April 29, 2010

RedStorm women take aim at MSC title

Rio Grande --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm softball team enters the 2010 Mid-South Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed, but the goal is to come away with the conference tournament title and a second appearance at the NAIA National Tournament in Decatur, AL.

Rio Grande finished the regular season at 29-21 and was a respectable 17-11 in the Mid-South Conference, earning a fourth place finish. The RedStorm were picked to finish 6^th in the pre-season poll.

The tournament was originally due to start on Friday, but has been pushed up to today as bad weather has been predicted for the Danville, KY area this weekend. Danville is the site of this year's tournament. 

Rio will face off with the No. 5 seed University of the Cumberlands (KY) at approximately 5:30 p.m. this evening. The two teams split the regular season series, winning two games apiece. 

Rio Grande will rely on the strong pitching of sophomores Anna Smith (Ross, OH) and Allison Mills (West Chester, OH) and a revamped offense that has clicked the second half of the season. "As of late, we've been coming around with the bats much better and if Anna and Allison continue to throw like they have, we definitely have a legitimate shot of winning this conference tournament," said Rio Grande head coach David Pyles. "I feel like we're getting tuned in and everybody's starting to come around at the plate and I'm really excited to get the tournament started."

The offense is keyed by senior centerfielder Leah Hamman (Lexington, OH), who is in the top five in a number of offensive categories this season, including batting average (.384), runs scored (42), hits (61), home runs (9), total bases (99) and stolen bases (35). 

"I think all of her hard work is paying off," said Pyles. "She's having just a sensational senior year. She is one of the first at the field before games, doing extra hitting and all that good stuff."

The RedStorm will need all facets clicking to advance through the double elimination tournament and will need to reverse fortune against the three teams that finished ahead of them in the standings. Rio was a combined 3-9 against Lindsey Wilson, Georgetown and Campbellsville this season. 

If Rio wins the match-up with Cumberlands it would play at 1 p.m., Friday against the winner of Lindsey Wilson/WVU Tech. A loss and the RedStorm would face the loser of that game at 11 a.m.