The Mississippi University for Women baseball team experienced plenty of firsts last weekend.
The Owls had their first hits, runs scored, strikeouts, and other history-making stats in the program’s first three games.
The W also had its first game canceled due to weather.
In an effort to avoid similar weather-related issues, The W moved up its doubleheader against Crowley’s Ridge College originally scheduled for Friday to 4 p.m. today at Columbus High School. The teams will play a third game at noon Friday.
Rain is in the forecast for at least the next three days, so The W baseball coach Matt Wolfenbarger hopes Mother Nature cooperates to help his team kick off the home portion of its inaugural campaign.
Wolfenbarger said Wednesday chances were good the teams would be able to play today provided there wasn’t a huge downpour Wednesday night or this morning or afternoon. He said he, assistant coach Ben Russell, and The W Director of Athletics Jason Trufant would be at Columbus High to work on the field to get it ready.
The W is coming off 12-4, 11-4, and 6-5 losses to the University of Dallas last weekend. The final game of the series scheduled for Sunday was canceled.
“I feel a little better that we have a couple of games under our belts,” Wolfenbarger said. “The players are itching to get that win, but at the same time they’re not losing sight of playing their game and not letting the nerves get to them.”
Wolfenbarger said he will continue to tinker with lineups to see which players give the team the best chances to win. Last weekend, former Oak Hill Academy standout Heath Ford showed he is ready to contribute. Starting at shortstop, Ford led the team in hits by going 4-for-8 in two games. He also had a walk and a run scored.
“He put the ball in play pretty regularly for us,” Wolfenbarger said.
Ford will be forever linked to The W because he had the team’s first hit, a single in the first inning of the team’s first at-bat. The hit went up the middle, which is something Wolfenbarger said the Owls have worked hard at in the preseason. He said the team’s approach is predicated on taking pitches back up the middle or going the other way to put quality at-bats back to back.
Wolfenbarger said The W had plenty of hitters follow that approach against Dallas. He said the next step will be to get more hitters to pick out more good pitches to hit and not to let too many good pitches go by.
Ford said he did his best to follow the things the Owls worked on in practice in his first two games. He also said it is an honor to know his name always will be associated with The W baseball’s team after getting the first hit.
“It was a fastball outside that I went back up the middle with,” said Ford, who didn’t remember if it was a 2-2 or a 3-2 count.
Ford said it was satisfying for him to take what he worked on in practice and translate it to his first game. When he played at Oak Hill Academy, Ford acknowledged he wasn’t as proficient going back up with middle or to the opposite field. In fact, he said he recently spoke with Oak Hill Academy baseball coach Mitch Bohon, who showed him a spray chart of his hits. Ford said only five of the hits were to the opposite field.
Ford, who attended Coahoma Community College in Clarksdale as a freshman, said part of his ability to go the other way comes from experience. He said his time on the junior college level helped him understand how pitchers will attack hitters by going middle to middle away. As a result, Ford said he has been able to adjust to a mind-set that encourages him to hit the ball the other way.
If Ford continues to follow that approach, he could see similar results against Crowley’s Ridge. Still, he said there will be plenty of things for him and the Owls to work on.
“You can say you’re never satisfied because we didn’t come out with a W,” Ford said. “But I think it was good for some of the freshmen and younger guys to get some experience and to see a lot of arms and a lot of lefties.
“I felt great. I feel like I am seeing the ball well. Defensively, I feel I have a lot to work on but that it will come with more games and more practice reps. I am seeing it well and having a good year so far.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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