With the spring sports season in full swing, NC State softball is ready to dust off the diamond and get to work after going 33-23 overall and 7-17 in the ACC in 2022.
What many casual fans might not realize is that NC State head coach Jennifer Patrick-Swift has an interesting method to the madness of scoring in softball: hit as many home runs as possible. Ultimately, this strategy leads to entertainment value of softball games being prioritized over actual scoring, or even winning, for that matter.
With the first five games of the 2023 season out of the way, the Pack has gone 0-5, so let’s take a look at how the statistics have led to these losses so far. The team’s batting average is a measly .178 compared to its opponents’ .434, as the Wolfpack has scored 14 runs to its opponents’ 58.
The first home run of the 2023 season can be attributed to freshman utility player Makayla Marbury. This first of hopefully many came in a five-inning, 15-1 loss to Arizona on Sunday, Feb. 12.
The 2022 season ended with a batting average of .260, but out of 359 total hits, 82 were home runs. This staggering number of tanks within the Wolfpack batters box absolutely dwarfs its opponents’ number of 52. In addition, fifth-year infielder Logan Morris led the team with 14 homers by the end of the season.
The 2022 season was also highlighted by a specific game against UNC-Chapel Hill on March 26, when the team set a new program record for number of home runs within a game. The previous program record was eight home runs in 2013, but a grand total of nine home runs against the Tar Heels set a new target for the team to break through in 2023.
This mindset being preached within the training rooms and on the field should be something to celebrate, but it could be giving false hope to people watching. Hearing news of home runs always gets fans excited, but when the bombs don’t translate to wins, it feels like they have no purpose. The past five seasons, excluding 2020, have led to mediocre win percentages, with no Wolfpack team achieving a win rate over .589. Over the same period, the Wolfpack has not trailed its opponents in home runs since 2017.
Scoring on homers doesn’t guarantee a large amount of points unless the Pack can get runners on base. Hitting a grand slam, or even homers with multiple runners on base, can lead to a quick lead change over an opposing team, but strictly solo shots from NC State hitters won’t cut it.
The Wolfpack softball team and coaching staff seem to only care about hitting the ball out of the park rather than making specific plays to win specific games. If NC State really wants to score a solid amount of runs per game, then it should reel back on swinging for the fences to ensure that runners can get on base and open scoring chances. Even if the team wanted to keep its home run mindset, trying to keep runners on base would allow them to score more points and hopefully win more games in the long run.
Some baseball and softball fans might argue that a higher-scoring team is more fun to watch than one that scores more home runs, but there should be a happy medium between the two. If a team is relying solely on solo shots, then the game gets repetitive and only one member of the team is able to shine.
Patrick-Swift and the softball coaching staff should stray from their “home run or no runs” mentality in order to save the team from another mediocre season. The excitement of hearing the bat crack and the players rushing to make it to the bases can be more entertaining than seeing ball after ball go over the fence.
