The Belles travel to Calvin College today to play a doubleheader against the MIAA's first place team.
Saint Mary's is looking for its first win in over a month. The Belles have dropped 11 games since beating Emmanuel College on March 10 during their spring break tournament in Florida.
At that point, the team was 5-3 and poised to make a run at repeating as MIAA champs. But since then the Belles have lost 11 games by a total score of 82 to 34. They are now 5-14 overall and 0-6 in conference play.
Calvin is in the midst of a losing streak of its own, having dropped four games in a row. Despite the skid, the Knights are 12-8 overall and 2-0 in the MIAA conference.
The Belles are coming off a weekend affair against Adrian College where they dropped both games of a doubleheader. They did show resolve, however, keeping both games close. The Belles lost 4-1 in the first game and 11-9 in the second.
This ability to stay close in games but not win them is characteristic of the team. A week ago, the Belles played a doubleheader at home against Albion College. The Belles fought hard in both games, but missed opportunities and inopportune errors prevented the team from notching a win.
The inconsistency can in part be attributed to the inexperience of the team. The young squad includes no seniors and five freshmen. With more experience, the Belles will likely become more efficient at making big plays and avoiding key errors in order to stay close and win.
Saint Mary's will need to start making those big plays against Calvin College if they have any hopes of repeating as MIAA champions. If the Belles can take advantage of the Knight's recent poor play, they may be able to finally get a conference victory.
in the conference.
