The Virginia softball team travels west to Tucson, Ariz. for its second consecutive weekend tournament today through Sunday. Last weekend, the Cavaliers participated in the Best Western Invitational in Tampa, Fla., and came away with a 3-2 record and a third-place tournament finish.
"I think our pitching and our defense kept us in games and gave us opportunities to win," Virginia coach Karen Johns said.
Players were pleased with their performance, especially in the circle and in the field, but knew they could do better.
"I think we're pretty excited and we expected more, but it is a good place for us to start for the rest of the season," said Brooke Sorber, senior first baseman and outfielder. "We played well on defense and our pitchers did a great job and I hope we keep that up over the next few days."
This weekend's tournament, the Worth Wildcat Invitational, features a strong batch of teams including No. 2-ranked Arizona (4-2). The Cavaliers' solid defensive play and pitching is something that Virginia will need to display again this weekend.
"We've only had a couple days outside, so we haven't played on dirt much," Sorber said. "It's tough to practice full-scale defense on our field, so our defense was good considering the circumstances. I think we played with intensity and we need to keep that up with these big teams we're playing."
The Cavaliers will need to improve on offense and timely hitting to be successful this weekend.
"We need our table setters to get on more so our RBI people can knock some runs in," Johns said. We need quality at-bats. We saw some good things with practice this week and we just need to carry it to the field."
The first-game butterflies of last weekend's games are something the Cavaliers will probably not have to worry about this weekend.
"Our hitting was kind of weak," Sorber said. "Our timing was off and people were excited and anxious. It was the first time we faced some of these pitchers."
Although the nerves of last weekend may be gone, Virginia will once again face great pitching.
"The teams this weekend have veteran pitchers that we'll have to deal with," Johns said. "Also, each one of the teams has a lot of team speed."
In addition to the Wildcats, which the Cavaliers will play Saturday at 5 p.m., Virginia will match up against Texas Tech (3-2) at 11 a.m. Friday, the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (1-4) at 1 p.m. Friday, and the Temple Owls (0-0) at 11 a.m. Saturday.
For one Cavalier, the tournament will be a sort of homecoming. Senior second baseman Elea Crockett is from Tucson and will face at least two players with whom she played in high school.
"I played with the catcher and right fielder from Arizona," Crockett said. "I think its going to be great. I've been looking forward [to the tournament] since I signed here and I think it'll be a great homecoming. I was told when I arrived here we would eventually go to Tucson. Arizona is one of the premier softball teams in the tourney."
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