Softball Doubleheader At Colgate
ALBANY, N.Y. – Following some time off due to the Easter holiday, the University at Albany softball team got back to work today in preparation for a make-up road doubleheader against Colgate on Tuesday. Originally scheduled for last week, as part of a two-day road trip that also included a doubleheader at Cornell, the games were rescheduled due to impending inclement weather, a factor that has plagued the team all season. Instead of losing games, as was the case in the beginning of the season, the Danes will be able to play both games as originally scheduled.
UAlbany (20-10, 8-3) is coming of a split of a doubleheader with Cornell. The Danes have emerged from arguably the most grueling stretch of their schedule, and will have more time between games from here on out to rest and recover if needed. The series with Colgate (9-24) is the only competition on the schedule before the Danes’ second to last conference set this weekend, against conference newcomer UMass-Lowell.
All season there has been difficulty in determining what to expect from opposing teams, due to the scattered nature of everyone’s schedule as a consequence of the inclement weather. Exacerbating that problem for this series is the fact that Colgate enters the two-game set with a new coaching staff.
“Colgate has a new head coach, and with that usually comes some philosophy changes,” said head coach Chris Cannata. “We haven’t played against this new coach before, so we don’t really know what to expect.
Colgate has played games against common UAlbany opponents. Colgate split two games with Binghamton, lost three against Army, and split two games with Siena. UAlbany swept two against Binghamton, in a shortened series, split two with Army, and swept two against Siena. The Danes have two games apiece remaining with both Army and Siena later in the season.
“Even looking at the common opponents you can’t really determine how you’ll fare against a team,” said Cannata. “There are too many variables, and this year it has been difficult trying to figure out how good everyone actually is.”
The first game kicks off tomorrow in Hamilton, N.Y. at 3:00 p.m., followed by the second game at 5:00 p.m. This weekend, UAlbany will play its final three regular season home games, in a three game set against UMass-Lowell. Finally, the Danes will end the regular season with seven consecutive games on the road. They will play consecutive doubleheaders against Siena and Army, before wrapping things up with a three-game set at UMBC. The conference tournament starts on May 8.
