Softball Opening Season Friday at Florida Gulf Coast Tournament

Photo by: UofM Athletic Media Relations

Softball Opening Season Friday at Florida Gulf Coast Tournament

Feb 11, 2016 | Softball

Memphis playing five games at FGCU tourney this weekend.

By: Tammy DeGroff

MEMPHIS – The 2016 Memphis softball team has made the most of its brand new indoor facility in what has occasionally been a chilly spring, but is ready to step on the field and start the season for real this weekend. The Tigers will participate in the six-team Florida Gulf Coast Kickoff Classic Sponsored by Four Points Sheraton this weekend, facing Kent State, Friday, at 11:15 a.m. (ET) in their season opener. That game will be followed by a 1:30 p.m. (ET) contest against Illinois-Chicago. Saturday, Memphis faces Middle Tennessee and host Florida Gulf Coast, and the Tigers close the tournament against Michigan State, Sunday.

"We've been practicing for about three weeks now and the girls are definitely antsy to get on the field," Head Coach Natalie Poole said. "This should be a really good round of competition for us. We'll see some teams we have never played before, and a couple that we have, but it's really nice to just get out there and see what we've got early on."

Memphis returns a pair of American Athletic Conference honorees this season. Kyler Trosclair was the league's Rookie of the Year after she led Memphis with 29 runs scored last year. She was second on the team with a .306 batting average and added 10 stolen bases on the year.

Also back is sophomore pitcher Katie Brignac. As a freshman, she was one of the team's most reliable hitters, particularly with runners on base, leading the team with five home runs and 26 RBI. She hit .441 with runners in scoring position and led the team with a .375 average when the bases were loaded. In the circle, she was 5-6 with five complete games, striking out 42 and throwing one shutout.

One of the things the Tiger coaching staff will be analyzing in the early season tournament will be the team's performers out of the circle and who can run the field from behind the plate.

Brignac, Calli Irvin, Molly Smith, Bayleigh Wisher and Adriana Morgan will all be available to work out of the circle in the early parts of the season, while Christian Novak continues to work her way back from injury. Morgan was a mid-year enrollee at Memphis and the Tiger coaching staff is getting to see what she can bring to the lineup as a young freshman.

Brignac and Smith each had 22 appearances in the circle last year, while Irvin made 10 appearances in the circle when she was not in the mix at first base.

Behind the plate, Memphis made an off-season move to add two newcomers after the Tigers finished last year with just one catcher due to injuries.

"We added some pieces behind the plate," Poole said. "We ended up having one catcher last year due to injury, and now we have three. We won't have to be complacent in that position, we have people who can throw runners out, who can keep runners at bay and can just command the field. I think it's going to change the way we look on the infield."

Returning behind the plate is junior Haleigh Ross, who started 45 of 46 games last year. She will have help this year with the addition of junior college All-America honoree Brittany Seale and freshman catcher Regan Hadley. Seale was a second team all-America honoree at Jones Junior College, hitting 10 home runs, batting .422 and adding 39 RBI. Like pitcher Morgan, Hadley joined Memphis back in January, graduating a semester early from high school in order to start her college playing career.

"They will both (Hadley and Morgan) make an impact immediately," Poole said. "It was unexpected to be able to bring them here early, but it's almost like they've been here all year. They fit in well into the program. Our returners have really opened their arms to them."

That team chemistry will be especially important on a team with no seniors. But even without seniors, Poole feels she has enough experience returning elsewhere on the team.

"I think our youth has good experience. Our outfielder is going to really mature for us, we've got players that have been there for a couple of years now, so I feel very solid about that. On the infield, we still have some youth, but up the middle, we have some experience there," Poole said.

The outfield is where Tiger fans may find Trosclair, Hannah Harrell, Lindsay Crowdus, Jessie Lamb and Addison Maxwell. Harrell started 51 of 52 games last year, recording 96 putouts and ranking third on the team with a .303 batting average. Crowdus led Memphis last year with a .309 average and her 97 putouts led the outfielders. Lamb is a freshman joining the Tiger roster this year and Maxwell returns in a utility role that could find her in either the outfield or on the infield.

The middle infield will likely include Sami Jo Schulz and Brooke Lee. Schulz started all 37 games she appeared in last year and her 47 assists was second for the team behind Brittany Vaughn's 53. In addition to Maxwell, the Tigers could also utilize freshman Breana Valenzuela in a utility player role on the infield.

To help on the corners, Memphis added a second junior college all-America honoree on the infield. Lindsey Stickrod was a first team All-America honoree at Chattanooga State, where she helped her team to a third place finish at the 2014 NJCAA National tournament. She could hold down one of the corners for Memphis, while freshmen Tyler Johnson and Christen Torres figure in to the mix, as do Calli Irvin and Bayleigh Wisher, both pitchers who can also play at first base.

The team is about to have a lot of quality time together in the pre-season schedule, playing five of their five six weeks on the road.

"We have great team chemistry right now," Poole said. "I think we've got a good, tough team. I'm excited to get them on the road where we can just focus on the game and focus on getting better getting ready for the conference schedule. That's what the preseason is about for us – getting better and getting ready for conference play."