The Long Beach State softball team will travel to Las Vegas on Friday, where it will play five games in three days at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic.
The biggest challenge of the weekend will greet LBSU immediately, as the 49ers will face No. 5 Oregon (4-2) in the first game of the tournament. They will finish the day with a game against Utah Valley (4-1).
Saturday will include another doubleheader, as LBSU will face Nevada (3-2) and Oregon State (3-3), before concluding the tournament on Sunday with a game against Utah (2-3).
The 49ers are coming off of a three-game tournament at UCLA where they totaled 12 runs in wins over Wright State (0-5) and Cal State Bakersfield (0-3). In LBSU’s lone loss, however, its pitching staff was shelled for eight runs and its offense was held scoreless in five innings by No. 17 Texas A&M (4-0). Head coach Kim Sowder was less concerned with the team’s pitching than she was with its offense.
“The biggest thing that I feel like we need to improve on this weekend is just having more quality at-bats one through nine,” Sowder said. “I think we had way too many strikeouts this weekend and I felt like we were just being a little too cautious at the plate.”
One thing restraining the team from improving its offense is a pair of injuries. Starting shortstop and leadoff hitter Shayna Kimbrough injured her knee in Friday’s game against Texas A&M while preventing a steal attempt at second, and junior utility player Loni Tyler has been sidelined since preseason with a broken pinky finger. Sowder said from past experience that a broken finger could take up to six weeks to heal.
Kimbrough’s injury forced her to sit out in Sunday’s game against Bakersfield. Her absence is a blow to the team’s offensive and defensive depth, as she is the team’s leadoff hitter and starter at shortstop. Sowder said Kimbrough is day-to-day and hopes she could be ready to go by this weekend.
“We don’t want to rush into it,” Sowder said. “If she’s 100 percent, then we’ll put her back in there, but we’re going to wait until Friday to make that decision.”
If Kimbrough is not ready to join the team, catcher Dana Garcia is most likely to fill in at shortstop. Garcia started at shortstop for the 49ers on Sunday and, as Sowder said, she “looked like she’s been playing there every day.”
Sowder said she has confidence in the depth of her bench and the reliability of her pitching staff. The 49ers only used pitchers Amanda Hansen, Arianna Erceg, and ace Erin Jones-Wesley, but a five-game tournament this weekend will allow more opportunities for others to contribute. Sowder said that starting pitchers would be game-time decisions.
With four of the five opponents they will face this weekend holding a record of .500 or above, the 49ers will find out where they stand in the national picture. But after only three games, Sowder said the team is still trying to find its identity.
“We just really want to make adjustments from last weekend, mainly on offense” she said. “I still think we’re figuring out what we’re really good at and what we need to improve on. We’re still being tested.”
The ‘Niners will take on Oregon at 11:15 a.m. and Utah Valley at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. They will then face Nevada at 3:45 pm. and Oregon State at 6 p.m. on Saturday before playing their finale against Utah on Sunday at 11:15 a.m.