Softball Opens Fall Exhibition Schedule Friday
9/22/2016 9:43:00 PM | Softball
TULSA, Okla. – The Tulsa softball team begins its eight-game fall exhibition schedule this weekend, with games on Friday and Saturday at the Collins Family Softball Complex.
The Golden Hurricane plays host to Crowder College at 5 p.m. Friday and Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa at 11 a.m. on Saturday. All eight TU fall exhibition contests will be played at the Collins Family Softball Complex.
Tulsa is in its 12th year under the direction of head coach John Bargfeldt. The winningest coach in program history at 423-208-1, Bargfeldt has led the Hurricane to five regular season conference and five tournament championships, and eight NCAA postseason appearances in 11 years.
Last season, the Golden Hurricane won its first American Athletic Conference Championship, claiming the tournament title on its home field, and appeared in its eighth NCAA Regional. TU returns 12 players from that 2016 squad, including American Athletic Conference all-conference standouts Maddie Withee, Maggie Withee, Shelby Estocado, and Julia Hollingsworth.
Senior third baseman Maggie Withee has started all three years at the position, and has compiled a .336 career average with 172 hits and 114 runs, including a career-best .378 average with 68 hits and 47 runs in 2016. Junior Shelby Estocado has started two years at shortstop, and has hit .302 with 72 RBI, 75 runs and 17 home runs in two years. She hit .329 with 11 homers, 41 RBI and 47 runs last year, and played with the USA Baseball Women's National Team at the WBSC Women's Baseball World earlier this month.
Senior outfielder Maddie Withee is a two-year starter with a .318 batting average, 69 RBI and 15 doubles. Last season, she compiled a .329 average with a conference-leading 45 RBI, along with six homers, seven doubles and 27 runs. Sophomore outfielder Julia Hollingsworth batted .343 with 30 RBI, 12 doubles, 29 runs and 12 stolen bases in 52 games as a true freshman last season.
Sophomore second baseman Morgan Neal earned conference All-Rookie Team accolades after batting .300 with 28 runs and 22 RBI. Sophomore Tori Stafford played in 49 games and started 22 at first base as a true freshman, and accounted for 11 RBI, 11 runs and four doubles.
In the circle, the Hurricane returns juniors Emily Watson and Lexi Blevins. In two years, Watson has compiled a 20-13 record and a 2.31 ERA in 51 appearances and 37 starts. She has 249 strikeouts, nine shutouts and 17 complete games in 211.2 innings. She posted a 2.28 ERA and 173 strikeouts in 123.0 innings last season. Blevins pitched 25.2 inning last year, going 1-1 with a 1.91 ERA. Most of her contribution came in April and May, when she pitched 23.1 innings and made nine her appearances and both starts.
Senior outfielder Brittany Walker played in 18 games, and recorded four runs and two RBI, while sophomore catcher Rylie Spell recorded seven hits with two doubles, three RBI and four walks in 39 at bats in 32 games. Sophomore outfielders Lauren Lomax, who scored five runs last season, and Ashley Kiser return in the outfield for TU.
Tulsa welcomed six newcomers to the squad, including junior college transfer Shannon Hughes, sophomore transfer Haley Meinen, and freshmen Kelsey Eropkin, Madison Higley, Sarah Kosmata and Mikayla Whitten.
Hughes, a shortstop and outfielder from Kansas City, Mo., came to Tulsa after two years at NEO, where she hit .483 with 102 hits, 15 homers, 79 RBI and 82 runs in 2016. Meinen is an infielder and pitcher from Houston, who came to Tulsa from Arkansas. She made 20 appearances in the circle as a freshman, but sat out last season with an injury.
Eropkin, Higley and Whitten are all Oklahoma natives. Eropkin and Whitten are all-around utility players from Bethel High School in Shawnee, Okla., and Higley is a pitcher from Fort Gibson High School in Fort Gibson, Okla. Kosmata is a catcher from Placer High School in Auburn, Calif.
Following this weekend's games, the Golden Hurricane will play host to Rogers State on Sept. 30 at 5 p.m., Labette Community College on Oct. 1 at 5 p.m., and Seminole State on Oct. 11 at 5 p.m. TU will conclude the fall schedule the weekend of Oct. 14-16, facing Butler Community College on Oct. 14 at 5 p.m., Northeastern Oklahoma A&M on Oct. 15 at 11 a.m., and Central Oklahoma on Oct. 16 at 2 p.m.
Follow Tulsa Softball on Twitter (www.twitter.com/TulsaSoftball) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/TulsaSoftball). Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane.
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