Bulldogs Open Season At USF/Best Western Invitational
May 25, 2016 | Softball
Winners in five of their last six season-opening contests, the Bulldogs (0-0) will open up their portion of tournament play on Friday, taking on Western Kentucky (0-0) at 4 p.m. EDT before battling Jacksonville immediately following at approximately 6:30 p.m. MState will take on tournament host USF (0-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will then take part in one of two semifinal games that will begin later in the afternoon. Sunday will see MSU playing in either the consolation championship at 10 a.m. or the title game at 12:30 p.m.
State will return 13 letterwinners, including six field starters and four starting pitchers, off of last year's 35-31 squad that advanced to a record fourth-straight NCAA Regional appearance. Joining a very experienced cast will be six newcomers, including freshman catcher Gina McCloud who redshirted last season after undergoing knee surgery. The Bulldogs are 19-7 all-time in season-opening tournaments.
"I think you are going to see our pitching staff be a lot stronger than it has been in the past, said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. We have got an excellent defensive club and I think we will continue to surprise some people on the offensive side of the ball. We have got some hitters and some speed on this team and we are going to be able to make some things happen."
The Hilltoppers return seven field starters and a pitcher from a team that churned out a 33-24 record and a second place finish in the Sun Belt Conference last season. Western Kentucky returns Sun Belt Preseason Pitcher of the Year Adrienne Lathrop who led the team with a 21-12 record and a 1.80 ERA in 2005, but will also feature a strong offensive cast as well. Preseason all-Sun Belt honoree Alana Towns hit .279 with six home runs and 29 RBI last season and was joined on the preseason all-conference squad by Bailey Rolfs who hit .211 with 27 runs scored last year. WKU was projected to finish third behind Louisiana-Lafayette and Troy in a preseason poll of the Sun Belt coaches.
Jacksonville will bring back eight field starters and three starting pitchers from last season's 35-32 squad that reeled off a sixth place finish in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Dolphins returnees are highlighted by a pair of pitchers that combined for 28 of the squad's 35 victories, as well as a very capable batting order. Both Shannon Jensen (13-11, 2.00 ERA) and Katie Dobson (15-17, 2.27) make their way back to Jacksonville to anchor things down from the circle, with Stephanie Farabee (.395, 2 HR 30 RBI) and Katie Pestrak (.322, 3, 36) pacing the offense. The Dolphins were projected to finish fourth in a preseason poll of the Atlantic Sun coaches.
USF, which, like MSU, is receiving votes for national ranking consideration in at least one of the two preseason top 25 polls, bring back eight starters and all three arms of its pitching staff as the Bulls look to improve on a 42-28 mark in 2005 that sent the Green and Gold to an NCAA Regional berth. USF will be led from the circle by sophomore righthander Bree Spence who churned out a 23-14 clip with a 1.87 ERA last season, but have a couple of other options as well. Offensively, senior Tiffany Stewart hit .399 with nine home runs and 40 RBI last season, but will be assisted in the batting order by Samantha Ray who turned in a .370 batting average with 21 RBI.
Following this weekend's action in the Sunshine State, the Maroon and White will return home next weekend, Feb. 17-19, to host the four-team Bulldog Classic at the MSU Softball Field. Admission to all 2006 Mississippi State softball home games is free.
