COLUMN: Weather a problem for softball team
In February, the Chippewas saw their entire four-game trip to Tennessee canceled due to inclement weather. Now, almost a month later, CMU has seen four more games canceled.
These cancellations have been less than ideal for the squad. Leading up to the most recent string of dropped games, the Chippewas had a scheduled 11-day break as the team made it’s way back from Florida.
After playing 12 games in seven days, it was a deserved break for CMU, but the Chippewas were in for a bit of a surprise. The weather forced the team to rest for another three days, giving the players a two-week break in the middle of the season.
Before the unexpected time off, CMU was starting to gain some momentum.
The Chippewas were 6-4 in their last ten games. Pitchers Rachael Knapp and Hanna Warren combined to throw four complete game shutouts, while the Chippewas’ bats failed to score only once during the 10-game stretch.
Six different CMU batters had raised their batting averages above .250 and the team had an on base percentage of .329.
This all seemed to change when the streaking Chippewas were cooled off by the cold weather. In CMU’s first two games back following the break, the team was outscored 23-12 by the Ball State Cardinals.
This was surprising given the Chippewas had allowed 94 runs and held opposing batters to a .271 batting average leading up to the weekend series.
The CMU bats did not cool off as much during the break. The Chippewas combined for 22 hits on Saturday in 63 at bats, but did struggle during scoring opportunities with 12 runners left on base.
Needless to say, it was not CMU’s best performance over the weekend, but the extended break did not help. It seemed like the Chippewas were out of sync and now must look to their upperclassmen to get the team back into a rhythm.
Junior Chelsea DeLamielleure went 3-for-4 and scored three times in the weekend’s final game. More performances like hers should help propel the Chippewas through the team’s midseason slip.
