{"id":31915,"date":"2011-03-31T08:10:37","date_gmt":"2011-03-31T12:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=31915"},"modified":"2011-04-04T13:57:33","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T17:57:33","slug":"softball-team-moves-into-big-east-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/03\/softball-team-moves-into-big-east-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"Softball Team Moves into Big East Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<p>Two<\/a>
Two softball players talking with head coach Karen Mullins. Photos provided by Athletic Communications<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Head softball coach Karen Mullins says the years have gone by quickly since she returned to UConn. In 1984, Mullins became the University\u2019s youngest head coach, five years after a stellar collegiate career as a Husky in both basketball and softball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just couldn\u2019t believe I had the opportunity to return to coach here,\u201d says Mullins, who earned her 800th career win on March 12, a 17-4 victory over Colorado State. \u201cIt\u2019s always exciting to reach a milestone. When I think back over the years, I\u2019ve certainly had great players and tremendous support from the administration. That\u2019s what makes it so much fun to be at Connecticut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mullins has led the Huskies to eight NCAA Tournaments and one Women\u2019s College World Series appearance; has crafted one of the leading softball programs in the northeast and the Big East; and has coached nine All-Americans. UConn\u2019s overall Big East winning percentage is 61 percent.<\/p>\n

\"<p>Sophomore<\/a>
Sophomore pitcher Kiki Saveriano.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This season, the Huskies are a young team seeking to return to a deeper post-season run, after the graduation of two key position players \u2013 first baseman Justyne Roy, and pitcher Tricia Sullivan \u2013 in addition to the loss of shortstop Jessica Arremony, who decided not to compete in her senior year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel we\u2019ve been very inconsistent,\u201d Mullins says of the team\u2019s 11-12 start, which has seen the team struggling in road games. \u201cWe need to gain some momentum and put up some back-to-back-to-back wins. That\u2019s our biggest challenge \u2013 consistency day in, day out with our \u2018A\u2019 game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Huskies hope to move forward as they begin the major part of the Big East schedule this weekend with a three-game home stand against Rutgers. Conference games are played on weekends, with non-conference competition during the week.<\/p>\n

\"<p>Sophomore<\/a>
Sophomore third baseman Kim Silva at bat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mullins says the growth of Big East softball from six teams to 13 teams has improved competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at the playing competition against schools [like South Florida and Louisville] that play year-round, it\u2019s certainly made it real challenging,\u201d she said. \u201cOn the other side, it\u2019s been exciting. Our recruiting base has expanded tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Huskies are led by senior Julie Towers, who is hitting .375 and moved from second base to shortstop this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cJulie\u2019s had a tremendous year. She\u2019s a leader for us,\u201d Mullins says. \u201cShe sets a tremendous tone at the plate. We hope she rubs off on the other kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophomore third baseman Kim Silva has improved her play and is hitting .341 this season and putting runs on the scoreboard. But Mullins says the Huskies need to improve their pitching and defense in conference play.<\/p>\n

\"<p>Senior<\/a>
Senior shortstop Julie Towers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a team that can score runs. The problems we\u2019ve been having are on the mound and on defense. There are a lot more runs being scored, but it\u2019s how they\u2019re being scored,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re averaging almost four walks per game. That\u2019s an area we\u2019re looking to improve on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophomore pitcher Kiki Saveriano pitched 15 complete games as a freshman last year and is the Huskies\u2019 top pitcher this year, along with junior Ali Adelman, who has stepped up from the top relief position a year ago to become a starter. Freshman Katelyn Callahan adds another strong arm to the Husky rotation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAli has improved every year with us,\u201d Mullins says. \u201cShe\u2019s pitching some good innings this year. We expect her to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mullins says freshman catcher Andrea Huelsenbeck and freshman first baseman Audrey Grinnell are gaining experience with each game, as the team looks to improve its play during the Big East schedule.<\/p>\n

The softball team is scheduled to play Rutgers in a double-header on Saturday at noon and 2 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at noon, all at The Burrill Family Field at the Connecticut Softball Stadium on Stadium Road in Storrs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Huskies are looking for greater consistency in their upcoming conference play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-31915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 02:24:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31915"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32268,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31915\/revisions\/32268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31915"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=31915"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=31915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}