Aggies look for first win
The Utah State University softball team is trying to stay positive and move forward with the rest of the season after five straight losses at the San Diego Classic. The losses put the Aggies at a 0-20 on the season.
“It can be very difficult to stay positive, but they are doing a good job about learning how to fail forward and learning how to see the game for what it is and not create excuses,” USU head coach Carissa Kalaba said. “Right now they are kind of taking it in the teeth a little bit. We still have conference. We still have a lot of our season left.”
Even though the Aggies did lose all five games in San Diego, they were more closely contested than the previous tournaments this season. Every game of the tournament the Aggies played in was decided by less than three runs.
“We’re playing great competition and the girls are staying positive and they’re doing a really good job in regards to handling failing forward,” Kalaba said. “They are seeing success, but it’s not at the right times.”
According to Kalaba, the team has been able to create opportunities consistently, but it has not been able to execute those opportunities when the time is right. This has cost the Aggies some games.
“In softball and baseball you have got to learn how to be prepared and seize your opportunity. If they’re not prepared then your pitch comes across the plate, you’ve got literally three-tenths of a second to make that choice,” Kalaba said. “That’s part of the game. That’s part of failing forward. That’s what makes softball and baseball such a mental game.”
The Aggies will head to Ogden to play a doubleheader against Weber State on Wednesday. They will play five more game the following week in Boise, Idaho at the SpringHill Suites Invitational before their home opener against the University of Utah on March 20. After that, WAC play begins.
Even with all the losses, Kalaba said the team’s goals haven’t changed and they have plans to win. She said she hopes the team can learn from what has happened and use it to improve.
“Hopefully the team takes all the knowledge that they’ve learned from the first four tournaments and puts it into perspective and uses it in the WAC,” Kalaba said. “I think the best key is taking what we’ve learned and actually using it later on versus just scrubbing it and pretending like it’s not there.”
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Twitter: @MitchHenline