Going into the tournament, Wright State had a team ERA of 2.21. UIC had recorded 2.37. We had a rather pathetic ERA of 4.60. As Ole fan suggested, in softball strong pitching shuts down a potent offense nearly every time.
In the middle of the season, I had some hope that our pitchers were evolving. There were more good games than bad. But down the stretch, they were blasted by some weak hitting teams. Giving up ten runs to weak hitting Valpo was disappointing but it really did not shock me.
Campbell can recruit and develop hitters. No question about that. But in his tenure, he has recruited exactly one high quality pitcher. I believe that you get one full time assistant coach in softball. Would it not make sense to use that position to bring in a pitching coach who can identify, recruit, and develop hurlers? As we are presently constituted, we have no chance.
