BARTLESVILLE, Okla.—The No. 19-ranked William Woods University softball team will get its 2015 campaign underway on Saturday afternoon, as the Owls will take on Oklahoma Wesleyan University in its season opener. First-pitch of the double-header will be thrown at 12 p.m.
The Owls return plenty of key components offensively, while on the mound, the team will look to freshman hurlers
Bre Logan and
Allison Waskow to lead the team toward yet another American Midwest Conference (AMC) Championship.
WWU is coming off a stellar 2014 season, which saw them win its third AMC Championship in the past four seasons and earn a trip to the NAIA Opening Round in Davenport, Michigan.
Offensively last year, the Owls batted. 317 as a team and had six different players hold an average above the .300 mark.
Leading the way and looking to build off her stellar 2014 season is
Emily Murphy, as she was named to her first All-AMC honorable mention team, after hitting a career-high .470. The Tulsa, Oklahoma, native, also collected career-highs in doubles (six), triples (three), home runs (three), RBI (26) and hits (57).
Another player looking for a strong start to the 2015 season is catcher
Macy Wierschem, as she is coming off her junior year where she batted .358, while totaling 23 runs scored, 11 doubles and 23 RBI.
Senior
Kacey Scharnhorst, a St. Peters, Missouri, native, will look for another breakout season, after setting career-high marks in batting average (.345), hits (50), doubles (12), home runs (four), slugging percentage (.552) and added a team-high 38 RBI.
On the mound, meanwhile, the duo of Logan and Waskow, along with senior
Julie Scheer, will look to get the Owls off on the right foot on Saturday, as they are replacing the duo of all-time strikeout leader
MacKenzie Bowden and
Becca Schemmer.
Logan, a Columbia, Missouri, native, joins the Owls, after breaking the single-season strikeout record in 2013 for Rock Bridge High School. Also in 2013, she was named to the all-district, all-region, all-state teams' and earned Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors.
Waskow, meanwhile, a Canton, Illinois, native, is a two-time all-conference selectee at Canton High School, while during the 2013 season, she went 15-6 in 139.0 innings pitched, while totaling 129 strikeouts and holding an earned run average (ERA) of 2.22.
Scheer, the lone returning starter, is coming off an impressive first year campaign with the Owls, after transferring from East Central Community College. In eight starts, Scheer went a perfect 7-0 in 39.1 innings pitched, while having an ERA of 0.89 and totaled 32 strikeouts.
This will also be the season opener for Oklahoma Wesleyan University, as they are looking to build off a 2014 season when they went 26-29 overall and 13-8 in the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC).
The team loses Miranda Kiser who finished the year with a team-high .363 average, but does return Christie Bell, who closed out the season with a .342 average, while adding 29 runs scored, five home runs and 23 RBI.
Another player returning for the Lady Eagles is Mariah Shepherd, as she finished last season with a .293 average in 54 games played, while totaling 37 runs scored, six home runs and 32 RBI.
On the mound, Jenna Daniel returns, as she looks to improve off her 17-17 overall record last season, but did own a 2.68 ERA in 36 starts. Daniel also struck out 244 batters, walked 117 and held opponents' batting average to a mere .202.
"I think everyone is going to be very excited to get the season going," said head coach
Tracy Gastineau. "On opening day you are going to have jitters, but we will have different uniforms with a new look this year, and we need a new look from last year because this season we are a different team. I do think there will be some nerves, with two freshman really nervous, but I think that can be a good thing, as we talk about using those nerves as adrenaline and channeling it in the right way."
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and scores from Oklahoma.
