PHOTO: BOB KNOSKA/The Oakland Post

This weekend marked the beginning of conference play for the Golden Grizzlies softball team, as Oakland University split the two games of Saturday’s doubleheader, and won 7-1 on Sunday in a three game set against the IUPUI Jaguars.

At 8-14 overall, it was important for the team to get off to a quick start against its conference foes. Head Coach Glenn MacDonald said that this is when the true season starts for the team.

“We look at it like we have two seasons, an overall season and the league season,” MacDonald said. “We’re going to have 24 games that mean the world to us and we want to finish at the top.”

OU was picked in the preseason to finish in sixth place out of the nine Summit League teams, after an inconsistent 2008 season in which they went 15-28 overall, and 6-13 for the league. With only four available playoff spots, the margin for error is slim, but expectations are high.

“Only four teams make the Summit League playoffs, and the girls really have their hearts set on that and I see us achieving that this year,” MacDonald said.

After leading the team to the championship game in 2007, MacDonald has proven that he has what it takes to guide the team back. Behind a veteran presence that has experienced the title slip through their hands, backed by a strong crop of youngsters, the team is focused on putting a sub-par 2008 season behind them.

MacDonald led the Golden Grizzlies to the Mid-Con Championship game in 2007, but lost as the Grizzlies finished the year with an overall mark of 21-36.  The team had three players earn all-conference recognition: ace pitcher Jessica Granger, senior second baseman Julie Owen and junior infielder Katie Dreyer.

MacDonald said last year’s disappointment was the product of the team’s inability to develop any consistency, as adverse weather affected them throughout the season.

“We had a tough year last year in that we lost so many games due to weather; we flew to Kansas City, didn’t get all our games in, same for Kentucky, game after game after game was canceled and we just couldn’t get in the right frame of mind,” MacDonald said.

When the team went on the road, the weather was often an unwanted distraction for the players.

“We were thinking we’re going to get to this city and they’re going to cancel on us, so we weren’t mentally prepared to play every game last year, and that is something you can’t let happen,” MacDonald said.

The Golden Grizzlies finished this year’s fall season with a 7-1 record, which led to the team’s high expectations entering the spring season, which began last month.

According to senior third baseman Caitlin Lynch, the fall session really allowed the team to knock off some rust and see how good the team could be when they’re hitting on all cylinders.

“We had a really good fall season, we were hitting the ball like crazy, we have four really good pitchers, so if we can play like we did in the fall we should be unstoppable,” she said.

Lynch finished last season with a league best .985 fielding percentage for infielders, committing just one throwing error while playing in all 41 games, splitting time at third and shortstop. She also batted .314.

OU began the spring season with five straight losses, but followed them up with a streak of four wins.

The first two victories showed how potentially dangerous the team can be, when, in a Saturday double-header on Feb. 23 at Savannah State University, OU exhibited the versatility and depth it takes for a team to be considered championship contenders.

In game one, Granger set a school record with 15 strikeouts in seven innings, allowing one run on four hits, to lead the Grizzlies to a 3-1 win. In the nightcap, sophomore pitcher Marisa Everitt threw a complete game, as the team exploded for a 16-1 mercy victory in five innings. The 15-run margin tied a school record.

Owen led the offense as she went 5-for-7 in the two games, with two doubles and three RBIs. The team also combined for nine stolen bases in the double-header, proving that they are just as threatening on the base paths as they are at the plate.

Owen earned Summit League Softball Player of the Week honors by going 13-for-24; good for a .542 batting average, with seven runs scored, seven RBIs and three stolen bases. The honor was the first time in her career, as she led OU to a 5-3 week.

“It was nice to put a week of good hitting together, but I have to credit my teammates for hitting the ball well and getting on base in order for me to drive them in,” Owen said. “I rely on everybody out there, I know everybody can do the job, it’s just a matter of who’s having a good weekend.”

She says the team’s depth, with back-ups for almost every position, and the competitive nature of everyone keeps the intensity up, so whoever is playing won’t hurt the team’s consistency.

Lynch agrees with Owen about the depth’s effect on the team, and has already seen it pay dividends.

“We have a couple underclassmen that are hitting well, so when we are struggling at the top of the lineup and our top four aren’t hitting in a game, the bottom rest of the lineup have come up big for us,” Lynch said.

Owen, Lynch and Granger round out an experienced group of seniors, joined by outfielders Roberta Ches and Stephanie Schall. Ches is hitting .260 this season and is tied for third in runs scored. Schall has developed as the team’s key pinch runner.

Granger anchors the rotation with a 3.38 ERA in 11 starts, with 10 complete games and one save. She has also compiled 82 strikeouts. Sophomore lefthander Marisa Everitt owns a 1.85 ERA in four games. Alison Tansel, a right-handed sophomore, rounds out the starters with a 3.46 ERA in eight appearances. Freshman right-hander Brittany Doyle works mostly out of the bullpen, where she has made seven appearances, just two of which were starts. A talented core of juniors also provide support to the team. Dreyer is hitting .293 in 41 at bats and is second on the team with four doubles. Outfielders Anne Cicchini and Alyssa Deacon are hitting .394 and .303 respectively, and are ranked first and second in stolen bases on the team. Angela Righetti is the team’s catcher, with 132 putouts against just one error this season.

MacDonald has made a concentrated effort to run more this season, as the team is on pace to shatter the school record for stolen bases in a season.

A three game set in Richmond, Kentucky was canceled on the final weekend in February. The team lost four of its next five games in Morehead, Kentucky.

Coming off of tough, close losses, MacDonald said that making sure they get that last quality at-bat, and score runs when they have the opportunity by putting the ball in play is what the team has been focused on overcoming. That is something they have been working on really hard in practice, which he believes will pay off for them.

“The team is pretty disappointed in the record as it sits right now, but we’ve been competing against southern teams that get to practice outside all the time, where they don’t have to worry about weather forcing them inside.

“It’s a total different ball game when you’re outside, so we got our experience outside, a couple of games under our belt, and we’re ready to roll,” MacDonald said.

Unfortunately, he said their biggest weakness is a tendency to let fly balls drop in for base hits. In some games they have lost, the pitching has been strong, but the outfielders simply haven’t gotten to the ball.

He has adjusted for this by scheming to force teams to beat them deep, by playing the outfielders a bit shallower.

“Our pitchers are doing such a great job we don’t have to play a deep outfield. It took us eight or 10 ga

mes to realize that, we just have to do a better job at reading what the pitches are and adjusting our fielding positions accordingly,” MacDonald said.

Still, with all things considered, the team feels their experience, talent and depth put them in a position to enter the playoffs poised to take home a championship.

“We played in the championship game two years ago, with basically the same team, so I’ve got five seniors on this team that are just chomping at the bit to get back there,” said MacDonald. “They have such good leadership that the rest of the team is behind them 100 percent. They want it for the seniors.”

When the team lost the championship game two years ago, 5-1 to Southern Utah, Owen was recovering from a broken collar bone, which she broke seven games before the tournament. And, although the “real” season just began and the players focus on “one game at a time,” redemption drives Owen toward the ultimate goal.

“I was having a great year [in 2007], and after [the injury], it was really devastating to see my team play when you really want to play with them,” she said.

Owen said that being in the tournament is one of those things that when you get there you want to keep going back each year.

“Hopefully I can stay safe and not be injured for the tournament, and we make it there and win the league,” she said. “And seeing our talent this year I know we can make the tournament if we take care of our business.”