After a disheartening road trip through California in mid-February which saw State drop each of its five contests – three of which against ranked opponents – the Pack regrouped and put forth a strong showing in Clearwater, Fla. in the USF Under Armour Invitational. The team went 4-1, its only loss coming against South Florida, and took third place out of 16 teams.
“We played really well as a team,” Lindsay Campana, a junior pitcher, said. “Our offense and defense came together. There was one game where we were behind and in the last couple of the innings, we were able to get ahead and stay ahead.”
According to sophomore second baseman Alyssa Ishibashi, the team should continue to improve as the season progresses.
“As the season goes on, we find the mistakes that we’re making, and we’re fixing them,” Ishibashi said. “The further we go on into the season, the more things we’re fixing, and things just start to go really smoothly.”
After the team returned from Florida, it was announced that Campana and freshman Hannah Ojeda were named to the USF Under Armour Invitational All-Tournament Team.
“If we had lost another game two, they wouldn’t have given us those honors,” Campana said. “It’s definitely a team honor.”
According to Campana, Ishibashi was in the running and narrowly missed out being named to the All-Tournament team as well.
“She was right there,” Campana said of Ishibashi. “She easily could have made it as well.”
Campana said through the California road trip, the team was still going through a “feeling-out process.” However, now she says the team has gotten to know each other better.
“We have a lot of confidence going into tomorrow night,” Ojeda said.
The team will put its streak of good play on the line this afternoon against Michigan State in a double-header. The first game will take place at 4 p.m. and the second will take place directly afterward.
“We prepare a little bit individually against each team, we know that [Michigan State] is going to be really aggressive,” Campana said. “We can’t get away with a lot of things, and our defense needs to be on guard at all times.”
According to Ishibashi, these mid-season double-headers prepare the team for conference play and the postseason.
“We like the double headers, because when it gets later in ACC play, we play a double header, and then one the next day,” Ishibashi said. “And when we get in postseason play, we’re playing two in one day. We need to be ready for the postseason and be able to play six straight hours hard.”
The Spartans are in town after participating in the Tar Heel Invitational this weekend. MSU split the tournament, beating Princeton and Georgetown but falling to host UNC and Elon in extra innings.
Ojeda said her team will be able to muster some offense against Michigan State.
“Kristine (Bechtholdt) and Bridget (Desbois) have been hitting really well,” Ojeda said. “We have some players playing really well right now.”
According to Campana, this banding together could not have come at a better time.
“It was good timing to have a weekend like we did in Florida before we start having ACC games,” Campana said.
The Pack’s ACC play will begin on Friday with a weekend series against Virginia Tech.
