WC Wisconsin News

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's softball team had a bang during their recent 12-game spring trip to Florida, finishing the road trip at 8-3-1.

It's been three years since the team was last able to travel, coach Leslie Huntington noted in a recent tweet.

"Florida bound," she tweeted. "Three years since our last spring trip. Hope we remember how to do this."

When it came to swinging the bats, it was "mission accomplished" for the Blugolds, who scored at least seven runs in five of their victories.

"Our youth is exciting," Huntington told the Wisconsin News. "We have a talented group of young players who play with high energy. We also have a deep, young pitching staff that should get better and better as the season progresses. I am excited about playing our best softball in May."

Huntington added that she senses all her players seem to have the same mindset.

"I also think this team is bought-in to the notion that failure doesn't exist," she said. "We have spent a lot of time talking about that. We make a mistake, we move on. For as young as we are, I felt we played very composed during our games on our spring trip."

Going forward, Huntington wants to see her team's bunt defense get better, along with the team's corner infielders becoming more aggressive.   

"I think we can push ourselves more when it comes to adjustments at the plate, from at-bat to at-bat, and pitch to pitch," she said. "We also need to hone in on our timing at the plate. When we time pitches well, we hit the ball very hard. We have a lot of potential for power, but we have to work on our timing and commit to being on time at the plate."

A bit of the inconsistency Huntington touched on was on full display during Day 4 of the trip, when the Blugolds knocked off No. 10 Tufts University (Mass.), 4-3; before being shut out by Hope College (Mich.), 8-0, in 5 innings.

All in all, however, Huntington thought it was a good trip for the Blugolds.

"We only had three players who had experienced a spring break trip, so it was a new experience for the majority of our players," she told the News. "They learned what it is like to live together, get along, get to know each other better, and play softball in a demanding environment. Overall I was very pleased with how we performed. We saw some things we needed to see, made some 'youthful' mistakes, and learned what we need to do better."