USF Softball is Impressive

For those not paying attention, the USF softball team is good, really good.  The ladies, after sweeping Pitt this weekend, are now 33-5 (6-0) on the year, matching last year's entire win total.  They are sweeping weekly awards, ranked 21st in the country and just recently beat 4th ranked Florida in Gainesville, but the best is still to come for Ken Erikesen and his ladies. 

The Bulls caught fire at the end of last season, showing the young talent on the team was coming together and with a year under their belts, they could reach new levels.  This season, they are reaching those levels and continue to achieve new ones each time they take the field. 

The offense continues to come to life this season, getting on base and showing surprising power up and down the batting order.  Kourtney Salvarola is batting .330 to lead the team with 1 home run and has 17 RBIs, playing a great role at short stop on defense.  Stephanie Medina is providing power, batting .324 with 6 home runs and 25 RBIs on the year.  Gina Kafalas, one of the seniors, is batting .322 with 7 RBIs and has 7 steals at the top of the order, getting the offense cranked up.  Newcomers like Kenshyra Jackson is batting .313 with 5 home runs and 29 RBIs to add more power to an already loaded lineup.  With so many weapons, Eriksen has stated it is hard to put an order on the field because so many players deserve to be on the field.  It's a great problem to have.

While the offense is racking up the runs, it is the strength of the pitching staff that carries a collective .81 ERA as a unit, that is getting the job done.  To begin with, sophomore Sara Nevins is the the real deal.  After throwing a no hitter on Saturday (already has a perfect game and a few other no hitters to go along with it) is 19-2 on the year with a .56 ERA (along with 4 saves).  She has worked 149 innings, allowing just 89 hits, 27 walks, and has struck out 185 batters, holding opponents to a .169 batting average.  Freshman Sam Greiner is 8-3 with a 1.08 ERA (has 2 saves as well).  She has worked 71.1 innings, allowing 51 hits, 19 walks, and has struck out 51 batters while holding opponents to a .190 batting average.  The team is awaiting the return of Lindsey Richardson who is dealing with a slight injury.  She was 6-0 before going out and when she returns, she will be another deadly weapon in the rotation that can shut down anyone. 

The ladies are playing well, but they will not stop here.  There are still a lot of games to go this season.  They want the Big East title, the tournament, and the ultimate goal, the NCAA tournament.  The 33-5 record is great, but they have to keep it going.  There are tough teams ahead and they will need to continue to play to their full potential and continue to rack up the wins.