Softball Begins 2019 Campaign at the Bulldog Kickoff Classic in Mississippi

Friday, February 8

Starkville, Miss.

10 a.m.

Stephen F. Austin

Valparaiso University

Photo by: SFA Athletics

Softball Begins 2019 Campaign at the Bulldog Kickoff Classic in Mississippi

2/7/2019 5:14:00 PM | Softball

Ladyjacks face pair of 2018 NCAA Championship teams over opening weekend, play five games at nationally-ranked Mississippi State

By: Luke Bolanos | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

SFA (0-0) vs. Valparaiso (0-0)
Friday, Feb. 8 | 10 a.m. | Nusz Park | Starkville, Miss.
Live Stats

SFA (0-0) at No. 24/RV Mississippi State (0-0)
Friday, Feb. 8 | 5:30 p.m. | Nusz Park | Starkville, Miss.
SEC Network+ | Live Stats

SFA (0-0) vs. Middle Tennessee (0-0)
Saturday, Feb. 9 | 10 a.m. | Nusz Park | Starkville, Miss.
Live Stats

SFA (0-0) at/vs. TBD (0-0)
Saturday, Feb. 9 | 3 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. | Nusz Park | Starkville, Miss.
Live Stats

SFA (0-0) at/vs. TBD (0-0)
Sunday, Feb. 10 | 11 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. | Nusz Park | Starkville, Miss.
Live Stats

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The much anticipated 2019 softball season is here and SFA is Magnolia State bound for the 2019 Bulldog Kickoff Classic held at Nusz Park in Starkville, Mississippi, Friday-Sunday, Feb. 8-10. Hosted by nationally-ranked Mississippi State, the Ladyjacks will play five games across the next three days against Valparaiso, Mississippi State and Middle Tennessee.

Coming off its first 30-win season in the past decade, SFA will battle the Missouri Valley Conference's Valparaiso at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 8, before taking on the 24th-ranked Bulldogs in a primetime evening matchup on the SEC Network+ at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, the Ladyjacks will play Conference USA's Middle Tennessee at 10 a.m., followed by a 3 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. game against either host Mississippi State, Middle Tennessee or Valparaiso. SFA will be playing for the Bulldog Kickoff Classic title Sunday, Feb. 10 at 1:30 p.m. in a championship affair, or will be competing in the consolation contest at 11 a.m.

Following their first three games against the Bulldog Kickoff Classic's competition, the Ladyjacks will be seeded based upon their composite record to determine who they will play in their fourth game at the tournament. The top seed will play the fourth seed Saturday at 3 p.m., while the second and third seeds face each other at 5:30 p.m.

Live statistics for all five of SFA's games at the Bulldog Kickoff Classic can be followed here, while all of the Ladyjacks' games against Mississippi State will be streamed live on the SEC Network+.

Picked to finish fifth in the Southland Conference race according to the league's preseason poll released last week, SFA is primed for another successful season as head coach Nicole Dickson enters her third season at the helm.

"Our players are excited to get some games under their belt," coach Dickson commented during her Monday morning press conference. "It's a young group and a fun group, we've really challenged them as much as we to have a growth mindset. We know we're young and the game is going to grow a lot of these players. We have quite a few freshmen that have some really big shoes to fill right away but it's going to be fun to watch them go out there and compete on some of the highest stages possible in college softball."

"We believe this group has what it takes to compete in the conference," continued coach Dickson. "Our focus right now is just really connecting our team, getting comfortable playing next to each other and going out there and having a lot of fun."

A year ago, the Ladyjacks completed the 2018 season in a three-way tie for second place in the 12-team Southland after tying for eighth in the preseason poll. Reaching the 30-win plateau for just the sixth time in program history, SFA tied for the 13th-largest turnaround in all of NCAA Division I softball by completing the season with a 31-24 overall record just one season removed from going 17-33 in 2017.

The Ladyjacks earned the No. 2 seed for the Southland tournament after going 18-9 in conference play, earning conference series wins in seven of their nine league series and sweeping three Southland opponents. Making just its second national postseason appearance in program history, SFA gained the Southland's automatic berth into the 2018 Postseason National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC).

Beginning their 2019 campaign, the Ladyjacks return 11 letter winners and welcome 12 newcomers. Full of youth, the Ladyjacks feature 12 underclassmen as only three of SFA's 11 returning letter winners have played more than one season in the Purple and White. Senior Lauren Becker and juniors Jordan Llinas and Madison Clements are the only Ladyjacks to have seen game action in each of the last two seasons.

Senior infielder Margarita Corona, who tallied six go-ahead or game-winning hits and tied for the most home runs (9) on the team last year, joins sophomore infielder Bryana Novegil and senior outfielder Courtney Brown as SFA's trio of starters returning in 2019. Along with Corona, Novegil claimed All-Southland honorable mention accolades a season ago after leading the Ladyjacks in hitting (.381), on-base percentage (.503), hits (61), triples (6) and walks (26). SFA also brings back junior right-hander Autumn Anderson, along with righty Llinas, after each saw time inside the circle in 2018.

Other returning letter winners for the Ladyjacks are senior infielder Emily Wolfe, sophomore infielder Triniti Kendzior, senior infielder Shay Vegas and redshirt sophomore outfielder Brittany Crawford. SFA's six freshmen include infielder Alex Hedspeth (Lockhart HS), infielder/outfielder Cassidy Tucker (North Little Rock, Ark.), infielder Mackenzie Bennett (Santee, Calif.), right-handed pitcher Kassidy Wilbur (Bridge City HS), outfielder Taylor Trosclair (Frisco HS) and righty pitcher Kaelyn Roberts (Spring HS). Junior infielder Lindsay Gregory (North Texas), redshirt sophomore infielder/outfielder Tommi Goodman (Tyler Junior College), sophomore catcher Ashton Esparza (Wichita State), sophomore outfielder Marisa Arriaga (Texas Woman's University), junior right-handed pitcher Ashley Kriesel (Galveston College) and junior infielder Bailey Richards (Des Moines Area C.C.) make up the Ladyjacks' six transfers who could have an immediate impact.

"Our goal is to establish a base this weekend," Dickson added. "We want to get that confidence going and that comfort going, we're going to have some nerves with an excited young team ready to play."

The Opponents

Valparaiso
2018 Record | 27-24, 12-13 Missouri Valley Conference (4th)
• Picked to finish sixth in the MVC by the conference's preseason poll.
• Reached the MVC tournament semifinals a year ago in one of the nation's top 10 leagues.
• Head coach Kate Stake enters her fifth season with a 89-116 overall record.

No. 24/RV Mississippi State
2018 Record | 38-23, 7-17 Southeastern Conference (11th)
• Reached the 2018 NCAA Championship as an at-large team last year, making it to the Tucson Regional finals before bowing out to host and ninth-ranked Arizona in a one-run game.
• Return 16 letter winners from last season, including five positional starters and a pair of pitchers.
• Return sophomore catcher/third baseman Mia Davidson, a Fastpitch News preseason All-American and preseason All-SEC pick.
• Ranked 24th in the nation according the preseason USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Coaches Poll and receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball preseason top 25.
• Head coach Vann Stuedeman enters her eighth season in Starkville with an overall record of 241-166.

Middle Tennessee
2018 Record | 39-22, 11-11 Conference USA (6th)
• Picked to finish sixth in Conference USA according to the league's preseason poll
• Captured the Conference USA tournament title after claiming five-straight wins.
• Reached the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, where the Blue Raiders faced host and 12th-ranked Alabama before being knocked out by Oregon State.
• Head coach Jeff Breeden enters his seventh season at Middle Tennessee where he has posted a 120-204 record after a successful career as a high school coach.

Up Next…
The Ladyjacks will open up the home portion of their 2019 slate next Wednesday, Feb. 13 with a midweek tilt against Louisiana-Monroe. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. at SFA Softball Field.

Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack softball throughout the 2019 season.

-SFA-