against these teams, Virginia needs to have every element of its game functioning at its highest level.
"Each game, one element of our game will go well but not another," senior outfielder Meghan O' Leary said. "Hopefully we'll have offense and defense and pitching together and we'll have a breakout weekend."
Indeed, it has been the Cavaliers' pitching that has been below average lately, while their hitting has been sufficient.
"The biggest glaring problem is in our pitching," Johns said. "We have to be able to reach some progress. We're working on things in practice for that and hopefully we'll improve on that this weekend."
The Cavaliers, who were 2-3 at last weekend's Arizona tournament, racked up 53 hits over five games and scored 6.8 runs per game.
"Our offense was great all last weekend and we played the No. 4 team," Johns said. "We faced a good pitcher so we were pleased with the three runs actually [that we scored against Arizona]. We started pressing at the plate. I'm pretty pleased with where they are at though."
Great hitting will again be a must this weekend. Freshman catcher and infielder Kelly Haller, who was responsible for 12 of last weekend's 53 hits, said she believes her confidence has led to her offensive explosion.
"I would attribute it to the reps in practice and having the confidence in the box," Haller said. "Even if I get down, I am relaxed in the box and am not intimidated by the team or pitcher."
The Cavaliers also will look to have an improved defense this weekend to back up their offense.
"We should be winning when we score eight or nine runs a game," O' Leary said.
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