The Mercyhurst Softball team will open its season with play the Snow Bird Freeze Out Tournament on Friday and Saturday the tournament is hosted in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Lakers finished the 2017 season with a 16-30-1 record finishing in a 4-8-0 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West play.
Mercyhurst will play four teams over the course of the weekend taking on South New Hampshire and Le Moyne on Friday, before squaring off against West Chester, and Kutztown on Saturday.
The Lakers will return much of their starting line-up from the 2017 season, and will draw upon these older players to drive its strategy this season. Senior
Cassandra Egelston will be the leadoff hitter, being one of the hardest outs in the Laker's line up, she led the team in walks last season with 24.
Junior
Ellie Dougher recorded the highest batting average in the 2017 season with .377. Junior
Jamie Ward will return as the catcher for the Lakers, the finished the season with .274 batting average.
Sophomore
Jolene Teller will shift to play second base, and is expected to remain in the middle of the batting order. Teller recorded the most homeruns and RBIs of returning players from the 2017 season with three and 32 respectively. Sophomore, first baseman
Meredith Grimes is also expected to return, she finished the 2017 season with a .227 batting average.
Lindsey Parese, Arianna Brone and
Emma LeGendre are expected to see more playing time this season.
Heather Nye,
Sarah Eschleman, and
Allison Smith-DiLisi will all be vying for time in the pitching circle. Smith- DiLisi leads the returning pitchers posting a 3.00 ERA in the 2017 season over 2.1 innings pitched. Nye recorded a 5.32 ERA over 126.1 innings pitched, and Eschleman posted a 6.14 ERA over 43.1 innings pitched.
The Lakers also are welcoming a total of ten new players five of which are junior transfers coming from Junior Colleges, who have already had successful seasons in collegiate softball. Mercyhurst recruited three players from Herkimer College,
Taylor Fry, Paige Critella, and
Jacqueline Gardner all of which are expected to see immediate playing time. The Lakers also added
Tori Pierucci from Foothill, she will add depth and strength to the Mercyhurt pitching circle.
Megan Minihane came to Mercyhurst from the branch campus of Mercyhurst North East, she will contend for time at third base.
Mercyhurst welcomed five true freshman to the roster, which they will test in the fires of competition.
Sarah Koscho,
Megan Christner, and
Natalie Graff are all expected to make an immediate impact for the Lakers.
Jenna Balducci and
Ashley Thompson will contend for pitching opportunities as well as hitters and defenders.
The Lakers play a strong non-conference schedule testing their skills during their trips to North Carolina, and their Florida Spring Games. Mercyhurst hopes to play all of their non-conference opponents before engaging in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference play.
This upcoming season has head coach
Leanne Baker excited to see her team in action this season. Baker is looking forward to a promising blend of upperclassman leadership, and newly acquired talent as she said "…we have a lot of moving pieces in our lineup and I am excited to see how they will all work out. It's a totally different team from last year with ten new players, five of which being JUCO transfers."
The Lakers open the season on Friday first pitch is at 10am, full even schedule listed below.
SNOW BIRD FREEZE OUT TOURNAMNET SCHEDULE:
Friday:
10am- Southern New Hampshire
12pm- Le Moyne
Saturday:
10am- West Chester
2pm- Kutztown
