By: Sports Reporter, Ryan Patota
The softball team started their season on a rollercoaster stretch, playing seven games in four days. The Griffs’ busy weekend began at the Charlotte Invitational, where they would fall in the first three games. However, they secured their first win of the season on Sunday, Feb. 18.
The Griffs ended their weekend getting mercy ruled on Monday, Feb. 19 by Queens. They headed to Washington shortly after to take on George Washington for a doubleheader, which they would split.
Senior pitcher and infielder Megan Giese established her team lead in strikeouts over the weekend and is now less than 20 away from reaching 500 strikeouts in her career. The seniors continued to lead the team over the weekend as catcher and infielder Gianna Fazzolari collected her 100th career RBI in Sunday’s win over Queens via a three-run homer to put the Griffs on top early. The homerun was the catalyst of a big afternoon for the offense as they pounded out seven runs on 10 hits, en route to a 7-2 victory on Sunday.
Fazzolari said she had not realized that she had reached the 100th RBI milestone until she checked social media after the game. “I love the grind. I think this past weekend was a great learning experience for one another, and now we know a little more about each other,” said Fazzolari on her takeaways from the game-filled weekend.
Going into her senior season, Fazzolari says “it’s all mental.” She continued: “Mentally I have to know that my team is great. I have to ball out every single game and leave nothing behind.”
At their doubleheader in D.C. on Tuesday, Feb. 20, senior outfielder Christie McGee-Ross had a strong day, going three for four during the first game and three for three during the second game of the double dip, including two triples.
During game one, despite the Griffs having runners ready in scoring position, it would not be enough. In the bottom of the sixth they surrendered the lead, falling 3-2. During the second game the Griffs got the hits that were needed early and insurance runs later, securing them a 4-2 win. Megan Geise pitched a complete game allowing two runs on seventh hits to go with eight strikeouts.
The softball team is taking a rest week following their extensive travel and gametime and will not be playing again until March 1, when they will head to the EKU Colonel Classic in Richmond, Kentucky. There they will start a slightly less grueling stretch of five games in three days.
Picture courtesy of Tom Wolf