I realize that softball isn't one of the sports that gets many fans pulse racing. It's way down the list from football, men's basketball, or baseball for that matter. However, head coach Ehren Earleywine has built quite a successful program since his hiring in 2006. Last season the Tigers won a school record 51 games and went to their 2nd consecutive college world series. They finished ranked 8th in the nation. This season the Tigers open the season with a # 7 national ranking and picked to finish 2nd in the Big XII behind defending champion Oklahoma. Once again, 1981 graduate Phil Bradley returns as a volunteer assistant. Nothing wrong with getting a guy that spent 8 years in the major leagues, including being voted to the all star team to work with the ladies for free.
Star pitcher Chelsae Thomas returns this year following a medical red shirt to give Mizzou a great 1-2 punch on the mound with junior Kristin Nottelmann who won 24 games last year while striking out 165 and an ERA of 1.25 in league play. The offense is led by catcher Megan Christopher, Ashley Fleming, Marla Schweisberger and Rhea Taylor. The recruiting class looks strong adding such players as Brianna Corwin from Kansas City, Taylor Duplechain from Pearland, TX, Maddison Ruggesberg from Davenport, IA and Mackenzie Sykes from Blue Springs.
The Lady Tigers opener is just around the corner as the Black & Gold game will be played on February 12th. They'll travel to a warmer venue on February 18th when they travel to San Diego for the San Diego Classic tournament, followed by another trip to Tampa for the USF tournament. The home opener is March 2nd with a double header against Drake University and the conference season begins on March 23rd when they travel to lawrence to face the lady beaks. I'm not trying to sell anyone on this being the same sort of experience as Saturday afternoons at Faurot, but this is a team that can absolutely challenge for a national championship this year and they deserve some support. I know I plan on making it out for a game or two and hope to see you there.
Maybe your women can do something your men's teams can't. Win something.
ReplyDeleteYou can tell when it's closing in on a rivalry game. The kansas fans testicles begin to drop again.
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