Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saluki Softball season preview
01/29/2015 | 12:00:00 | Softball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The 2015 Saluki softball team will feature a mix of youth and experience as it hopes to improve on a 28-24 season a year ago. In 2015, the Salukis bring back two All-Conference players and four of their top five hitters and will try to replace five starters from last year's squad.
"Any time you lose kids that were starters, there's an adjustment period," head coach Kerri Blaylock said. "Hopefully, we have kids waiting in the wings to take their places. We have some good depth, and there are some newcomers and people who return from last year but maybe didn't start who can come through. And we also have Shaye (Harre) and Gonzo (Kelsey Gonzalez) and people like that who will help us keep going in the right direction."
SIU was picked fourth in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference softball poll for a second-straight year. Last year's team went 15-11 in conference play and finished third--the 12th time in head coach Kerri Blaylock's 15 seasons SIU has finished in the top three in the MVC.
AUDIO: Coach Blaylock previews the 2015 season
What Was Lost
SIU lost five positional starters from the 2014 season, including four-time All-MVC second baseman Jayna Spivey. In addition to losing Spivey's .337 average, SIU lost power hitters Allie VadeBoncouer and Taylor Orsburn and defensive specialists Kelsea Ashton and Michelle Glenn.
Orsburn and Spivey each ended their Saluki careers among the top-10 in MVC history in career RBIs, and the quintet combined for more than 800 starts in their careers.
Pitching
SIU returns second-team All-MVC pitcher Katie Bertelsen, who won 14 games for the Salukis in 2014. Bertelsen won 11 of Southern's 15 MVC victories and pitched more than twice as many innings as any other SIU pitcher in 2014. Fellow senior Alyssa Wunderlich also returns and looks to have a strong senior season after leading the team in ERA in 2012.
Freshman Savanna Dover will look to make an immediate impact in her first season in Carbondale. The Canton, Ga., native had a strong fall season that included a five-inning no-hitter. In addition, Shaye Harre will contribute on the mound after throwing 44 innings and getting three wins in the circle in 2014.
"We feel like Bertie should be one of the best pitchers in the conference, there's no doubt," Blaylock said. "She's experienced; she's been through the wars; she's played everybody; she's been through a lot and gotten some big wins. Savanna came in in the fall and she has settled in. If she can give us some good innings to compliment Bertie, that will be huge. Also, we feel like Shaye will give us innings, and Lil (Alyssa Wunderlich) will give us innings in specialty ways."
Infield
Southern will look most different from last year's squad in the infield, where VadeBoncouer (catcher), Orsburn (first base), Spivey (second base) and Ashton (third base) all played last year. Shortstop Kelsey Gonzalez returns after a breakout 2014 season. The junior hit .328, raising her batting average more than 100 points from her freshman campaign.
Harre also provides a big bat in the infield. Harre played first base while Orsburn pitched in 2014, and she was an every day hitter as the designated player. She earned second-team All-MVC honors after hitting .368 in MVC play and .329 overall. Taylor Harris will play at first base when Harre pitches
To fill out the rest of the infield, SIU will have a mix of experienced returners and freshmen. Jessa Thomas was VadeBoncouer's primary backup at catcher last year and played error-free softball in nine games.
At second base, Lacey Newbold and Kara Kimball return after both serving primarily as pinch runners last year. Newbold has battled injuries in her two seasons in Carbondale, and Kimball will contribute either on the field or the base paths, where she has 139 career games of experience in her first three seasons. Freshman Savannah Fisher will also push for the starting spot in addition to backing up Gonzalez at shortstop.
Brook Womack played in 22 games and started five last year for the Salukis. The Chattanooga, Tenn., product hit .167 in her first year in maroon, and she has the coaches excited about her raw athletic ability.
Freshmen Sydney Jones and Jessica Heese will push the returning Salukis for starting spots in the infield. Jones is a catcher and third baseman from Royal Palm Beach, Fla., and Heese is a hard-hitting utility player from Platte City, Mo.
"Brook has solidified herself as a starter," Blaylock said. "If she continues to develop, she's going to be a middle-of-the-lineup type player. She's athletic; she's strong; she's a good player. At second, Lacey is coming off some injuries and will get a chance to play. Savannah Fisher will bounce around from second to backing up Gonzo at short to playing in the outfield, and Kara has played well for us in her career. Taylor Harris will play first when Shaye pitches, no doubt. At catcher, we'll probably go back and forth between Sydney and Jessa, and we'll see who settles into the starting role by conference."
Outfield
SIU returns a strong outfield for the 2015 season. Kalyn Harker and Meredith Wilson join Kelsey Gonzalez as the team's captains for the year. Harker proved herself as both a slap and power hitter at the top of the lineup for SIU, hitting .313 with 10 doubles and 14 stolen bases in 2014. Wilson is a two-time All-MVC outfielder who has a .293 career average to go along with 24 career doubles and 10 home runs.
Merri Anne Patterson provided a spark late in the season for the Salukis last year. After she was inserted in the starting lineup, the Salukis rattled off seven-straight MVC wins and Patterson hit better than .300 through the end of the year. Caylee Cook and Taylor Harris will have opportunities to contribute powerful bats to the lineup after serving as Southern's first two options as a pinch hitter last year.
In addition to pushing for a middle-inflied spot, Fisher, a freshman from Orlando, Fla., comes in strong both defensively and offensively and will push for a starting spot immediately in the outfield, helping bolster one of the strongest outfields in the conference.
"We can put out one of the best outfields we've had here," Blaylock said. "We have speed with Kalyn, Merri Anne, Fish, Jessie Heese and Kara. And if Meredith plays in right, then even another bat can DP, because Meredith will obviously be in our hitting lineup every day."
Schedule
SIU faces a challenging non-conference slate before the always-challenging conference play starts. Southern travels to four tournaments around the south before opening play at Charlotte West Stadium on March 7-8 for the Coach B Classic.
The Salukis face major competition right out of the gate, with two of their first three games against Ohio State. Nationally ranked Kentucky and DePaul are on the schedule, with DePaul coming to Carbondale for the Coach B Classic.
"We're at a point in our program where we need to face quality competition all the time," Blaylock said. "We wanted to go to new venues; we wanted to face teams in up-and-coming conferences that are getting multiple NCAA Tournament bids."
Conference play starts March 14-15 when Bradley-last year's MVC representative in the NCAA Tournament-comes to Carbondale. The Salukis play at Charlotte West Stadium each of the first two weekends of conference play; defending MVC champion Wichita State comes to Carbondale the next week.
After playing the Shockers, SIU is on the road four of the next five weekends in conference play. SIU travels to Northern Iowa and Illinois State before coming home to play Drake. After that, SIU is back on the road to Loyola and Indiana State before returning to face Missouri State in the last regular season action of the season.
"Every team in our conference is tough; it doesn't matter if you face them at home or on the road," Blaylock said. "The league is stacked, but our kids are used to that and are looking forward to it."
Follow the action
Follow Saluki Softball all season long right here on SIUSalukis.com or on social media by following the team on Instagram @SIU_Softball, Twitter @SIU_Softball or like us on Facebook at Saluki Softball.
Only eight more days until @kay_baybay12 and the #Salukis are dugout dancing in Charleston, SC, for opening day. pic.twitter.com/aY4cV6XTdY
-- SIU Softball (@SIU_Softball) January 29, 2015
