The Buffalo Bulls might not have a good record on paper, but Kent State softball coach Karen Linder is not overlooking them.

“I take them seriously because Buffalo split with (Ohio). We have to go ready to play our game,” Linder said. “We have to play at our level, play our game and we have to take care of our business.”

The Flashes (24-15, 10-2 Mid-American Conference) will travel to Buffalo for games against the Bulls (3-39, 1-11 MAC) on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Linder said the Flashes will “have to be consistent with all phases of the game” to get two victories this weekend.

“I’d like for us to stay sharp on defense,” Linder said. “I’d like for our pitchers to maintain control for all seven innings of the game because…recently, they’ve had control for most of the game, but they’ve had just one inning where they haven’t been in total control, so I think that’s something that we need to improve upon.”

“And (we need to) just get to a point where we’re hitting all the way up and down through the lineup,” she said, “where we’re coming through with clutch hits one through nine…that’s a mentality, it’s a comfort level that the kids, the confidence that the players have to have.”

Contact softball reporter Doug Gulasy at [email protected].