University of North Texas Athletics
Softball Heads To Reno For Tournament
3/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Despite the below .500 record, the Mean Green is playing with confidence and has taken large strides since last year. In head coach Kelly Burns’ first season, the coaching staff changed the team’s batting style to a rotational approach and the players did not have a lot of time to master the skill before the 2005 season started.
This past fall, the team began to see the results of the swing; more hits and more hits for power. Only midway through the 2006 season, the team has knocked down most of its young school records. Susan Waters, who is currently hitting .368, is on a torrid pace. She has hit 10 home runs in 28 games, topping her own single-season record of nine, set during her freshman year when the team played 79 games.
“I think it’s just persistence and hard work,” said Susan Waters about the team’s success at the plate. “Not just me, but everybody. We really invested in the swing, and we just keep working hard at it. We have gone at it 100 percent and it’s starting to pay off.”
Excluding Friday’s two games, the team has hit .244 during the month of March, resulting in a record of 5-8. The team posted 23 extra-base hits, including seven home runs. Waters hit .389 during that time period with five home runs and 16 RBI.
Compare those numbers to March of 2005 when the Mean Green posted a record of 4-6 and batted .206. Waters led the team with a .367 batting average but had no long balls.
In the last two weeks, Waters has hit five home runs in her last 17 at-bats. She is averaging a home run every 3.4 at-bats.
“I feel more comfortable up there,” said Waters about her recent hitting success. “I feel as if anytime I am at the plate, I can hit it over if she throws me one down the middle. When I get up to bat, I feel I am going to hit whatever she throws at me.”
Waters is not alone. Most of the Mean Green has already surpassed its individual numbers from last year. At the lead-off position, sophomore Katya Muller is hitting .284 with two doubles, two triples, five home runs and 20 RBI. As a freshman, she hit .191 with three home runs and 14 RBI. Her on-base percentage is up 100 points from last year.
Credit some of Muller’s RBI to the team’s better success at the bottom half of the line-up. Sophomore Jonna Williams posted her first multi-hit game with a 2-for-3 performance at the No. 7 hole in the win against Louisiana-Monroe.
Kadie Platt is also starting to find success with the new swing in her first season. She hit .250 during the month of March at the ninth position in the batting order.
With 28 games under its belt, last year’s team posted a record of 7-21 right at conference play. At the end of last year, the team went 4-9 in one-run ball games and 2-3 in extra-inning games.
The 2006 team has had success in close games, which is something Coach Burns has stressed. The Mean Green is 2-0 in one-run ball games and 2-0 in extra-inning games. Five of NT’s losses have come at the hands of nationally-ranked
Waters says the team is feeling confident as they take their first plane ride of the season to Reno. On Friday, the Mean Green plays
