For Jenna Evans, Alyssa Stanley and Allison Evans, their spots in the University of Charleston softball team's batting order are nothing but a number.
Jenna Evans, Stanley and Allison Evans are the seventh, eighth and ninth batters, respectively, in the Golden Eagles lineup. Those aren't spots normally looked upon for offensive firepower. Yet UC wouldn't be where it is today - preparing for its first College World Series appearance - without their bats.
"I can remember at least three of our last four games that we've won, it was because of them," Loeser said.
The trio has come up with some crucial hits since Charleston began regional play, and the team will look for them to contribute again when it faces Adelphi at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in Denver.
As a whole, the three players' hitting this season hasn't jumped off the page. Allison Evans has hit .322 with 21 RBIs, but Jenna Evans has hit .273 with 19 RBIs and Stanley has hit .230. Yet all three have been essential in Charleston's postseason run.
Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 12th in UC's regional opener against Kutztown, Stanley hit a two-out single to second, got to second on an Allison Evans single to right, and scored on a Rachelle Toppings single up the middle. Stanley and Jenna Evans drove in two of the three runs in UC's next regional win over Kutztown, Evans on a single and Stanley on a fielder's choice.
The three combined to go 6 for 11 at the plate in Charleston's first super regional win at West Virginia Wesleyan. The biggest hit they came up with happened in Game 3 of the super regional. The Evans sisters broke open a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth. Allison Evans walked and got to second on a Natalie Beck sacrifice hit. Then Jenna Evans drove her sister home with a single to left to send the Golden Eagles to the World Series.
Loeser said the trio's late-season surge came not from a pep talk or directive from the coaches, but from their own motivation.
"Nobody walked up to them and said, 'You've got to be better. You've got to do this. You've got to do that,'" Loeser said. "What they went back and said was, 'Hey, I've got to do my job.' And, individually, they started working on things."
Stanley began slap-hitting more often, and she gained confidence from seeing the ball hit the bat. Allison Evans kept the steady pace she's enjoyed the whole season. Jenna Evans decided to hold nothing back in her senior season and try whatever was necessary to boost her average.
"Going into the postseason, realizing this is when everything really, really, really matters ... it was just seeing it differently, going up to the plate with a different approach and doing what we needed to do," Stanley said.
It helps that all three have the experience and maturity to make those adjustments. Stanley is a junior and the Evans sisters are seniors. With more of their college careers behind them than ahead of them, they understand the urgency of the situation.
"As a senior, it's your last year," Jenna Evans said. "You know you have to do your best and go out with a bang. You want to be successful and you want to let it all go. So it plays a big part."
The confidence the Evans sisters and Stanley have this postseason boosts the confidence of the entire lineup. The top of the order can rest easy knowing the responsibility for scoring doesn't rest solely on its shoulders. Allison Evans said the three are happy to give the entire lineup some offensive zip.
"In order to have a strong lineup, everyone has to do their part," Allison Evans said. "So us knowing at the bottom of the order that we have to produce as much as the top of the order, we knew we had to take a role, work hard and produce."