Weather permitting.
These two words alone have caused the women’s softball team enough frustration for an entire season.
However, the cold and inclement weather has done little to dampen a run the Red began over Spring Break down in Florida, a run which now sees the Red riding an eight-game winning streak heading into today’s doubleheader against in-state rival Canisius.
The Golden Griffins actually hold an advantage in that rivalry, having beaten the Red four out of the six times the two have played since their series began in 1994.
Over the past two weeks, with consecutive sweeps of Ivy League foes Yale, Brown, and Columbia — and a sweep of Siena College mixed in for variety — the Red has improved its record to 20-11 overall and 6-0 in league competition.
The streak has particularly come behind the stellar pitching of aces senior Nicole Zitarelli and freshman Sarah Sterman, and the hot bats of rookie Kate Varde and senior Charlotte Brombach.
Varde and Sterman have been a boost for the Red which has seen many different players step up at different points of the season thus far.
After a pair of round-trippers last weekend, Varde has already eclipsed the single season mark for home runs with nine, while Sterman has looked anything but a greenfoot on the collegiate mound, earning a 10-4 record in a still young season.
Of course, the all-around potency of a fired up Red squad is what makes this team so dangerous. It is also the reason why talk of going all the way echoes ever louder in the Red locker room.
So today, although the weather calls for rain, the Red looks to take one step closer to that goal.
This team is certainly one of the best the program has ever seen and seems up to the task of evening its series with its northerly opponent. Today the Red gets that chance to take the field and set that record straight.
Of course, that is, weather permitting.
Archived article by Scott Jones