GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence softball team will travel to Oregon for a pair of doubleheaders against Eastern Oregon this weekend. The first game will kick off on Friday, March 25 at 2:00 p.m. MTN in La Grande, Ore.
The Argos (0-14, 0-9) are
coming off a doubleheader loss to the University of Montana. Despite the losses against the NCAA Division I opponent, head coach
Joey Egan thought the team played their best ball of the season.
"This team is a totally different team than when we first started," Egan said. "We're finally starting to get to where they need to be to start competing. We saw a lot of good things that we haven't seen this year and it was against a Division I opponent. We're playing as a team. I couldn't be more proud of how they're playing right now."
The team hit the practice field this week with a renewed focused. The coaching staff has been preaching that the difference is in the details and have dedicated practice time finetuning some of those areas.
"We've been focusing on the little things in practice," Egan said. "Attention to detail is important. We're not trying to throw the ball if it doesn't need to be thrown, we're keeping our head down and on the ball and working on stealing bases. Getting them all the way around the bases is the goal."
The Mountaineers (17-8, 7-2), who are
receiving votes in the NAIA National Poll, are currently second
in the Cascade Collegiate Conference standings. Like the Argos they have yet to play a game on their home field this season – this weekend will be their home opener.
"They are always a very solid team to play against," Egan said. "They are a team that you can never look past. They're a really gritty team. They're going to be a tough team to beat. They took one from SOU last week. They just battle. They have good pitching and have some really good hitters. It's going to be tough."
However the Argos believe they're up for the challenge. They've shown steadfast improvement each series on the year and are looking to continue that growth pattern this weekend.
"The key is going to be to keep growing," Egan said. "We want to pick up where we left off in Missoula and keep building. As long as we stay on the uphill rise we're going to start seeing better results."
