In the sports world, there is no substitute for experience. Six games this weekend will allow the Mississippi State softball team (7-4) to develop younger players while gaining tournament experience in the Bulldog Classic.
The Lady Dawgs, who are coming off a disappointing road trip to San Diego, will host Austin Peay of the Ohio Valley Conference, and Mississippi Valley State and Alabama A&M of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
“It will be similar to the first tournament (Bulldog Round Robin). Austin Peay is a lot like Louisiana Tech, and Valley and Alabama A&M are stronger (SWAC teams) than Jackson State.”
State stranded 20 runners in a two-game stretch on the road last weekend and committed five errors in another contest.
“We’re just not playing well at all right now,” says Miller. “We’re playing sloppy on defense, and that costs us runs and eventually ballgames. Our pitchers pitched great (last weekend) though, which is a very good sign, but right now we’re just making too many errors to be competitive.”
Miller stressed the importance of the tournament portion of the season. He says it is important not only to develop the younger players, but also to prove the team’s ability to the NCAA committee.
Miller said: “We’ve got a lot of young players playing right now. We’ve moved Kate Jaspers to left field, and Jennifer Waterman to first, so we’ve got a freshman playing shortstop (Hayle Guess, filling in for injured Jennifer Jessup) and a freshman behind the plate (Blaire Geddings).”
“I need these games to get them some more innings before SEC play. Plus, it sets up your RPI rating,” Miller added. “You have to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat, and then hopefully win a few that you aren’t supposed to along the way.”
Jaspers says this kind of tournament can really help the team after a disappointing series last weekend.
“The key thing to remember is that we’re not playing poorly, so we can’t go out there and try to force something,” Jaspers said.
He added: “We’re pitching and hitting well, so we just need to make the minor changes it takes to win. These are the kind of teams that if you don’t play them well, they’ll beat you. But as long as we play our game, we should win them all.”