Tulsa Softball Preview: Looking for Consistency
2/7/2024 6:00:00 PM | Softball
TULSA, Okla. –– As the start of the 2024 softball campaign approaches, excitement is running high at 800 South Tucker Drive as the Golden Hurricane squad returns a total of 17 letterwinners and eight seniors.
Tulsa opens the season this weekend at the Texas A&M Aggie Classic, Fri-Sun., with games against Valpo, Lehigh and Texas A&M.
All four starting infielders and three outfield starters are back in 2024, while ace Maura Moore will lead a much deeper pitching staff. The only spot where Tulsa will need to replace a starter is behind the plate due to the graduation of Rylee Keith.
Head Coach Crissy Strimple, who is entering her fifth season as head coach and 19th on the coaching staff, is thrilled about her returning group and the additions to this year's roster.
"This is definitely a team that has a number of returning starters and a lot of girls that have played a ton of innings. That makes me excited as their coach," said Strimple.
"With their experience, these girls aren't going to be shocked by the speed of the game, the travel, the intensity and when the moment is big. We have a very mature team and a team that feels like they fell short last year and have set some pretty high goals for themselves. I believe they can achieve those goals.
"I've been so excited with our practices and preparation this spring from a standpoint of they're still learning and still trying to improve themselves because they know where they want to take this team. It's been exciting to be a part of their process," added Strimple.
THE INFIELD
Tulsa returns all four of its starters in the infield. Up the middle, Imani Edwards started all 53 games at shortstop and Abby Jones was the second base starter for 52 contests.
The tandem combined for a .936 fielding percentage, while Edwards batted .369 to rank second on the team with 62 hits, 21 RBI and a slugging percentage of .488. Jones looks to return to her .301 batting average from the 2022 season.
"We have two cornerstone pieces of our infield with Imani Edwards and Abby Jones up the middle," said Strimple. "Imani has established herself as our starting shortstop, and Abby brings a lot to our defense at second base. They seem like they're always in the right place."
"We're led by those two up the middle, but we have experience on the corners as well with two juniors. Last year, we platooned Celeste Wood and Claira Skaggs at third base," said Strimple. "Claira has solidified herself as the starter at third base and Celeste Wood at first base gets her bat in the lineup."
Skaggs had a .980 fielding average while playing 35 games at first base and the final 15 contests at third base. She hit .280 with six home runs and 25 RBI. After spending the first 38 games at third base, Wood settled in at first base late in the season.
"I feel like our infield is steadied by their experience. We're very flexible within our entire team. We can move a lot of players around," said Strimple.
"We have some older girls that are versatile and have worked out enough at different positions that they feel comfortable if they need to play somewhere other than their number one spot," Strimple said.
At first, Woods and junior Danielle Burns will start out getting the majority of reps, while catcher Emma Vickrey, Skaggs and outfielder Kailyn Bearpaw will have an opportunity to play the position as well.
Sophomore Faith Russell and senior Tara Hall can backup second base with Wood possibly moving there as well.
Newcomer Maci Cole will back up Edwards at shortstop but can also play third base and will certainly see playing time behind the plate.
"Maci can provide us depth everywhere," said Strimple.
Cole was a two-time NJCAA Division II All-America shortstop at Cowley County Community College the last two seasons, where she batted .454 with a .901 slugging percentage, 38 home runs and 131 RBI.
Besides backing up at shortstop and playing behind the plate Cole can spell Skaggs at third base, while first baseman Wood has a lot of starting experience on the opposite corner as well
THE OUTFIELD
Just like the infield, Tulsa returns all three starters to the outfield for the 2024 campaign.
"I love our outfield," said Strimple. "The three that started for us last year have a good feel for each other. But the cornerstone of the outfield starts with Haley Morgan. She's the general out there, making sure the right and left fielders are lined up where they need to be."
A three-year starter, Morgan has a .337 batting average and .983 fielding percentage while playing a majority of her collegiate career in center field. Last year, Morgan had a team-leading .392 batting average with 60 hits and 32 RBI to go along with a .965 fielding percentage.
"Haley has always done a great job of being a vocal leader and covering the ground she needs to," added Strimple.
Returnees Mackenzie Denson and Kailyn Bearpaw hold down the other two spots as the three starting outfielders all batted over .300 last year.
Denson hit an average of .328 and Bearpaw batted .311. Denson had 44 hits, while Bearpaw tallied a team-high 35 RBI.
"Mackenzie, with her offense, has really established herself as the starting left fielder. She has a great arm. She's so accurate and gets rid of the ball so quickly. She's hard to run on and can control the running game from the outfield.
Kailyn has an outstanding arm and gets a great jump on the ball. All three of our outfielders will probably bat in the top five of our lineup," said Strimple. Strimple also indicated that Bearpaw could move into the infield and play first or third. "Kailyn is a swiss army knife. She's so athletic, but she gets great reads in the outfield."
Tulsa has depth in the outfield with senior Kennedy Cramer able to play any of the three positions.
"Kennedy has been with us for a long time and has really pushed those girls to earn a starting spot. She can backup Haley, and has before, can go to left field and can do the same thing in right field. She's very comfortable in all three positions," said Strimple.
Freshman Elle Rouse, who came to Tulsa as an infielder, has progressed her game in the outfield and has been steady in left and right field, while sophomore Aubrey Krivak will backup Bearpaw in right field.
ON THE MOUND
"The one area we needed to not only get better but deeper was our pitching staff, and I feel like we've done that for this year," said Strimple.
Maura Moore returns for her second season after an All-America junior college career. She pitched a team-high 183.2 innings and posted a 15-13 record and 2.90 ERA with 113 strikeouts a year ago.
"Maura has looked really good in the lead up to the spring season and has earned our ace role. She'll get some of the tougher games early on," said Strimple. "Maura has been so consistent in the circle. She has a bulldog mentality out there. Even if it's a tough day, she's going to battle. She's dependable on the mound."
Senior Kylie Nash returns with another year of experience on the mound. She threw 132.2 innings and posted a 4.91 ERA with 10 wins.
"Kylie is a two-way player for us with what she can do offensively. She pitched a lot of innings last year and did a nice job in the number two role," added Strimple.
Tulsa also returns Rylie Grant and Kaiya Luneckas in the circle. The pair combined to pitch 27.2 innings last year. Luneckas may also get a chance on the base paths with the top level speed she possesses.
The Hurricane added two newcomers to the mound with junior college transfer Alexa Hopkins and true freshman Anneca Anderson. Last year, Hopkins helped lead Murray State to a 58-2 overall record and an appearance in the NJCAA national tournament. The NJCAA Division II Pitcher of the Year compiled a 22-2 record and registered 10 saves.
"Alexa is different than Maura and Kylie. She has great movement. She's older and has some great experience in the circle. I look for Alexa to eat up some innings," said Strimple.
"Anneca is a power pitcher. She'll be able to grow up on the mound at her pace and not have to do it so quickly and assume a chunk of the innings because of the older pitchers we have in front of her.
"I envision Anneca at some point in her career as a strikeout an inning type player. She wants to throw hard. You're not going to throw it by people at this level, but she has the ability to do just that. She's already shown that once she finds the edges she's tough to hit."
Anderson led her Shawnee High School team to 67 wins in her four seasons and as a senior was named the District Player off the Year after posting a 2.45 ERA and hit for an average of .443.
BEHIND THE PLATE
Tulsa's only starting spot to replace in the lineup is behind the place, but the position is in a good spot.
Sophomore Emma Vickrey, JC transfer Maci Cole and junior Jayla Park will handle the catching duties for the Hurricane. Vickrey started 10 games behind the plate a year ago, while Park caught in four games.
"Emma and Maci are pretty neck-and-neck when it comes to the catching spot," said Strimple. "Even though she's a sophomore, Emma is the most familiar with our pitchers and it's probably her number one position by trade.
"Cole has done a great job behind the plate and has gotten more comfortable with our pitchers."
Strimple has seen progress from Park as well. "Jayla has progressed and seems a lot more comfortable behind the plate," added Strimple.
THE SUMMARY
Consistency early will be the key to Tulsa getting off to a solid start.
"The thing I thought we did really well the last month of the 2023 season to finish on such a high note –– was our consistency in all phases of the game. We became just a very consistent team," said Strimple. "I think any coach will tell you when you have a team like that, you're tough to beat.
"What I'm looking for in these first four weeks is to see a team that makes the consistent routine plays. We have the ability to make some WOW plays too, but you just don't want to be a team that makes the WOW play and not the routine play.
"Minimizing other team's opportunities is something we did really well to finish last season, and we need to start off that way this year."
Tulsa has the returning experience around the field and much more depth on the mound needed to become a consistent team.
"When you look at great softball clubs you can see that in their conferences, they're one of the top defensive teams. Those teams are one of the top 2-3 pitching teams and one of the top 3-4 offensive teams, and you only get there by being consistent," said Strimple.
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