With a current record of an even 10–10, Hamline University’s Women’s Softball team finds themselves at a precarious crossroads. To kick off the 2024 season, the Pipers recorded a dominant four game win streak, going undefeated throughout February, including a 11–0 pounding of Buena Vista (7–21).
However, starting with a 1–11 loss to the University of Rochester (16–6), the Pipers would continue with their string of inconsistency during the first half of Spring Break when they tallied 2–4 in their next six games.
That was until the team ended up rallying during the second half of their stay in Florida and managed to take down their next four opponents to secure their second win streak of the season.
Junior Gabby Tuhy credits her team’s utmost faith in one another for their two magnificent strings of awesome performances,
“What helped us accomplish our four game streak was having confidence in each other and ourselves,” Tuhy said. “Our mentality was staying focused, positive and keeping up our energy.”
Senior Kiana Island, who has been a member of the team since her first year in 2021, also speaks highly about the team’s endearing bond, on top of their love for the sport.
“Our biggest strength as a team is how well we get along and that we all like each other outside of softball! Another strength is how much we all love the game and want to play the game and win,” Island said.
Following their time in the Sunshine State, it looked as though the Pipers had put all the pieces together for a bountiful rest of the school year going into the much-anticipated MIAC.
Across their first six games, the Pipers 0–6 against Bethel University (17–3), Gustavus Adolphus (11–13) and Macalester College (19–6).
Now standing with an MIAC record at 0–6, Hamline will need to dig deep in their upcoming games against Concordia Moorhead (5–17) and St. Catherine University (9–16) to put themselves back on the board.
With another 12 games left in the season by the time the weekend is over, along with the rigors of the semester’s final assignments coming to a head, there is a real possibility of fatigue and burnout becoming a potential deterrent to the team’s overall success on the diamond.