Looking out from the visitor’s dugout can be intimidating, especially in Ohio Valley Conference softball, as teams routinely play four, five, sometimes even six games apart from the amenities of home. 

But, then again, there might just be that diamond in the rough. That one ballpark where hitters can tower over the plate with a sense of comfort, where the surface of the field dictates the movement of the ball in a fashion favorable to their leather mitts.

Auburn’s raucous, sizable crowds, fitted in navy blue garb, enamored Mia Davis with its Jane B. Moore Field which, from her vantage point, ranks as the best ballpark they visited this season.

 “As far as softball goes, there is no field that is really difficult to play on,” Davis said. “I think Jacksonville State, though, the Choccolocco Park, where we played the tournament, is a little hard because their fence is a little bit farther than ours.”

The sign in center field at Choccolocco Park reads 220, five feet farther than that of Williams Field.

Jacksonville State, Eastern’s first opponent this weekend, will no longer be playing its games at the Oxford, Alabama ballpark, reopening its home stadium, University Field, nearly a year after a tornado hit the facility last April.

At the outset of the season, Jacksonville State, upon clearing the telephone poles, light fixtures and the edifice to their demolished practice facility, unveiled a turf field, part of what magnetizes Mady Poulter to a ballpark she commended as an infielder’s fantasy.

“It’s something different,” Poulter said. “Not everyone likes playing on turf. I like dirt, but you do not have to worry about different rocks and divots and stuff like that.”

Eastern will play the next five games on the road, most of them this weekend when they play Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State two games apiece.

The Panthers have been dogged by a 9-20 record this season when they depart Williams Field, quite a departure from the 29-16 percent win rate they sustained in 2018.

After suffering a severe knee injury against Murray State, Valerie Thompson, one of four arms in Eastern’s rotation, a timetable has not yet been established.

Eastern head coach Kim Schuette said Thompson is expected to undergo an MRI on Thursday.

Impressed by the cohesion pulsing through the roster, Poulter has been pondering the opportunities available on the Panthers’ first conference road trip.

“I am really excited for it because I feel like we are really coming together as a team right now,” Poulter said. “I am excited to see what we can do against good competition.”

Tom O’Connor can be reached 581-2812 or [email protected]