Belmont off to historic start, suffers first loss over weekend
At the beginning of February, Faspitch News wrote about the changing culture of softball at Belmont University in Nashville. Fast-forward to February 26 and the Bruins are off to a historic start.
Last season, Belmont set a program record with 19 wins. Through the first 12 games this season, the Bruins are 11-1 after starting 8-0.
“It’s a 180 from last year,” said senior Chelsey Deloney. “We were 0-12 at the start. We are over halfway there (last year’s win total) and we have a ton more games to go.”
The Bruins opened their season at home and swept University of Maryland Baltimore County and University of Missouri Kansas City. From there, they traveled to Bowling Green, KY, and won the Holiday Inn Hilltopper Classic.
Offensively, the Bruins are producing top to bottom. Before the weekend, Belmont was ranked third in Division I with a team batting average of .408. Since the conclusion of the weekend, six of the starters have hit home runs, Deloney leading with six. Seven of the starters are hitting .350 or better.
“(Chelsey) is such a weapon to have in the middle of the lineup. With her and Lexi (Rouse) you can’t really pitch around one of them,” said Levin. “Right behind them, you have Jess Andree who is having a great start to the year. The thing about is the RBI producers can’t do their job unless people get on base.”
To put it in perspective, the Bruins hit .263 as a team the last two years. Levin has come in and changed the hitting philosophy with the focus being on vision.
“We have a building block system that we use that touches on certain parts of certain functions of the body in the way that they should be at certain points of the swing,” said Levin.
The technologies they are using at Belmont also include the V-Flex. According to Levin, it’s very in depth in tracking the ball and space but it’s over his head. He’s been using it for five years so it must be working despite not fully understanding it.
Pitching has also been a bright spot for Belmont. Freshman Brooklin Lee dazzled in her collegiate debut against UMKC with 13 strikeouts. She matched that high against Evansville on Friday.
“She (Brooklin) was out a little bit with an injury last weekend but Ashley Johnson has been the workhorse,” said Levin. “She’s been tremendous for us. Lexi Rouse has come in relief several times and Morgan Marshall has thrown a little a little.”
The Bruins head west to Memphis for the Blues City Classic on March 3. They will face Arkansas Pine Bluff, Memphis, Wright State and Louisiana Tech.
“We feel so much more confident this year. We’ve prepared so much and I have no reason to believe that we can’t do anything.,” said Deloney. “There’s no reason to doubt ourselves in any part of the game. If you put anyone in the lineup, they will do well and that’s a huge difference for us.”
