With every victory the University of Charleston softball team tacks onto the now-18 straight it has collected, it makes a program record that tougher to break. The old record of 12 consecutive wins disappeared this past Saturday and, with UC's sweep Tuesday of West Virginia State, the Golden Eagles got even further away from that old mark.
Plenty of personal milestones were set in Tuesday's two games, a 3-0 UC win in the first and a 9-3 win in the second.
"The biggest thing, when you mention things about home runs and wins and 18 straight, the thing is nobody on the team talks about it," head coach Ray Loeser said.
The Golden Eagles' (38-7, 25-3 Mountain East) aim is higher than individual accolades. The Mountain East Conference South Division leaders want to capture a division crown on their way to a conference tournament title. As the UC players have barreled through the season, which has included a four-game season sweep of nationally ranked West Virginia Wesleyan, they said they haven't felt a lull, that there haven't been the doldrums that can derail a long winning streak.
"To me, it feels that, no matter what we do, we're just not done," said infielder Laura Ashlock, who tied the program's season-best home run total by hitting her 11th in Tuesday's second game. "We're never satisfied. We always come to every game hungry for the next win."
In the first game, the Golden Eagles broke open a scoreless tie in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI single from Ashlock and an RBI double from Kelly Browning. Ashlock added an RBI double in the sixth to extend Charleston's lead.
Meanwhile, pitcher Alli Burdette allowed just three hits and, after getting out of a jam in the first with State runners on second and third, the former South Charleston High star cruised to her 21st victory of the season.
In Game 2, Burdette relieved starter Jessie Rowe in the fifth with the score tied at 3. She held State (26-24, 11-17 MEC) scoreless the rest of the way, Jenna Evans hit a three-run home run, the first home run of her career, in the fifth to break the tie and UC added three more runs in the sixth to put the Yellow Jackets away. Ashlock hit a two-out solo home run in the first inning to tie that season record, and Burdette's 22 wins are the seventh most in program history.
"Jessie did well and we had great defense making plays all day," Burdette said. "So it felt good to come in and help out."
Loeser said Tuesday's doubleheader was a prime example of what has made UC so successful this season. He has watched several of his players come up with key hits or strikeouts or defensive plays throughout the year. It isn't just a handful of them on which he must rely.
"Today, it could be Person 1, tomorrow, it could be Person 2 and four games from now, it could be Person 4," Loeser said. "And then you come back to Person 3. Any given day, there truly is someone different."
UC has two conference doubleheaders remaining - hosting Fairmont State on Saturday and Shepherd on Sunday - before the conference tournament in Troutville, Virginia. As hopeful as the team was to begin the year, that hope has grown even stronger as it has surged to the end. And Ashlock hopes that surge doesn't dissipate anytime soon.
"When the season started, I was ready to see our potential," Ashlock said. "I don't think we've met it yet. I think our potential is still growing."
Contact Derek Redd at 304-348-1712 or derek.redd@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @derekredd.