By Ed Morrone
Despite being caught in a heated battle with Towson University for the top spot in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), there was never a slip in the Pride softball team’s confidence that it would once again repeat as conference champions.
Senior pitcher Callie Osborne tossed two shutouts to increase her school record win streak to 19 games, receiving plenty of support from the offense as the Pride swept a three-game series with Drexel University.
The last few wins allowed the Pride to clinch the conference’s coveted top seed, giving the team home field advantage for the CAA Tournament. The double-elimination tournament will begin on May 12 as the Pride play fourth-seeded James Madison University (JMU), which upended the University of Delaware for the CAA’s final playoff spot on Sunday. Despite three losses, Drexel clinched the third-seed in the tournament and will play Towson, which finished in second place.
The Pride wasn’t presented with many challenges from the Dragons, winning both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader, 7-0 and 6-2. Junior second baseman Lisa Wambold (two-run) and senior designated player Stefanie Kenney (three-run) hit first-inning home runs in the opening game and the nightcap, respectively, to back up pitchers Osborne and Adrienne Clark. Clark followed up Osborne’s four hit shutout with a complete game of her own, striking out eight and walking one to improve her record to 11-9 on the season.
“With Drexel we obviously knew we had to sweep in order to host the tournament,” freshman right fielder Pam Dreslinski said. “We wanted to host, so we just came out and played hard like we always do.”
With the pressure on and the Pride’s magic number to clinch at one on Sunday, Osborne delivered yet another gem. The always dependable staff ace threw her 12th shutout of the season against the helpless Dragons (19-20 overall, 8-9 CAA) scattering four hits, striking out seven and walking two to push her record to 22-5. Osborne’s 19-game winning streak is currently the longest winning streak in the country.
“I thought we played as well as a team can play,” head coach Bill Edwards said. “Last year at this time we went down to JMU and lost a game and we just didn’t play well because we were worried about the tournament instead of just going out and playing our game. This time we just went out and played our game, and we played great.”
The Pride (38-14-1, 14-2 CAA) offense again supplied its starting pitcher with a healthy supply of offense, this time striking first in the top of the second inning. Dreslinski gave her team a 1-0 lead with an RBI triple and senior center fielder Kelly Morris promptly followed with an RBI single, which was all the run support Osborne needed. The team added six more runs just for good measure, giving the Pride its 10th first place finish in the past 11 years.
It seems that over the past two weeks, all facets of the Pride’s game have been coming together. There have been times this season where the pitching, offense, and defense haven’t meshed at the same time, resulting in inconsistent performances on the field. However, the team has received solid production from both its offense and pitching as of late, which couldn’t come at a better time.
“The great thing is when you’re pitching the ball well, your defense just falls into place,” Edwards said. “Our defense is solid, our pitching is great, and we know we’re going to score some runs, we just have to make sure we don’t make any stupid mistakes that will wind up hurting us in the end.”
The sweep over Drexel gave the Pride exactly what it wanted, home field advantage for the CAA Tournament. While many members of the team might not say they care about playing at home, the numbers don’t lie about how the team performs in Hempstead. The team has compiled a record of 38-3 all-time at home against CAA opponents in the four years since the conference was formed, including 10-1 in CAA Tournament games, with the only loss coming in last year’s tournament (a 3-2 loss to Delaware). The Pride also has a record of 48-3 in its last 51 home games, dating back to the 2001 season when it was a part of the America East Conference.
Nevertheless, if the Pride continues to get solid offensive performances to back up Osborne and Clark on the mound, then there’s no reason why the team can’t venture deep into the NCAA Tournament once again.
“We’re going to prepare for the tournament like we do for every other game,” Dreslinski said. “We need to practice hard and hit the ball well because we know our pitching and defense will be there. We’re very confident and we know if we come out and play our game then not many teams will be able to beat us.”
Head coach Bill Edwards (left) and associate head coach Larissa Anderson look on in a recent win over JMU. The Pride will host the CAA Tournament, set to begin on May 12. (James Parziale/The Chronicle)