CHADRON, Neb. -- February 5, 2016 -- Chadron State College softball opens its season today on the road at the Eckerd College Spring Invitational in sunny Clearwater, Florida. The Eagles look to gain plenty of experience early in the season in the favorable softball climate.
CSC returns every pitcher from last year's roster, and adds freshman
Dallas Magnusson as well as transfer
Kinsley Mason, from Pensacola State College. Seniors
Tayler Hall and Cierra Coslett should provide leadership among the pitching rotation, with senior
Breeze Phillips and sophomore Hayley McKeehan providing depth.
Starting on the mound for the Eagles in today's opener is Coslett. The right-handed pitcher from Grand Junction, Colorado, got 19 starts last season and pitched four complete games, including a shutout.
The Eagles' rotation faces adversity early in the season, as injuries have left the bullpen with two healthy players and one on the mend.
The rest of the roster returns mostly intact from 2015 as well. The Eagles will miss the bats of
Casey Polk and
Jessica Eatmon, and the speed of
Rebecca Wetsch, but return six of seven starters in the field.
Completing the Chadron State battery on opening day will be catcher
Zoe Humphries. As a sophomore in 2015, Humphries was second on the team with a .678 slugging percentage and hit a solid .303. She also took a team-high 11 bases on plunkers. She will back up the clean-up spot, batting fifth in the order.
Leading the Eagles in hitting last season was first baseman
Katelyn Kruger, who gets the nod today versus Saint Leo University. The senior slugger returns from an All-RMAC Second Team season, when she led the team in most of the statistical categories available to her. Those included batting average (.374), home runs (13), runs batted in (41), total bases (90), slugging percentage (.783), bases on balls (22), on base percentage (.483), and fielding percentage (.993). She will hit third in the lineup.
Starting at second base is senior
Rebekah Anthony. She was a rock at second base last year, with one of the best fielding percentages on the team. Also a crafty bunter, Anthony will hit ninth in the order.
Junior shortstop
Courtney Lecher will lead off for the Eagles at the top of the order. She was a solid .341 hitter in 2015, starting all 50 games on the schedule. Lecher led the team last season in runs scored (39) and hits (58), and was the second-best hitter. She is the top returning base thief from 2015 as well, with nine stolen bases.
Junior
Taylor Bauer will be called upon at third base and will hit eighth. She was successful on all six of her stolen base attempts last year and turned three double plays in the field.
Aspen Eubanks made an immediate impact in 2015 as she came in as a true freshman hitting third-best on the team at .339. She led the team in doubles and added one triple. She received All-RMAC honorable mention in her rookie season. Eubanks will be relied upon as the team's left fielder and will hit sixth in the opener.
Newcomer
Lindsey Karlin joins the Eagles from Dodge City Community College. The junior left-handed batter was an All-Region first teamer last season, leading her team in nearly every hitting category. She was also tabbed an Academic All-American in the junior college ranks. She will hit second and start at center field.
Shea Graham is one of a strong core of seniors on this year's roster. A solid contact hitter, Graham brings great experience with 118 starts under her belt over her first three years. She will be the Eagles' opening day left fielder and bat seventh.
True freshman
Kayla Michel of Brighton, Colorado, gets the designated player role in today's opener, batting clean-up. She was described by head coach Robert Stack as an incredible power hitter with big numbers out of high school. Michel had double digit home runs her senior year, hitting .655 and slugging 1.344 for the season.
Coach Stack previewed the upcoming tournament in the following way: "The Eckerd Invite will feature some really good pitching, as most of the teams in the southeast tend to rely on their pitching. It will be a different look from next weekend's competition in Texas, where power hitting is the biggest threat. We hope to get some hits against these teams and show our ability to score runs."
The action for Chadron State in Clearwater gets started at 4:30 p.m. local time. The Eagles' opening game will not have live coverage but
live statistics will be transmitted online for other games throughout the tournament, including the matchup with Lynn University at 7 p.m. eastern. See the schedule at ChadronEagles.com for links to those pages.
