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UB Softball dropped a pair of games to open their weekend yesterday, falling 9-4 to Kennesaw State and 8-1 to Mercer to open Mercer's Orange and Black Invitational.
It's been two weeks since we last saw the Bulls in action, but it was much of the same as we've seen in this tough start to the season in which the Bulls are trying to replace a ton of experience from last year:
- Susceptibility to the big inning: 10 of UB's 17 runs against came in single-inning rallies
- Defensive issues: UB commited 12 errors on the day, 6 in each game. In particular, all 6 against Mercer came in the same inning
- Inexperienced pitching: Aside from the errors, UB pitchers allowed 26 baserunners in 13 innings
- Inconsistent offense: Right now, Alexiss Curtiss is a machine, and everyone else is game-to-game. The catcher was 4-6 from the plate; the rest of the team, 7-46
The two games were relatively similar in UB's giving up the big inning and continued defensive struggles, but they played out a little differently in plot. In the morning against Kennesaw State, UB was down 5-0 before even touching a bat, but did play the owls even the rest of the way thanks to a Hayley Barrow home run in the third and small rally in the seventh for a pair of runs.
Against Mercer, UB got out to a good start thanks to a leadoff double from Alexis Curtiss, who scored two pitches later. The Bulls, however, didn't get another hit until Karly Nevez and Curtiss strung together two singles in the sixth, and that was just about it for the offense. Meanwhile, the Bears capitalized on six errors, two passed balls, and a wild pitch in the third inning to score six and not look back. All of those miscues came in a stretch of seven batters.
So all in all, it wasn't a day to remember. UB takes on the same two teams today at 12:15 and 4:45.
Go Bulls!