Softball Recaps Successful Fall Season

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis softball team enjoyed a successful fall season with an 8-1-1 overall record all while adding valuable experience heading into the 2017 spring season.

"We wanted to approach the fall in a different way than we had in the past," said head coach Natalie Poole. "I feel we have a more mature team, a team that has played together already at this point since we did not graduate any seniors last season."

The Tigers worked on expediting the speed of games in order to be acclimated come time for the spring season to begin. Having an older team with a significant amount of experience helped Memphis achieve those goals.

"Whenever we were on the field, we wanted to take that group and increase the pace and the pressure during the fall to really see if they would meet the challenge," added Poole. "The girls did a great job of matching that pace every day. It was a hard, physical fall for us and I believe that the girls can look back and view it as a very productive time."

Offensively, the Tigers saw great success at the plate. As a team, Memphis hit .441 with eight hitters over .400 and three more players hitting over .300. The Tiger slappers finished the fall hitting .532 as a group.

"To me, I feel like we were right on track with where we need to be," said Poole. "This group of slappers have always been contributors and the great thing about them is they can do more than just lay down bunts. I feel just as confident with them as I do a hitter coming up to the plate in a situation where we need an RBI."

Hannah Harrell and Kyler Trosclair led the Tigers at the plate with a .600 and .593 average, respectively. Trosclair finished with a pair of triples and a pair of drawn walks this fall. Senior outfielder Lindsay Crowdus finished the fall with six triples as well as a pair of doubles.

In addition to the success at the plate, the Tigers used the fall season to expand upon the base running aspect of the game. As a whole, Memphis finished the fall season just short of 40 stolen bases in 10 games played.

"Another area of the game that we do well at is being aggressive on the bases," said Poole. "I was pleased with our aggressiveness. When we get on base, we have chances to move runners."

This fall, the Memphis pitchers took time to really build confidence in the circle. That confidence was capped by not allowing a single home run throughout the entire fall season.

"They have really progressed throughout the fall from where they started to where they are at this point," said pitching coach Ellen Renfroe Reed. "We've worked a lot on the mental side of the game from learning how to compete when you feel like you might not have your best stuff. We took away some pitches to help them build confidence knowing they can get people out without even having all of their stuff. We learned how to compete and learned how to have confidence in the circle."

As a whole, the Tigers finished this fall in a good place and the team feels that it is in a better situation now heading into the spring than where it was prior to the start of the fall season. Defensively, Memphis finished the fall with minor mistakes that are easily correctable. All aspects of the game were practiced this fall.

"There's nothing in the game we haven't practiced," added Poole. "That made us feel good because I know that everything we didn't do right is fixable."

Memphis begins the 2017 spring season on the road with three-straight tournaments before hosting three of it's own. Memphis will have 27 games at the Tigers Softball Complex this season. The Tigers have four seniors on the roster in Hannah Harrell, Calli Irvin, Crowdus, and Lindsey Stickrod and head coach Natalie Poole is in her sixth season at the helm.

"Overall, I believe we're a tight-knit group and that we work well together," added Poole. "Our freshmen have really fallen into what we expect from them and growing at a great pace. With them, and their productivity plus what we have returning, I think we look to the spring in a really hopeful way and we expect great things."

University of Memphis Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Lindsay Crowdus

Hannah Harrell

Calli Irvin

Lindsey Stickrod

Kyler Trosclair

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