The WSU softball team held their third scrimmage of the year on Saturday. Throughout the game, the scores were close with the black team winning 2-1 in seven innings.

The softball team was split into two teams, the black team and the yellow team.  

Black team’s Bailee Nickerson, junior, made a crucial diving catch in the third inning especially with the yellow team threatening with runners in scoring position. 

The yellow team was able to take the lead late after sophomore Lauren Mills launched a two-run home run which gave them the lead late in the seventh inning.  

The scrimmage was a low scoring effort but that is a good sign in regards to the quality of Wichita State’s pitching unit. Head Coach, Kristi Bredbenner, was more than happy with the pitching performance.

“I thought we pitched great,” Bredbenner said. “I don’t think our pitchers were uber-happy about how our season went last year. I think they’ve worked really hard since that has happened, especially Erin McDonald. This was her first time throwing to live batters since we’ve been back. I thought her and Caitlin Bingham both pitched fantastic.”

Throughout the game, Bredbenner noticed the adjustments the players made at the plate. They started seeing the ball better and obviously ending the scrimmage with a two-run homer to deep centerfield is a good sign that somethings are going well on offense. While the score was low, the batting was consistent throughout the day. Both teams made key plays on defense to limit the runs.

Moving forward, Bredbenner thinks that there is plenty of room for improvement with this team.

“We’re never going to stop getting better,” Bredbenner said. “If this is our starting point, I’m happy, but we’ve got a ways to go to really get to the point where we need to be, which is winning the conference, giving ourselves a chance at an at large, and playing against a tough schedule. We’ll take the good days and keep improving.”

The softball team will continue to host scrimmages open to the public until their season opener in the spring.