Eleven games in two weekends has the Fort Lewis College softball team anxious to begin conference games.
The wait is over, and the Skyhawks are ready to play their first home games of the 2015 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference schedule against Black Hills State.
FLC (2-9) will host the Yellow Jackets (1-4) in two doubleheaders beginning at 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The games originally were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday but were moved up a day in an effort to avoid an anticipated winter storm this weekend.
“We’re looking forward to playing on our home field and starting the conference,” FLC fourth-year head coach Kira Zeiter said. “We always step up our game during conference season. Knowing we have games under our belt, we’re ready to go out and put the pedal to the medal.”
FLC opened its season with two road tournaments. The first was the NFCA Division II Leadoff Classic in Tucson, Arizona, where FLC went 2-6. It was a tough schedule for the Skyhawks, who lost 15-4 to No. 4 Southeastern Oklahoma State and 6-3 to No. 13 Missouri-St. Louis. FLC also ran into three other RMAC teams in Tucson, losing 6-5 in a five-inning game to Colorado Mesa and 8-4 to Metro State before a 9-4 win against CSU-Pueblo.
FLC then traveled to Las Vegas for five games in the Montana State University-Billings Desert Stinger tournament. FLC loss all five games it played in Sin City.
The Skyhawks are confident they can begin RMAC play with success, as they are 10-2 all-time against the Yellow Jackets with a 7-1 home record.
“I think our team would have confidence no matter who we face this week. It’s going to be a fun weekend,” Zeiter said. “Black Hills has a new coach and new players. It will be a lot of fun to play them again, and it will be nice to play them on our home field.”
FLC returned 10 players from last year’s team that finished second in the RMAC Tournament. Zeiter said seniors Kaitlyn Bending and Myndee Thompson have picked up the leadership role previously filled by Chelsea Rodriguez.
“Myndee is a vocal leader, and Bending is a leader by example,” she said.
Sophomore Adriana Rostehnhausler will play a leadership role based on pure skill for FLC. She led the team with a .412 batting average a season ago while knocking in 21 runs and scoring 44 more herself. She’s off to a .243 start at the plate this season with one homer, eight runs and four runs batted in.
Thompson leads the team with a .500 average to go with nine runs, nine RBIs, three triples and four doubles. Missy Fundora is hitting .421 with a home run, three doubles, 11 runs and five RBIs.
FLC returned all four pitchers from last season. Victoria Johnson and Kiley Raica earned the most innings last year with Olivia Goldberg being used primarily as a reliever. Katie Watkins also will see time in the circle in relief spots.
Johnson (2-3) finished 12-12 last season with a 4.38 earned-run average and carried the team in the RMAC Tournament. Raica (0-3) was 9-14 with a 4.68 ERA.
“I love our pitching staff. They’ve faced good competition the last few weeks, and I’m excited to, after some good field work this week and last week, really get them to the top of their game,” Zeiter said. “It’s a huge confidence boost for the team having pitchers with experience in the circle at all times. They’ve been there, done that and know what to expect.”
Zeiter and the Skyhawks will hope for warm weather this weekend for the home-opening series, which has a history of being delayed or moved to New Mexico because of inclement weather.
“It’s that time of year in Colorado where you never know what you’re getting, but this team is good at adapting,” she said. “Everyone in this conference all wants to get every game in and do anything possible to play them all.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
