TU Softball Announces Early Signing Class

TULSA, Okla. — The University of Tulsa head softball coach John Bargfeldt announced on Friday that five student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent during the recent early signing period to join the program for the 2019 season.

The group consists of Kari Briggs (Oklahoma City, Okla./Southmoore HS), Chenise Delce (Oklahoma City, Okla./Carl Abert HS), MaKayla Jackson (Oklahoma City, Okla./Putnam City HS), Josie Muffley (Portage, Mich./Central HS) and Aubree Seaney (Oviedo, Fla./Montverde Academy).

"We are very excited to welcome such a talented group of student-athletes to our program," Bargfeldt said. "We filled a lot of needs with this class. It's a well-rounded class that has infielders, pitching, outfielders and excellent hitting, including power from both sides of the plate. With some of the graduations that we have coming up, we feel like this class is going to help solidify our roster and give us competition at those positions that are going to open up next year. Every one of these student-athletes will compete for playing time right away and I wouldn't be surprised if any became starters as freshmen. That's how strongly we feel about this class."

Briggs is a 5-foot-10 left-handed hitting outfielder out of Southmoore High School. The four-year letterwinner hit .523 with 36 homers, 40 doubles, 18 triples, 109 RBIs and 106 runs scored during her career. Briggs' power at the plate led to teams pitching around her as she recorded a school-record 54 walks, 22 of which were intentional. She earned Class 6A All-State recognition and was a first-team All-Region honoree as a senior when she hit .502 with 10 doubles, four triples and five homers. Briggs also was a four-time all-conference pick to go along with three all-district awards and she was named to The Oklahoman All-Big City Team three times.

She helped lead the SaberCats to a 122-25 (.830) record during her career with three state tournament appearances, including a state championship as a junior when she hit .557 with 14 homers.

"Kari Briggs is a really exciting player," Bargfeldt said. "She's powerful and fast. Her left-handed bat has been getting rave reviews throughout her high school career and travel ball. Kari is an exceptional young-lady with a dynamic personality. She's been committed to us for a few years now and she is someone who just gets along with everyone."

Delce is a 5-foot-6 right-handed pitcher out of Carl Albert High School. A three-year letterwinner, she is coming off a senior campaign that saw her record 233 strikeouts in 114 innings, while she allowed just six earned runs for a 0.36 ERA. Delce also put up a .435 batting average at the plate and led the Titans to the Class 5A State Championship. For her efforts, she earned all-state and all-region honors and was the District 5A-1 Pitcher of the Year. As a sophomore at Choctaw High School, Delce had a 1.17 ERA and 257 strikeouts in 202 innings while leading the Yellow Jackets to the Class 6A State Championship. Delce was named The Oklahoman Big All-City Player of the Year, the MVP of the state tournament and was the District 6A-1 Pitcher of the Year.

"Chenise has a dynamic riseball and it's been so good that she hasn't really had to use a lot of her other pitches, but she's got the ability to change speeds as well," Bargfeldt said. "When you're looking for pitchers that you think can compete to be the ace of your staff, you look at strikeouts to see how much she gets swings and misses, and she does that exceptionally well. She's won a couple of state championships and we're really excited to have her come join our pitching staff."

Jackson is a 5-foot-4 infielder from Putnam City High School, who hit .544 with five homers as a senior. She earned all-state and all-region honors and was the district's Offensive Player of the Year. Jackson also was a second-team Big All-City pick by The Oklahoman, was named first-team all-conference and earned the team's Most Valuable Player award. As a junior, Jackson hit .533 with three homers and was a first-team all-district selection after hitting five round-trippers as a sophomore.

"MaKayla gives us some right-handed power," Bargfeldt said. "She can play on the left side of the infield and has a great arm. She's a gamer. MaKayla is just one of those players that grabs people's attention with her style of play. She can hit with power and she can play third base or shortstop extremely well."

Muffley is a 5-foot-6 infielder out of Central High School in Portage, Mich. As a junior last season, Muffley hit .493 with 35 runs scored, a pair of homers and 14 RBIs to go along with 22 walks and was an all-conference honorable mention selection. She had 12 doubles and a pair of triples while hitting .463 en route to all-district and honorable mention all-conference honors during her sophomore campaign. Muffley also was an honorable mention all-conference pick as a freshman.

"We were very lucky to find Josie," Bargfeldt said. "Josie is somebody that was playing on a team that not a lot of coaches probably went out and watched. When I saw video of her, I thought, 'my goodness, what great balance and tremendous throwing arm.' She is a tough-minded person and she played hockey at one point. We're really excited to have her come in and she's going to fit into any part of our infield, but with a 70 mph arm we're probably looking at her as a shortstop or maybe third base."

Seaney is a 5-foot-9 infielder from Montverde Academy in Oviedo, Fla. She has a .484 batting average with 103 runs scored, 39 doubles, 12 triples a pair of homers and 91 RBIs during her prep career. She is a two-time All-Seminole Conference selection and a two-time Florida Academic All-State pick. A team captain, Seaney hit .571 with eight doubles, five triples and a home run in 50 plate appearances this fall. As a junior last season, she hit .441 with 15 doubles, three triples and a homer to help lead Paul J. Hagerty High School to Seminole Conference and district championships. Seaney hit .504 as a sophomore to help the Huskies to the conference title and batted .434 with 39 RBIs during her freshman campaign as the squad advanced to the regional finals.

"Aubrey does a nice job of finding the barrel," Bargfeldt said. "She will probably slide into a first or second base position for us. She brings all the tools that we look for in an infielder to go along with a left-handed bat. We are always looking for left-handed bats that can hit the ball to all fields and she definitely falls in that category."

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TU Softball Announces Early Signing Class

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