2012 Softball Season Preview

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Trevecca softball team enters the 2012 season with another deep and talented roster. Coach Ben Tyree's fourth Trojan team is a talented group with a mix of veterans and newcomers which wants to continue to add to the program's success. The 2011 season ended sooner than expected with a loss to eventual national champion Oregon Tech in pool play at the NAIA National Championships, and this season's team wants to win the 2012 NCCAA National Championship as it continues the process of moving to NCAA Division II.

The Trojans lost four important pieces from last year's team-Karli Rush, Melinda Patterson, Monica West, and Kelsey Lantrip-but a talented nucleus returns for Coach Tyree, led by pitchers Lauren Baker and Riley Mashburn, infielder Kari Mason, and outfielders Breanna Zeis, Haylee Rogers, and Heather Shuler.

Baker, a senior from Hendersonville, and Mashburn, a senior from Brentwood, combined for 46 wins and a 1.85 ERA in the circle last season, with Baker (25-1, 1.82 ERA, 147 Ks) winning TranSouth Pitcher of the Year honors. She also batted .353 with eight home runs and 36 RBI.

Members of the outfield trio of Rogers, Shuler, and Zeis were named First-Team All-TranSouth last season, and they're all back, bringing with them plenty of offensive firepower. Rogers captured TranSouth Freshman of the Year honors last season, when she batted .387 with a conference-leading 15 home runs, 50 RBI, and a team-leading 127 total bases. The sophomore from Goodlettsville also stole 19 bases in 22 attempts and scored 42 runs. Zeis, a junior from Murfreesboro, batted .375 with nine home runs and led the Trojans with 21 doubles and 51 RBI. Shuler had the highest batting average last season of all the returning players. The sophomore from Nolensville hit .394 with four home runs and 41 RBI. Mason, a senior from Springfield who played second base last year, posted a .371 batting average with a team-leading 50 runs and was 21-of-24 in stolen base attempts. Other returning players are senior Caitlyn Bailey and sophomores Allison Gaddis and Tori Hulan.

A deep and talented class of newcomers arrives on campus ready to help the Trojans continue to build on the past two seasons' successes. Juniors Lacey Grimes (Ashland City, Tenn.) and Aubrey Jordan (Spring Hill, Tenn.), sophomore Natalie Papini (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), and freshmen Ansley Brantley (Kite, Ga.), Nicole Davis (Greenville, Ohio), Kelsey Kemp (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.), Brittany Pendergrast (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), and Lindsey Stephens (Somerset, Ky.) will add depth and flexibility to the Trevecca lineup in 2012.

The Trojans' schedule is challenging once again, both in and out of conference. The non-conference schedule includes trips to the Shorter University Kickoff Tournament in Decatur, Ala., in late February and to the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Panama City, Fla., in early March. Among Trevecca's non-conference opponents are three teams ranked in the NAIA Preseason Top 25-No. 9 Shorter, No. 13 Auburn-Montgomery, and No. 19 Reinhardt-as well as three teams receiving votes in the preseason poll-Indiana University-Southeast, Davenport University, and Lee University. In TranSouth Conference action, Trevecca will play doubleheaders both home and away against all eight fellow TSAC members, including No. 17 Union-the only team to defeat the Trojans in conference play last season-and #RV Martin Methodist.