The UCA Bears dropped the ball at the McNeese State University softball tournament, losing four of the five games Feb. 16-17 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Starting strong, the Bears (2-8) defeated the Lamar University Cardinals (3-5) 5-4 on Friday, Feb. 16. However, the Bears ended the day in defeat with a 9-0 loss against the University of Oklahoma Sooners (9-0).
Day two continued the defeat streak. The Bears were unable to defeat the Lamar Cardinals again, losing 11-2. Then, the Bears could not get a single point against the McNeese State University Cowgirls (6-4), resulting in a 14-0 total score.
On the last day of the tournament, Feb. 18, the Bears ended the tournament with another defeat, 8-0, against the Oklahoma Sooners.
“We have played a very tough schedule, there were a lot of really good teams here this weekend,” coach Jenny Parsons said. “We played well at times, especially in the first game against Lamar, fighting our way back against them. But we’re continuing to improve and gain experience daily. And we’re just looking forward to playing at home for a while.”
Senior outfielder Tremere Harris said the tournament was a learning experience for the team.
“I think there’s still a lot of things we need to improve on,” Harris said. “My favorite part of this weekend was playing the number one team in the country [Oklahoma Sooners], just kind of seeing where we are as a team. But we just need to keep working together and growing as a whole.”
The team’s determination was shown in its winning game against Lamar.
“I feel like we played the best in that first game against Lamar,” Harris said. “We worked together on every part. We were down, but we battled back, got people on base and did what we needed to do. We had good, timely hits, and I was glad to be a part of that. We found a way.”
Junior pitcher Bailie Runner dominated the first two innings of the game, striking out the first five Cardinal batters.
(Bottom) Junior pitcher Bailie Runner lifts her arm to prepare to pitch the ball to an Oklahoma batter.
Harris said freshman outfielder Emma Veatch and sophomore outfielder Gracie St. Hilaire were star players in this tournament.
“Emma Veatch, she’s my girl. She’s a freshman, but she stepped up in the outfield and in the batter’s box. She had quality at-bats and she made plays that we needed,” Harris said. “Gracie St. Hilaire as well, they both stepped up big and made plays when we needed them to. Especially in this wind — it was very windy this weekend — but both of them, I’m very proud of them.”
In St. Hilaire’s first game as a UCA Bear, she hit a double on her first bat, giving the team an advantage against the Lamar Cardinals and ultimately earning the weekend’s only win.
The UCA Softball Bears will play their first home games of the season Feb. 23-25 at the Michelle Short Memorial Classic. They will go against Purdue University on Feb. 23, South Dakota State University and Southern Illinois State University on Feb. 24 and South Dakota State again on Feb. 25.