By: Morgan Huizar
The University of the Incarnate Word softball team is off to the best start in program history, with a current record of 19-10, and is tied for the second best record in the Southland Conference (SLC).
However, it has come at the expense of losing Ace Pitcher Larissa Jacquez to Duke University via the transfer Portal. She had the lowest earned run average in the SLC and ranked 12th best in the NCAA (1.65 ERA).
Softball coach Kimberly Dean said she called her pitching staff immediately after Jacquez confirmed her departure from UIW, and stated they will rely heavily on their returning pitchers during the season.
“I think we all just saw it as an opportunity for a young lady [to] have a different opportunity to go do great things, and we have no issue with that,” Dean said. “We’re still very steadfast on how we have the best pitching staff in the Southland.”
Dean believes the SLC is one of the most difficult conferences in the nation, but credits the preseason training for keeping the team steady on track.
“I knew we put together a pretty hard preseason. The Southland has three teams in the top 25 mid-majors, [and] four teams are beating Power Four schools, so our conference is really difficult,” Dean said. “We need to take these games, as they come, and if losses are the final say of that particular game, just make sure we are getting lessons from them, that we can use later down the road.”
Dean and her staff will continue on their historic stretch with support from their bullpin, including senior pitcher Bella Mitchell. She is most impressed with the composure Mitchell has displayed on the field this season.
“She has gone out there and looked calm in very stressful situations,” Dean said. “No matter the situation we put her in — the amount of pitches we are asking her to throw, starting a game, ending a game, staying warm without throwing — she’s really taking any opportunity she can to help this team succeed to make sure this team does bend, but not break.”
Mitchell reflects on past tournaments and says each game, win or loss, has lessons to be learned from.
“We have beaten some good teams in tournaments,” Mitchell said. “We took a game from FIU (Florida International University), we beat BYU, so we are beating big schools. I think that we can beat bigger schools that, on paper, are supposed to beat us.”
This is Mitchell’s third season as a Cardinal and she has the team’s lowest ERA, the second best of her collegiate career (3.87 ERA).
Mitchell credits Dean for her growth as a student athlete.
“[Dean] gave me the opportunity to play, mature and grow up in a lot of ways, and I will forever be grateful to her for that,” Mitchell said.
