Jaguar Softball Earns #2 Seed
San Antonio, TX- The Jaguar softball team defied all external expectations to secure the #2 seed in the upcoming Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) softball tournament, where the Jaguars open tomorrow morning (May 4th) against the #7 seed, Jarvis Christian College. The Jaguars were picked by opposing RRAC coaches to finish #6 in the pre-season poll.
Coach Nicole Dufour believes that preparation was one key that led her group to their regular season success. "Our tough non-conference schedule helped us gain momentum going into [regular season] conference play. We were able to learn from mistakes early on and just focused on trying to be better each day." The Jaguars finished regular season non-conference play with only 7 wins compared to 11 losses. However, amongst the 11 losses were well played games against a handful of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) opponents that were or are ranked in the top 25.
The Jaguars were able to navigate a tough regular season conference schedule to the tune of 20 wins compared to only 8 losses. The win loss record is impressive, but it is even more impressive when considering that two teams (Our Lady of the Lake and A&M-Texarkana) within the RRAC were ranked in the top 10 of the NAIA for much of the season. In fact, 4 of the 8 losses came to Our Lady of the Lake, who are ranked #2 in the NAIA in the final regular season poll.
Of course, the conference tournament will have a much different flavor to it than the much slower paced regular season. Coach Dufour knows that only the present matters in the tournament. "With the conference tournament, all 8 teams will come in playing to survive. Our goal is to just focus on the opponent in front of us and take it one game at a time."
The RRAC tournament is being hosted by Our Lady of the Lake here in San Antonio. Games will be played at Our Lady of the Lake and St. Mary's University. The Jaguars will open play against Jarvis Christian College at St. Mary's. Tournament information, including live streaming links and game schedules, can be found at https://ollusaintsathletics.com/sports/sball/2022-23/files/2023_RRAC_Softball_Championship