{"id":72870,"date":"2013-02-15T08:33:58","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T13:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=72870"},"modified":"2013-02-20T10:09:22","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T15:09:22","slug":"mullins-begins-30th-season-guiding-softball-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2013\/02\/mullins-begins-30th-season-guiding-softball-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Mullins Begins 30th Season Guiding Softball Team"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Karen<\/a>
Karen Mullins’79 (ED), ’80 MA begins her 30th season leading the Huskies softball team. (Steve Slade ’89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like its older brother baseball, softball is a game that takes time to unfold. The season is long, with 55 games, and decisions for a coach are determined by the variables in a given situation.<\/p>\n

As she begins her 30th season leading the Huskies softball team in Miami on Friday, Karen Mullins \u201979 (ED), \u201980 MA says that perspective is an important element in learning to make good decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was younger, you wanted to open the season with a bang and end with a bang,\u201d Mullins says. \u201cYou have a different perspective and understanding now. These first three weekends [of the season] are like little quizzes. The exam doesn\u2019t start until the Big East conference opens up. If you look at it that way, it will give us feedback. If we\u2019re using those first few weekends to get ourselves on track and in the game mode that we want to be in, then it\u2019s not about the W\u2019s and L\u2019s; it\u2019s about what level are you playing the game at and is it good enough to be competitive and get where you want to be in the conference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mullins is one of just 43 coaches to win 800 games during a career, with a record of 833-571-5 overall, including 823-561-5 at UConn. She has produced nine All-Americans and led eight teams to the NCAA Tournament, including a trip to the 1993 NCAA Women\u2019s College World Series. Since the Big East softball tournament began, the Huskies have won seven of the 15 conference tournament championships.<\/p>\n

\"Outfielder<\/a>
Outfielder Marissa Guches’13 (CLAS) hopes to end her senior year in the postseason. (Steve Slade ’89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cShe has so much passion for the game,\u201d says senior outfielder Marissa Guches \u201913 (CLAS), this year\u2019s team captain. \u201cYou can see how much she knows about the game.\u00a0 She knows when to let us know when we\u2019re messing up and what we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adds head baseball coach Jim Penders \u201994 (CLAS), \u201998 MA: \u201cTrailblazer is the right word to describe Karen. She didn\u2019t start the program, but she was on the first team they had here. To be [coaching] for 30 years is something I\u2019m in awe of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past couple of seasons, Mullins has worked to improve a young squad. Last year, the goal was to return to the Big East Championships. With a 21-27 record, the team made it to the postseason but lost in the first round of the tournament. In 2013, the Huskies return a core of veteran players and a have a group of talented freshmen who hope to finish among the top five in the highly competitive Big East.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel pretty good about our squad this year,\u201d says Mullins. \u201cEven though we lost some critical players, we do return a good core group that has been through the fire and knows what to expect. I think last year getting into the Big East championship and losing in the first round, we know we want to go further this year and we\u2019re capable of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Senior<\/a>
Senior pitcher Kiki Saveriano’13 (CLAS) will be the anchor of the softball team this season. (Steve Slade ’89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Huskies return five of the team\u2019s top six hitters from last season, including Guches, infielder Maddy Schiappa \u201914 (BUS), outfielder Kim Silva \u201913, shortstop Emily O\u2019Donnell \u201915 (CLAS), and catcher Andrea Huelsenbeck \u201914 (CLAS). The team will look to Kiki Saveriano \u201913 (CLAS) to lead the pitchers, along with contributions from Lauren Duggan \u201915 (CLAS), Katelyn Callahan \u201914 (CLAS), and freshman Alyson Ambler \u201916 (CLAS).<\/p>\n

Mullins says the freshmen class \u2013 which in addition to Ambler includes outfielder Alyssa Gardea, catcher Jacklyn Dubois,\u00a0 and infielder Lexi Gifford \u2013 have helped to improve the team, and she expects several will see action regularly during the season, something that will important when conference play begins in late March. Preseason rankings placed South Florida at No. 12 and Louisville at No. 17 in the national polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conference is just so competitive. South Florida is back from the World Series and returned almost their whole team,\u201d she says. \u201cLouisville went 53-3 last year, and had a great opener last weekend. We know we\u2019re in one of the top conferences in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guches says the team is eager to improve and will use last season\u2019s final game as motivation to return to the postseason and produce a better result. As one of the team leaders, she wants to.<\/p>\n

\"Junior<\/a>
Junior catcher Andrea Huelsenbeck ’14 (CLAS) is one of the leading hitters for the softball team. (Steve Slade ’89 (SFA) for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt does make you hungry. We were able to go to the Big East tournament, but not as high as we would have liked,\u201d Guches says. \u201cWe know what we need to do to be better. As a senior, you want to go out and leave your mark on the program. I\u2019m looking for a lot of heart [in teammates]. The season is long. We play 55 games. We have to focus. We love this game for a reason. If we work cohesively together as a team, we\u2019re going to be successful; if we lose that focus, we\u2019re going to make mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mullins says the work ethic set by first baseman Audrey Grinnell \u201914 (CLAS) is typical of what she hopes to see as her young team grows throughout the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe comes in early to practice, stays late, and takes extra batting practice,\u201d Mullins says. \u201cI think you\u2019re going to see that pay off, and a metamorphosis in helping us this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helping to motivate student-athletes to maximize their abilities has been part of Mullins\u2019 approach to guiding her team since the beginning. In addition to their success on the diamond, they have also succeeded in the classroom, with 96 percent of softball players earning their degrees and nearly half of them reaching the Dean\u2019s List.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve learned it\u2019s all about the people,\u201d Mullins says. \u201cEvery year you have new challenges, but it\u2019s about the people who are surrounding you and it\u2019s about the players; helping them to develop and become great citizens, good parents, and get good jobs. Seeing them develop into responsible young adults is really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

The softball team begins the 2013 season with a series of games in Florida, starting against Binghamton at 11 a.m. on Feb. 15. The Huskies open their home season with a double-header against Fairfield at noon on March 23 at Burrill Family Field at the Connecticut Softball Complex. The complete schedule is available on the softball team website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Karen Mullins ’79 (ED), ’80 MA, coaching isn’t just about wins and losses, it’s about people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":72829,"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-72870","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":"2026-04-29 05:27:57","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\/72870","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=72870"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72875,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72870\/revisions\/72875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/72829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72870"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=72870"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=72870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}