San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec

San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec




San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec

Tough schedule only gets harder at SDSU’s Classic

One glance at the San Diego State softball team’s current record of 6-7 would give anyone the impression that this season’s team is anything but stellar.

But SDSU is less than one month into its schedule and it has already played post-season caliber teams. In fact, as of last Saturday’s game against Arizona, the Aztecs have played six Top-10 opponents.

“It is hard to evaluate our playing so far because we have already played so many top-ranked teams,” head coach Kathy Van Wyk said. “We have yet to win one of those games, so it feels like we are getting a lot of losses and not doing that well, but we have played great against all those teams. But, in the end, playing well isn’t good enough. We want to win.”

Two words you hear a lot out on the softball field are “those teams.” They are the squads such as No. 8 / 10 Tennessee, No. 4 / 5 Florida, No. 3 / 1 Arizona, No. 8 / 10 Missouri and No. 10 / 11 Washington. These are the top-ranked teams SDSU has played and hasn’t beaten this season.

Today, the Aztecs will play host to the prestigious Campbell / Cartier Classic and the schedule for that doesn’t get any easier. The tournament opens with a doubleheader when SDSU will first play Long Beach State, which recently upset Oklahoma. Later this evening, the Aztecs will meet No. 25 / 23 Houston. Tomorrow, the team will see how it matches up against No. 23 Fresno State.

Saturday night, SDSU will play No. 6 / 9 UCLA, which has dropped considerably in the rankings from its previous No. 1 / 2 position. Sunday will be a challenge when the team plays Cal Poly in the afternoon. The last game of the tournament will be Monday night against Baylor, which is now receiving votes in the ESPN.com / USA National Poll.

Despite all the tough competition, the Aztecs are remaining calm and sticking to their perspective of “one game at a time.”

“I’m so pumped for this weekend,” junior pitcher Bailey Micetich said. “After a hard weekend last weekend, I just want us to come out and destroy everybody. I want to come out and attack like we did when we played Florida State (SDSU won 10-2). I know that’s how we can play. At the same time, we still can’t let ourselves look too far ahead and look past somebody.”

The team has consistently been working hard in practices and focusing on execution in big-game situations. The Aztecs’ pitching staff will look to use Micetich and senior Samantha Beasley on the mound. As a whole, the team will try to be more productive with its bats.

“We want to really bring everything together this weekend,” Micetich said. “We want our hitting to come together; we want our fielding to come together, and our pitching all to be cohesive. We all want to be working as one.”

As for the tough competition the Aztecs have and will continue to face, they simply welcome the challenge.

“It’s great for our team to know that we can play with the best in the nation, and we also know what we need to work on,” freshman utility player Lorena Klopp said. “We can only go up from where we are now. We are getting better game by game.”

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San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913
Tough schedule only gets harder at SDSU’s Classic