DURANT, Okla. – The Tarleton TexAnn softball team will begin the 2010 season on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Southeastern Oklahoma. The doubleheader in Durant, Okla. is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
The TexAnns are ready to enter the new season after being selected to finish fourth in the LSC South Division. However, head coach Julie Mata and her squad hope to prove the preseason polls wrong. Tarleton will be looking for its 10th trip to the LSC Championship Tournament under Mata's regime.
Nine new faces will grace the TexAnn roster this season combined with 11 returners. This season, the TexAnns will look to improve upon its 26-22 overall record from a year ago where Tarleton finished tied for fourth in the South Division with an 8-10 record. The 2010 campaign has several key returners from last year's team, including seniors Brandie Simmons, Julie Norris, Meagan Eldridge, April Gonzalez, Brittany Terry, Jamie Grounds and Tami Sutton. Those seven seniors return a combined 11 years of Tarleton softball experience.
The TexAnns' lineup should be filled with strong hitting, excellent fielding and speed.
Leading the pitching lineup will be Norris, a senior from Garland who transferred to Tarleton from North Central Texas a year ago. Last season, Norris had a 2.76 earned run average and was 11-7. She struck out 83 batters in 147 innings of action while walking just 30. Simmons, a senior from Houston who transferred to Tarleton from Cisco Junior College last year, saw limited action for the TexAnns last season, throwing in just 6.2 innings of action. All of the other pitchers on this years team will be new arms inside the circle. Allison Rodriguez, a freshman from Bruceville Eddy; and Katie Smith, a junior from Eerie, Colo. should also see time at the pitcher position this season.
April Gonzalez will lead the battery from the catcher's position in 2010. The three-year letterwinner from Iowa, La. returns for her final year of competition. She had 248 putouts last season from behind the plate and 27 assists with a .975 fielding percentage. Joining Gonzalez behind the plate will be newcomers Morgan Collier, a junior from Alpine; and Tiffany Latta, a freshman from Azle.
The infield is highlighted by Terry, a native of Crowley. A three-year letterwinner, the infielder hit .30 for Tarleton last season with 29 runs batted in and nine home runs. She plays first and third base for the TexAnns. Eldridge returns to the field this year after an injury sidelined the Willis native last season. Eldridge started 47 of 51 games played in her first year with the TexAnns in 2008. She batted .248 while recording 20 runs scored and had a .929 fielding percentage. The other infielders who grace the field for Tarleton this season will be Elyse Tatum, a sophomore from Dalhart; Karissa Kroll, a junior from Waco La Vega; Misti Lindamood, a junior from Irving and Amy Gabbert, a junior from Fort Worth.
In the outfield, Victoria Kelly, a sophomore from Irving; Grounds, a senior from Sachse; and Sutton, a senior from Santa Fe all return to roam the field. Kelly returns after hitting .303 last year for the TexAnns with 46 hits, 21 runs scored, three doubles and 15 RBI. Grounds played in 13 games last season while Sutton missed the year with an injury. In 2008, Sutton was fourth on the team with a .297 batting average. She had 43 hits, 31 runs scored and 15 walks.
Last season, the TexAnns swept a doubleheader (3-2 and 3-1) against the Savage Storm in Stephenville on Feb. 12 after losing to SOSU in the St. Mary's Classic (1-0). In the overall series, SOSU leads the series that began in 1996, 24-14.
Fans will be able to watch the live stats from Tuesday's season opening doubleheader by going to the Southeastern web site.
