The Racer softball team will compete at the Magic City Classic in Birmingham, Ala., today through Sunday.
Murray State is scheduled to play the University of South Alabama, Nicholls State and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Head Coach Kara Amundson said she sees the teams as similar competition to the previous two tournaments.
“It is going to be another good test for us,” she said. “(They are) very winnable games for us, but we have the possibility of losing them as well.”
With the caliber of talent expected, the team will face a challenge this weekend.
Amundson said she sees South Alabama as a solid competitor. Its team has beaten several high-ranked teams this season.
She also sees UAB as strong competition.
The Racers won the Arkansas Invitational last weekend after having some trouble at the start of the tournament.
“The first couple games we played were slow,” Amundson said. “We did some things that were not indicative of winning a championship on a tournament.”
After losing its first two games, the team came back to win the next three games and take home the title.
Amundson said the team did a good job of playing both offensively and defensively, which was her goal for the tournament.
She said it is hard not to be excited about the win and is proud of what the team accomplished after its rough start.
Amundson believes the team has a good chance to come home with another win this weekend.
“Taking our mentality from this past weekend and being able to get a good couple days of practice in before we go is going to be important for us,” she said.
Amundson believes the team is now embracing the idea of it being a competitive team this season, and positive things are happening.
She said contributions are being made by all of the class levels and all parts of the lineup are performing very well.
“We embraced the fact that we are playing to win and not playing to not lose,” she said.
Amundson said the team is ready for this weekend.
She said the team is starting to move in the right direction for the rest of the season.
The first game of the tournament will take place today at 12:15 p.m. against South Alabama.
Story by Megan Kavy, Staff writer.
