Live Stats vs. Furman
Live Stats vs. Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. – Eastern Kentucky’s 2009 softball season begins on Friday at the Tiger Invitational, hosted by Auburn. The Colonels will face Furman University (1-1) at 11 a.m., and will play the hosts Tigers (6-1) at 1:30 p.m.
On Saturday, EKU will play Missouri-Kansas City (0-5) at 4 p.m. The Colonels will close out play on Sunday against Western Kentucky (3-1) at 12:30 p.m.
The Colonels will try to build on a third place Ohio Valley Conference finish with five of eight position starters, the designated player and two primary starting pitchers returning in 2009. A total of 13 letter winners return to join a group of seven newcomers.
The 2008 team that went 28-22 overall and 17-10 in the OVC featured eight players that earned postseason recognition, and six of those players return in 2009. One Colonel was named first team all-conference (Shyenne Hussey), three others garnered second team All-OVC honors (Adriel Foxley, Chanze Patterson and Jena Handley) and four freshmen were named to the OVC All-Newcomer team (Erin Luther, Cassi Gibson, Amber Lenz, Stacye Toups).
Head coach Jane Worthington will have to replace the entire right side of her defense. Seniors Katie Rolf (right field), Patterson (second base) and Foxley (first base) graduated after last season. The returning starters are Handley (catcher), Hussey (third), Luther (shortstop), Gibson (left field) and Pam Webber (center field).
With two more seasons to play, Hussey has already established herself as one of the top offensive threats in the conference. Last season, Hussey ranked second in the OVC in RBIs (48), third in hitting (.393), third in walks (28) and fourth in on-base percentage (.531). She finished with the 13th highest on-base percentage in the nation and ranked 21st in the NCAA with an average of 0.98 RBIs per game. Hussey led the team in eight offensive categories. In addition, her defense at the hot corner has improved tremendously, going from 19 errors as a freshman to three as a sophomore.
Toups and Kalyn Fox, two of EKU’s six returning pitchers, combined for a 19-13 record and accounted for 67 percent of the team’s innings in 2008.
Worthington returns for her 17th season at the helm of the Eastern Kentucky University softball program. Worthington is the only coach the program has had since its inception in 1993. She enters the 2009 campaign with an overall record of 452-409 and has led the Colonels to a 224-151 conference record, a 60 percent winning percentage.
INFIELD
With three-time all-conference selections Foxley and Patterson holding down the right side of the infield, Worthington spent the last four seasons hoping every ball would be hit to the right side.
“Now we’re not really sure what we have,” said Worthington. “Chanze was the best second baseman we’ve ever had and Adriel was one of the few true first basemen we’ve ever had. This new group played well this fall. They just need to go out, play hard and have fun.”
Newcomers Samm Daniels, Christina Datko, Brittani Gibson and Nikki Laubecher will compete to fill the shoes of Patterson and Foxley. When she’s not in the circle, Fox could also see some time at first base.
“It will be a work in progress,” Worthington said. “Nothing is set in stone and it might take a couple of weeks of game action to figure out where everyone will help us the most.”
Luther or freshman Larkyn Wood will join Hussey on the left side at shortstop. Luther started all 50 games a year ago. She hit .282 with 29 runs scored, five home runs and 20 RBIs.
OUTFIELD
Despite the loss of Rolf in right field, the Colonel outfield will still be strong in 2009. Webber in center will likely be the only senior in the everyday starting line-up. She batted .289 with 18 runs and 21 RBIs a year ago. Gibson turned in a solid freshman season, hitting .305 with 22 runs scored. The two combined for 14 stolen bases.
“Our outfield will be strong,” said Worthington. “They’re all quick, they have good arms and they can track a ball well. I don’t think much will fall in the outfield.”
Sophomore Amber Lenz was second on the team with a .333 batting average and third with 31 runs scored last season. She started all 50 games last season, serving as the designated player 42 times. Her other eight starts were split between the infield and outfield.
Sophomore DeAnn Horswill and newcomer Diane Gallagher will add depth in the outfield.
CATCHERS
Last season Handley was behind the plate every inning for the Colonels. With the improvement made by sophomore Ashley Dollins in the fall, Worthington should be able to give Handley a break from behind the plate.
Handley had a stellar sophomore season at the plate in 2008. She posted a .312 batting average, hit seven home runs, drove in 33 runners and scored 27 times. Dollins only had one at bat last season, but if she continues to hit the ball as well as she did in the fall she may serve as the designated player while working to gain time behind the plate.
“Ashley has made tremendous improvements,” Worthington said. “In the fall her bat was on fire. I’m getting more comfortable with putting either one of them behind the plate.”
PITCHERS
Toups made an immediate impact as a freshman. In 2008 she posted an 11-7 record with a 3.13 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 123 innings of work. Fox went 8-6 with a 3.20 ERA and walked only 30 batters in 96 innings in the circle.
Freshman Brittany Mockbee, a three-time first team all-state selection at Ballard High School, will get a chance to play immediately, much like Toups a year ago.
Jodi Pence (4-1, 19 appearances), Chelsea Butler (0-1, eight appearances) and Heather Metzger (1-1, four appearances) all return to the 2009 team after seeing limited action last season. Laubecher could see some time in the circle as well.
Eastern will open the home portion of its schedule on Feb. 28 when the team hosts the EKU Invitational.
