With a win over Notre Dame College last week, the Oberlin College women’s softball team has exceeded last year’s victory total and set the season record for wins in the program’s brief history.
The Yeowomen split with Notre Dame last Friday, winning 5-4 in the opener but then falling 6-5. They also dropped two games to the College of Wooster on Wednesday, 8-0, 7-0, setting their season record at 4-16 (0-8 NCAC).
Sophomore Julia Daher attributes the team’s progress to several factors.
“The overall athleticism of the team is better, which makes a big difference,” she said. “Our team is also definitely a stronger hitting team than last year.”
Daher herself supplied testimony for this on Sunday when the Yeowomen competed against a club team from Bowling Green State University. Oberlin swept BGSU 9-0, 13-5, though the wins won’t count toward their overall record since it wasn’t an NCAA or NAIA-sanctioned contest.
Daher hit an out-of-the-park home run in the first win against BGSU, the first time ever on their home field in the program’s history.
The improved hitting also played a large part in the tight doubleheader split against Notre Dame, especially in the loss when the Yeowomen mounted a comeback in the last half-inning to close the deficit to one.
“It was really big for us to come back and continue to hit and be productive,” Daher said. “The bases were loaded when they got the last out.”
First-year Katie Dover-Taylor provides a case in point. In a self-described “hitting slump” against Notre Dame, she came up to bat with the team down 6-4 and got on base.
“It had been really frustrating,” she said. “To come out of not hitting for the entirety of two games – I felt really good about that.”
As the scores attest, Daher considered Oberlin and Notre Dame fairly evenly matched.
“The second game was pretty much just as good as the first,” she said. “We only have one pitcher, so I’m sure [first-year] Kate [Oberg] was a little tired, which had maybe a small effect.”
As the team’s only pitcher, Oberg has had to battle fatigue in doubleheaders and to walk a fine line in practice between training and resting.
“I’ve been trying to work on my strength but it’s really hard,” Oberg said. “The day before I pitch in games I usually just practice lightly.”
After pitching four games in three days (against Ohio Wesleyan April 9 and Notre Dame April 11), her arm wasn’t quite up to par April 13 against BGSU.
‘“If I’m going to be tired, it’s going to be in the beginning of the game and I’ll know it,” she said. “On Sunday I was really stiff, incredibly so. My placement was on but I had trouble with my speed, which is why in the second game they got some runs.”
After being shut out by Ohio Wesleyan 12-0, 9-0 last Wednesday, the Yeowomen had to regroup.
“We definitely had some important discussions just to kind of shake off those losses,” Dover-Taylor said.
Both she and Daher partly ascribe the victory two days later against Notre Dame to increased communication.
“What helped a lot [against Notre Dame] was that we collectively talked about what we wanted to do that game, both individually and as a team,” Daher said. “We’d never really had a goal-setting session earlier in the season — it was really productive.”
“We kept up a really good level of communication, both with each other on defense and cheering each other on from the bench,” Dover-Taylor added.
Part of this may have been facilitated by a differing practice strategy after the game against Ohio Wesleyan.
“Sometimes in practice there’s a tendency to stratify the outfield and the infield based on the different skills you need,” Daher said. “[After OWU] everyone practiced everything — it was a more well-rounded practice experience. Practicing all together helped us regroup as a team.”
Dover-Taylor thought the tight doubleheader against Notre Dame was a good experience for the team, especially as they continue through their NCAC schedule.
“It was really important for us to have such close games, especially since we have the potential to do that in the conference though we have yet to do it,” she said.
Though the team has broken Oberlin’s record for wins, they haven’t grown complacent and are looking to add to the total. Hiram and Allegheny loom on the horizon as opportunities to do just that.