{"id":59883,"date":"2012-05-09T08:15:27","date_gmt":"2012-05-09T12:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=59883"},"modified":"2012-05-14T15:34:21","modified_gmt":"2012-05-14T19:34:21","slug":"softball-team-returns-to-big-east-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/05\/softball-team-returns-to-big-east-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Softball Team Returns to Big East Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update May 11<\/em>: The softball team ended its season in the first round of the Big East Tournament Thursday, losing 8-0 to top-seeded Louisville.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Jennifer<\/a>
Jennifer Ward '12 (CANR), a senior outfielder, has a .938 fielding percentage and is hitting .243 with 18 runs batted in this season. (Steve Slade '89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The softball team\u2019s senior leadership had a straightforward goal for 2012 \u2013 to end their college careers as they began, as one of the eight teams playing in the Big East Tournament this weekend in South Bend, Ind.<\/p>\n

They made their goal and as the No. 8 seed, the Huskies (21-26\/9-13 Big East) will face No. 9\/8 Louisville (50-3\/20-2), the tournament\u2019s top seed, on Thursday at Melissa Cook Stadium at Notre Dame. The winner of the game plays No. 16\/18 South Florida (45-10\/12-5), the No. 4 seed, or DePaul (34-19\/14-8), the No. 5 seed, in the top of the tournament bracket.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re real excited to have the opportunity to compete,\u201d says head coach Karen Mullins \u201979 (ED), \u201980 MA. \u201cIt\u2019s nice for our seniors. It was a goal they worked for, because they haven\u2019t been there since freshman year. We had some good wins [this season] against DePaul and South Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Huskies hit 45 home runs and knocked in 192 runs batted in before slumping at the end of April and having to wait until Sunday night to know if they would make it to the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were on the edge. It went down to the last game,\u201d Mullins says. \u201c[The players] have been hard workers. We felt we made great strides this year. We\u2019re capable of putting runs on the scoreboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Utility<\/a>
Utility fielder Amy Vaughan '12 (CLAS) is one of the team's leading hitters, with a .306 batting average, 13 home runs, 42 runs batted in, and a slugging percentage of .653. (Steve Slade '89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of those Mullins will rely on to put some numbers up is senior Amy Vaughan \u201912 (CLAS), who plays in left field but is also the team\u2019s utility fielder, moving around the diamond to wherever the coaches feel she can help the team. She has played in the outfield, infield, and as a catcher. Vaughan is the team\u2019s leading hitter, with a .306 batting average, 13 home runs, and 42 RBIs; she also has a .938 fielding percentage.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s such a great team player, always willing to do what it takes to help the team,\u201d Mullins says. \u201cShe\u2019s improved all four years. She\u2019s valuable to us as one of our leaders. It\u2019s unusual to have a player that\u2019s versatile and willing to do so much. So many players want to have a home. She had the confidence and ability to do what we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaughan, a double major in American studies and political science, has a 3.75 GPA and was named last week to the Capital One Academic All-District 1 Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, which honors the nation\u2019s top student athletes.<\/p>\n

Softball has been Vaughan\u2019s primary sport since age 6. She says that before she arrived in Storrs, she was a pitcher, until she played for the Rhode Island Thunder, one of the many teams that showcase potential collegiate players out of high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey moved me out to left field. Then we lost our first basemen, so they put me at first base,\u201d Vaughan says. \u201cI rotated between those positions the most on the field. Because I had a strong arm in high school, they put me at third base. It was basically my whole willingness to do whatever it takes to get on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Utility<\/a>
Utility fielder Amy Vaughan '12 (CLAS) primarily plays left field. (Steve Slade '89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vaughan says her favorite position to play is left field. It is where she most often plays, and she enjoys the fact that it is a key position.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think the outfield can be boring. It\u2019s very important, [because] you\u2019re the last line of defense out there,\u201d she says. \u201cIf [the ball] gets by you, it gets ugly. I love it out there. You can make cool ESPN catches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past two seasons, Vaughan has emerged as one of the vocal leaders for the Huskies. With only two seniors on the roster, she began to take up the mantle of leadership, and has continued to lead with her voice and her play on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to communicate with your teammates is essential,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you don\u2019t know how to talk to each other in different situations, it would affect our team play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaughan says she struggled adjusting to the college game during her freshman year, particularly with the mental toughness required to face opposing pitchers who have greater skills than most in high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pitchers work so much more on their pitching and invest so much more time on it, their movement is really on spot and they can fool you,\u201d she says. \u201cBeing able to accept striking out; approaching every single pitcher the same, regardless of what their stats were or what team they play for. I had to build up my confidence and have a swagger when I step into the box. Indecision will kill you up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UConn-Louisville game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, and can be viewed online at BIGEAST.tv.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seniors on the softball team reached their goal of returning to the Big East Tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":59863,"comment_status":"open","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-59883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-19 21:45:50","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\/59883","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=59883"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60156,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59883\/revisions\/60156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/59863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59883"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=59883"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=59883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}