Murray State University Athletics
MSU Softball Looks To Keep Building In 2012
2/13/2012 12:44:00 PM | Softball
MSU is coming off of its second straight OVC Championship appearance in 2011, having finished in the top-6 of the league for the second straight year. The Racers won two-of-three games on the road at eventual OVC Champion Jacksonville State, clinching the sixth and final spot to end the regular season.
Despite losing two of the top players in the conference in OVC Player of the Year Jenna Bradley and 1st Team OVC selection Lauren Buch, head coach Jay Pyron is excited with what he's seen in practice so far this spring.
“We like where we are, we're certainly not a finished product, and may not be for a little while,” Pyron said. “We've come a long ways since we first started in the fall and we're looking forward to getting on the field this first weekend and giving players an opportunity to show what they can do and to see if what we've been working on in practice will translate.
“We're going to be the most rounded we've ever been. That's not to say we won't be strong in any one area, but in the past we've had weaknesses in areas, and I don't think we have any glaring weaknesses right now. We've got a good scoring team and I think that's going to continue. It may not be the same type of scoring we had last year in terms of how we get the production, but I think our line-up will be deeper and we'll get production from all throughout the order.
Upperclassmen Chelsey Sullivan and Shelby Kosmecki return to lead the Racers in the circle this season after combining to make 49 of 52 starts last season. Kosmecki led MSU with 11 wins on the season and Sullivan earned the first no-hitter in program history over Belmont. Freshman CheyAnne Gaskey looks to also see a strong number of innings pitching for the Racers this season.
Ellyn Troup returns behind the plate for her third season. The junior catcher is the team's leading returner in home runs (eight), on-base percentage (.422) and slugging percentage (.507).
A number of players will look to vie for time at the corner infield positions. Junior Stephanie Edwards and sophomore Leslie Bridges saw the most action at 1st base last season, with Edwards making 35 appearances and Bridges playing 27 games at 1st. Both players could see time in other positions, with Bridges a candidate to see time at designated player and Edwards having some experience playing at 3rd base. Newcomer Mandi Kellerman is also an option to split time with Edwards at the hot corner entering the season.
The middle infield looks to be more solidified a week before the Racers take the field for the first time. Junior Christian Cox is the leader to start the season at second base after starting there for much of the end of last season. Freshman Alexa Becker has impressed the coaching staff with both her defense at shortstop and her bat, and looks to be the opening day starter at short.
MSU will be debuting a revamped outfield this weekend, with a pair of new starters and one returner moving across the field. Senior Megan Glosser will shift from right field to starting the season in left. The speedy lead-off batter is the Racers leading returning hitter with 60 hits and a .347 batting average in 2011. She will be joined by freshman Casey Castile in center and Mo Ramsey in right. Castile adds an element of power and should slot into the middle of the batting order, while Ramsey, a great bunter with lots of speed, looks to fit in to one of the top two spots in the lineup along with Glosser. Sims will look to push both Castile and Ramsey after making 10 appearances in the outfield last season.
Thanks to the unseasonably warm weather through January and the beginning part of February in the Murray area, the Racers have been able to spend much of their practice time so far on their field instead of indoors.
We've had the opportunity to play on our field which is unusual for us heading into the first game. There shouldn't be any difficulty adjusting to playing on dirt, we've had the opportunity to do that,” Pyron noted. “We are going to be counting on a lot of freshmen this year. They're going to be a huge part of our team. You hope they go down there and play loose and let their ability take over this weekend.”
