In major league baseball, spring training is the one time of year when everyone is in first place, and everyone has an equal chance to acheive their preseason goals.

The softball team's version of spring training, a set of five indoor scrimmages at Holuba Hall, is no different -- and the Lady Lions' attitude reflects it. Based on their play in the scrimmages, the Lady Lions believe their game is coming together just in time for next week's regular season opener, a tournament at East Carolina University.

"I think we're really hitting the ball well," second baseman Marisa Marucci said. "Defensively, we're playing well too. And I think we're mentally in the game a lot better."

The team played two doubleheaders this weekend, the first against Akron Friday night. They started slow, with only one hit -- a Jennifer Accordino double -- in the first three innings. But in the fourth, the bats came alive, which was a welcome sight to team captain and starting pitcher Leigh Bakun.

"I'm really encouraged by the way the bats turned on in the second half of the scrimmage," she said. "Even when we're making outs, they're hard outs. Eventually those things are going to start to fall, which we saw tonight."

The team was impressive on defense too, playing error-free softball and throwing out two runners from the outfield. Sophomore catcher Jill Cowen also gunned down a pair of would be base-stealers.

Although the games are unofficial, and scores are not kept, the team was also optimistic following their second scrimmage of the weekend against Bloomsburg yesterday. But Coach Sue Rankin looked at the progress of the team as reflected by the scrimmage more philosophically than her players. Rather than balls and strikes, she focused on the mental attitude of the team.

"I think we were in every pitch," she said. "Mentally, I think every pitch the whole team was, either offensively or defensively, much more focused than we have been."

Rankin was also happy with the innings she got out of her pitching staff. She was able to get a look at four of her five pitchers in game situations, with Bakun and sophomore Gypsy Gooding going a full six innings each.

"This is the first time they have pitched more than three innings at a time, and they're getting into a groove after the first three," Rankin said. "And that's real important going into Carolina next weekend."