Since Shawn Rychcik took over as head coach in 2012, NC State’s softball team has been consistently successful, making it to the NCAA Tournament for three consecutive seasons. In his first season, Rychcik and the team won the ACC Championship, making him the first first-year coach in conference history to do so.
Last season, the Wolfpack (12-11) made history again by being the first team in school history to make it to the NCAA Super Regionals. With 13 players returning from last year, it has a good chance of reaching the postseason once again. However, the Pack has endured a bit of a bumpy start to the season.
“We’ve had some great moments, we’ve beaten some strong teams but we’ve also lost to average teams,” Rychcik said. “It’s been up and down. We’re just trying to find some consistency.”
Making another postseason appearance is definitely the goal, but getting there is a process.
“We started off a little rough, but that’s OK; we’re working for the end of the season,” senior first baseman/catcher Maggie Hawkins said. “We’re looking to get better every game, and hopefully by the end of the season, we’ll be where we want to be.”
Adversity can oftentimes be beneficial for teams if they are able to learn from it.
“There are going to be ups and downs, but overcoming adversity is going to get us where we want to be,” Hawkins said.
Being in tough situations during the regular season can help prepare a team for postseason play.
“That way at the end of the season when we face adversity we’ll know what to do,” junior pitcher Courtney Mirabella said.
With plenty of regular season games left to play, NC State still has ample time to get to where it wants to be, and Rychcik is confident that the team has the talent to do so. He’s also confident that the 13 players on the roster that made it to Super Regionals last year will be more comfortable and confident this year.
“We’re definitely a postseason team, and we know what it takes to win at that level,” Rychcik said. “We know there’s talent that can play with the top 25. It’s just a matter of consistency. Once that happens, our record should put us in a position to be postseason bound.”
During the break, NC State continued to take steps toward becoming more consistent. It started conference play strong, winning two of its three games against Virginia Tech in a series played on the weekend of March 6. Then, this past weekend, it won three out of the five games that it played in the Doubletree RDU Challenge.
The Pack opened the tournament with two shutout wins, beating Delaware State 12-0 and beating Loyola Chicago 8-0. It lost its first two games on Saturday by a margin of 7-3 to both Northern Illinois and Loyola Chicago. However, it ended the weekend on a high note, beating Delaware State 8-0.
NC State looks to build off its recent success heading into the Wednesday road matchup against in-state rival UNC-Chapel Hill at 6 p.m.
