Pittsburg State softball reaches critical period of season

Conference season is a vital time of year for any postseason hopes the Gorillas have.

Key Takeaways:

• Conference season is make or break for PSU softball.
• The players are confident in their abilities.
• Sweeping Rogers State was a big confidence booster.

Conference season will be arriving soon, starting against the University of Central Missouri Jennies on March 12.

The Gorillas struggled in the conference portion of the 2022 season, going 7-19, and the late season was a major part of that squad finishing one game under .500. The team has already started stronger this year than they did in the previous, being 6-2 in conference play as of March 26, and only four games behind last years total wins. 

The MIAA conference is stacked with talented teams from top to bottom, so starting strong was important to coach Jenny Fuller. She said the Gorillas gained a lot of confidence from their hot start. 

“I think it was huge,” Fuller said. “There is a lot of season left, and so I think it gave us a lot of confidence moving forward that we are a really good team in the MIAA and that we can beat anyone that we see.” 

Starting pitcher and ace of the 2023 squad, Hannah Harrison, agreed. 

“I think it kind of showed us what we are capable of when we play together,” Harrison said. “We still have to take each opponent seriously, but when we play together, we can accomplish anything.”

Starting off strong in conference play was helped by difficult nonconference play early in the season and, as Fuller noted, “taking the lumps early.” Those tough games have proven to be a boon in close games so far, mainly in a two-game sweep of the second-ranked team in the country, the Rogers State Hillcats, on March 25. 

Each game against RSU was decided by one run, including the first game of the doubleheader, which ended 1-0 after Harrison pitched a complete game shutout. She eclipsed 200 strikeouts in her career in the process, including 10 strikeouts in that game. Harrison pitched another shutout against the Northeastern State Riverhawks the following day.

She said teammates were crucial in those performances.

“Trusting my teammates, especially KK [Kadyn Trochim] at third and Gabby at short…,” Harrison said. “If it is hit on that side of the field it is an out and so that gives me a lot of assurance to do what I know how to do and trust the team behind me.” 

The pitching has been strong with the team starting to get contributions from Haidyn Berry and Bree Sexton, with the latter returning from an injury suffered earlier in the season.

But the pitchers aren’t the only group that has had good performances to start off the conference season. The offensive unit has been spearheaded by Paxtyn Hayes and Taylor Lambert, with both of them picking up from where they left off last year. Hayes is up to nine home runs already, and Lambert batting a .421 average while picking up 13 steals on the base paths. 

As a member of last year’s squad and with this season being her final year of eligibility, Lambert knows how important it is to start off hot in conference to gain confidence. 

“It totally felt awesome,” Lambert said. “We definitely needed that boost of confidence. I think that it gives us a lot of confidence into the upcoming weekends, especially with continuing to play hard teams. They might not be number two in the country, but they are just as good, and they are going to give us just as big of a competition.” 

The Gorillas will be on the road for four straight series including a series against Fort Hays on Saturday, April 1. They will also make the trip to Nebraska-Kearney immediately afterward for a doubleheader on Sunday, April 2. 

Fuller said the team is going to treat these games like a home series and that playing on turf for the first series in Hays will be nice—the Gorillas also play on turf. 

However, there is no love lost between these teams.

“Last year Hays and Kearney beat us at our field, and we went 0-4,” Fuller said. “I think our team has had this blue-collar work ethic, we are going to work hard, and we are going to play with a chip on our shoulder because we owe them.”