ue to inclement weather, the Point Park softball team did not play last week. The Pioneers were slated to play against Ohio Christian and Cincinnati Christian to open up River States Conference (RSC) play.

Perhaps conference play is just the type of motivation the Pioneers need this season, as they have started the year with a 3-9 record. Most of Point Park’s losses were to ranked opponents, but setting a strong tone to start a season can be vital to a teams success.

“Losing is never our expectation when we take the field. It’s always tough when we walk away with a loss,” junior infielder Brittany Zeigler said. “There were some positives that came out of that weekend though so our mindset is moving forward to build on those positives.”

The Pioneers have another positive heading their way: playing at home. Starting April 7, the Pioneers will begin a six-game home stand. Point Park hasn’t played at home since senior day last year on April 22.

Despite the home field advantage, the Pioneers look to focus on finishing games after taking early leads. Point Park took recent early leads against No. 11 Lindsey Wilson but ultimately dropped the decisions late in the game.

“I don’t think it’s a problem for our team,” Zeigler said. “I think that it’s early in the season and it’s always tough to get going out of the gates. Some things did not go our way late in games so far but we are just getting started and more things will go our way as we start to play on a more consistent basis.”

The Pioneers’ offense will search for consistency as the team gets regular playing time. Through 12 games, Point Park is hitting .224 as a team with 21 RBIs. On the other end of the spectrum, opponents that face the Pioneers through those same 12 games have a .253 batting average with 40 RBIs and seven home runs.

The Pioneers’ pitching staff has kept them in games early in 2018. The team ERA is only 3.10 in 76.2 innings.

“As long as we continue to do what we’re doing, then we are only going to get better. There is a lot of talent on this team,” Zeigler said.

Point Park will return to its home field and test its talent against non-conference opponent Waynesburg on March 28. The Pioneers host Carlow on March 30 in the first conference double-header of the season.