2008 Softball Outlook
Eagles have reason to believe!
As the University of Southern Indiana softball team prepares for the start
of the upcoming season, the Screaming Eagles have every reason to believe
that 2008 will be a season to remember.
USI, which was 9-1 in the fall, including a win over Indiana University,
returns seven position starters and its entire pitching staff from a squad
that won 31 games in 2007.
Although the Eagles reached 30 wins for the third straight year, 2007 was a
frustrating season for the Eagles, who had hopes of reaching the NCAA II
Tournament for the second straight season. USI suffered major injuries in
its pitching rotation and outfield that hampered it throughout the season.
The Eagles, who were 31-24-1 overall and 13-10-1 in the GLVC, ended the year
as they have every season under seventh-year Head Coach
Sue Kunkle: on a hot streak.
Kunkle, who needs just 21 victories to become the program’s winningest
coach, directed the Eagles to a 9-4-1 record in the final 14 games of the
season and just missed out on a berth in the NCAA II Tournament. Kunkle, the
2006 GLVC Coach of the Year, enters 2008 with an overall record of
184-122-1.
She will look to a strong senior class that includes All-GLVC and All-Region
outfielder Kathy Wood,
All-Region and All-GLVC third baseman/pitcher
Kristin Eickholt, and
All-GLVC pitcher Amy Harrison.
Wood earned second-team All-GLVC honors in 2007 despite missing part of the
season with a torn ACL. Despite the injury, Wood came back after missing
less than a month to help the Eagles reach the GLVC Tournament, where she hit
her first-career home run.
Prior to the injury, Wood hit .394 with 18 runs scored, seven RBIs, and 10
stolen bases. In her return, she hit .429 in conference-only games, helping
USI to a 7-2-1 record in its final 10 conference contests.
No player on USI’s roster was affected more by the injuries to USI’s
pitching staff than Eickholt. Due to the injuries, particularly the
season-ending injury to junior
Stephanie Schneider,
Eickholt was thrust into the rotation, though she had not pitched full time
since her senior year in high school.
Eickholt, who earned first-team All-GLVC honors as a third baseman last
season, handled the situation by recording a 9-6 record with a 2.78 ERA. At
the plate, she shrugged off a slow start to the season by hitting .313 with
seven home runs and 39 RBIs.
USI’s pitching staff will be anchored by Harrison, who earned second-team
All-GLVC honors after posting an 18-13 record with a 2.42 ERA. Harrison, who
had not pitched competitively in nearly two years prior to the 2007 season,
had a solid fall season and should be one of the top pitchers in the
conference this year.
Included in USI’s senior class is outfielder/infielder
Kirsten Morgan,
outfielder Niki Stewart,
and catcher/third baseman
Courtney Bates. Morgan hit .230 with 10 sacrifice bunts as a junior
a year ago, while Bates, who likely will redshirt due to injury, provided
solid depth at third base in 2007.
Stewart, who was a teammate of Morgan and Bates at Wabash Valley Junior
College, did not play in 2007. She hit .326 with a home run and 67 RBIs as a
freshman and sophomore at WVJC.
USI’s junior class will be anchored by Schneider as well as shortstop
Allyn McKinley and
outfielder Lacey Ligmanowski.
Schneider had a 3-2 record with a 1.01 ERA before injury forced her into a
medical red-shirt year. She was 30-5 with a 0.88 ERA in two seasons at
Parkland College, where she was the 2006 NJCAA II Region XXIV Player of the
Year.
McKinley is coming off a career-year that saw her earn All-GLVC honors after
hitting .326 with seven home runs to go along with a team-leading 45 RBIs
and 18 doubles.
Ligmanowski has continued to be one of the league’s most powerful leadoff
hitters after belting four balls over the fence a year ago. She overcame a
slow start to hit .322 with 23 RBIs, including .333 with 10 RBIs in the
final two weeks of the season, and earn All-GLVC honors.
USI’s sophomore class includes catcher
Tara McConnell,
outfielder Lindsay Raikes,
pitcher/utility player
Kambria Current, catcher
Sara Loete, and utility player
Kate Vanosdol.
McConnell and Raikes both made significant contributions to the Eagles
during their freshmen campaigns.
McConnell started 41 games, including 14 behind the plate. She hit
.246 with eight doubles, a home run, and 14 RBIs. Raikes played in 41 games, making 11 starts in the outfield,
and hit .355 in 31 at-bats.
Current saw action in 11 games, mostly in pinch-hitting roles, where she hit .333 at the plate while going 0-1 in the circle.
Loete and Vanosdol will be making their debut in a USI uniform in February. Loete transferred from Bradley
University where she hit .217 with three home runs and eight RBIs during her
freshman campaign.
Vanosdol was a first-team All-Kentucky Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference and All-Midwest Region performer at NCAA III Indiana
University-Southeast after hitting .373 with a home run, 11 doubles, and 26
RBIs as a freshman.
Four players will make their collegiate debuts in a USI uniform.
First baseman Brittany
DeWeese and infielder
Dani Finkelstein could
see starting roles, while catcher/utility player
Dani Monks could challenge
for a starting spot behind the plate. Utility player
Heather Swarts also could
see significant action.
DeWeese earned first-team All-State honors after hitting .421 with five
doubles, two triples, 23 RBIs, and seven home runs as a senior at Memorial
High School (Evansville, Indiana). She finished her career with 15
home runs and was a three-time All-District, All-City, and All-Metro
performer.
Finkelstein graduated from Windsor High School (Colorado) where she earned
All-State honors after helping WHS to the Class 4A state championship in the
fall of 2006. Monks graduated from Reitz High School (Evansville, Indiana)
where she was an Academic All-City performer. She helped her travel team to
the 2005 Kentucky-Indiana NSA State Championship and an appearance in the
2006 NSA World Series.
Swarts was a four-time All-County and three-time All-Conference performer at
Mississinewa High School (Gas City, Indiana). She earned All-State honors
after leading MHS at the plate during her senior season.
USI opens the regular season February
15-17 with six games at the Gulf South/Mid-West Crossover in Tunica,
Mississippi. The Eagles’ schedule is saturated with regional competition. In
addition to its 26-game conference schedule, the Eagles are slated to play
six Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams, including three
games against Wayne State University.
In addition to their season-opening slate, the Eagles will play six games at
the University of Alabama-Huntsville Charger Chillout in Decatur, Alabama;
four games at the Cougar Classic in Edwardsville, Illinois; and 10 games at
the Division II Rebel Spring Games in Orlando, Florida.
USI opens GLVC play at the University of Indianapolis March 15 and opens its
home schedule March 21 against Rockhurst University. Other key dates include
a doubleheader road match-up with defending national champion Southern
Illinois University Edwardsville March 30; a road doubleheader against
defending GLVC regular-season champion Lewis University April 12; and a home
doubleheader against NCAA II Tournament participant Missouri University of
Science and Technology April 19.
