Softball 2/13/2019 2:29:00 PM Jordan Alves

No. 11 Lady Tiger softball set for six-game tournament in Auburn Dale this week

All six games this week will air on the CU Sports Network, CampbellsvilleTigers.com/watch

AUBURN DALE, Fla. — After a couple days in Orlando visiting Magic Kingdom and finding pool and ping pong tables in the Villa's, Lady Tiger softball is focused and ready to begin its 2019 season with one thing on their mind – getting over the hump in the NAIA Opening Round.

Campbellsville starts the season on Thursday evening with a pair of games in the RussMat Softball Classic against Warner University and No. 22 Southeastern University. First pitch vs. Warner is set for 4:30 p.m. ET and the Lady Tigers will turn around to play the Fire at 6:30.

CU is also scheduled to play on Friday against Bryan College and Southeastern in another doubleheader starting at 4:00 before closing out the tournament against Keiser University on Saturday at 9 and 11 a.m. ET.

CU Sports Network:
All six games will air on the Campbellsville University Sports Network, as Jordan Alves will have the call on CampbellsvilleTigers.com/watch starting 15 minutes before first pitch of each game.

Scouting the opponents:
The Warner Royals are coming off a 37-18 season and were 17-7 inside the Sun Conference. Their 37 wins tied a program record for single-season victories, but they went 0-2 inside the Sun Conference Tournament before playing in the NCCAA World Series. This season, the Royals were picked behind Southeastern and Thomas University to finish third in the conference.

The biggest threat offensively is returning catcher Sara Bruno. The NAIA Second-Team All-American hit .401 last season with 57 RBI, 13 HR and slugged .759.

The Royals return their top pitcher as well in Sylvia Welch. She went 19-7 last season with a 1.93 ERA, 21 complete games and seven shutouts. In her 189 innings pitched, she struck out 106 batters and opponents hit .241.

Southeastern, enters ranked No. 22 in the NAIA, and is the favorite to win the Sun Conference. The Fire are already 2-0 on the year after winning 13-0 and 19-1 over Trinity Baptist last week. They return three of their top four leading hitters from last season and the two aces in the circle.

Haleigh Harrel hit .401 with seven home runs, 31 RBI and stole 29-of-32 bases last year. Heather Faulk is another offensive threat after hitting .345 and stealing 19-of-23 bases in 2018. That's the name of the game for the Fire – stealing bases. Last year, they stole 104 - which was ranked 14^thin the country.

In the circle, Hannah Bodenhorn and Ashley Appel were deadly. Bodenhorn tallied a 1.18 ERA with an 19-6 record, 18 complete games and eight shutouts. She struck out 211 batters in 177 innings. Appel, the No. 2 on the team last season was 20-10 overall and had a 2.23 ERA.

Coming off another banner season:
The Lady Tigers are coming off another Mid-South Conference regular season and tournament championship year in which they finished the season with a 47-10 record.

Campbellsville's 47-win season is the second-most single-season wins in program history and the sixth 40-plus win season in history. The Lady Tigers won their eighth Mid-South Conference regular season title and fifth tournament championship. CU also hosted its second NAIA Opening Round Championship in Bowling Green, Ky. before falling to Faulkner in the finals.

The Lady Tigers lost the likes of NAIA All-Americans Neely Quint and Jacqueline Roof. Quint led CU with a 1.52 ERA and finished the year with a 29-3 record – the 29 wins broke the single-season record set in 2016. Roof led the Lady Tigers by hitting .390 with 71 hits in 182 at bats. Her 10 home runs were second on the team and her 43 RBI and eight stolen bases were third. In addition, Roof slugged .687 with 14 doubles, five triples and 10 homers, and her on-base-percentage led CU at .486.

Getting over the hump:
Campbellsville has been to the NAIA Opening Round the previous four seasons and won the regional title in 2015 to clinch a berth into the World Series for the first time in program history. But after hosting the Opening Round the last two years, the Lady Tigers' expectations were not met after falling in the finals to Faulkner last season and getting beat in the consolation finals of 2017.

Returners at six positions:
With the absence of Quint, Roof, Rebecca Miller and Brianna Scott to graduation, the Lady Tigers also lost All-Conference performer Alexis Smith at first base.

But CU returns Morgan Gailor and Karson Williams in the circle, Kelly Wheeler, Tori Humphrey, and Dana Adkins in the infield and Ryleigh Oldham and Mia Aldridge in the outfield. Behind the plate, CU returns the MSC Freshman of the Year in 2018 in Ryley Whitney.

Gailor finished the year with a 17-7 record, tallied 15 complete-games and four shutouts. The senior from Louisville, Ky, was second on the team and MSC with the 17 wins as she was right behind ace Neely Quint. Her 1.76 ERA was second in the conference along with her opponent's batting average of .222.

Wheeler and Adkins return after both seeing ample playing time last season. Wheeler, the second senior on this year's squad, saw most of her action at second base while Adkins played third and second.

Humphrey, a 2017 All-American, returns after going down with an ACL injury last April. The 2016 MSC Freshman of the Year is a career .417 hitter with 18 home runs and 89 RBI. Her 138 assists last season also ranked sixth in the country on the defensive side.

In the outfield, Aldridge and Oldham return. Oldham has solidified her spot in right field, while Aldridge is moving over to centerfield for her junior campaign. Oldham started all 57 games last season in right field and hit .309 with 32 RBI and had six home runs. Aldridge, an All-Conference player during her freshman campaign was hampered with injuries last season that cut her year short. She hit just .276 with four home runs and 21 RBI in 39 games.

Whitney, who started in all 57 games last season as a freshman catcher, earned First-Team All-MSC honors and was named the Freshman of the Year in the MSC. She hit .337 with a slugging percentage of .497 last season. Whitney also led the team and conference with 18 doubles. Not to mention, she threw out 7-of-20 base stealers last season behind the plate.

Newcomers will make an impact:
Riley Hurst has big shoulder to fill by replacing Roof at shortstop. The Upperman High School product out of Bloomington Springs, Tenn. is another dominant offensive player that will help fill the void of Roof.

She finished her high school campaign by hitting above .450 and had 20-plus home runs. In 2015, Hurst was named the District 8 AA Freshman of the Year and by the time she became a junior was named the Player of the Year in 2017. In addition, she was selected to the District 8 AA All-District Team the past three seasons and earned 2017 Tennessee Softball Coaches' Association All-State.

Aleigha Talsma is going to provide support in the circle for Gailor. Talsma, one of the best two-way players in the conference, prepped at Hudsonville High School in Michigan where she was an All-Conference, All-District, All-Region and All-State athlete.

Before having Tommy John surgery in high school, Talsma was 34-5 in the circle with an ERA of 1.60 and 1.20. In addition, she hit .420 her freshman year and led the team with 51 RBI. As a sophomore she hit .350 and was named MVP at Hudsonville High.

Payton Blades, another phenomenal two-way player, will see action in the circle and possibly roam the outfield. During her senior year at Apollo High School, she was 7-2 in the circle with a 1.88 ERA. At the plate, she hit .397 with 30 RBI and tallied seven home runs.

Hannah Judd and Ivy Hedgespeth are a pair of local products from Green County. Judd was the Class A Player of the Year last season and earned 5^thRegion Player of the Year honors. Hedgespeth earned All-Region and All-District as a Lady Dragon as well while hitting over .400 for her career.

Dakota Young and Paige Dabney are both looking to fill the void of Alexis Smith after she didn't return to the team. Dabney, a local product coming back home from Bellarmine University, was a Great Lakes Valley Conference selection and led the Knights with a slugging percentage of .413. She also tallied two homers with 14 RBIs in 27 games.

Young, a freshman from Holy Cross, earned Class A First-Team All-State honors and was a three-time 6^thRegion performer at first base. She earned Second-Team All-State honors her senior season and a First-Team mention during her junior year after helping lead the Cougars to four-straight All-A State Championships.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Dana Adkins: UTIL; 5' 3"; Sophomore; Sedalia, Ky.

#4 Mia Aldridge: OF; 5' 7"; Sophomore; Lawrenceburg, Ky.

#17 Morgan Gailor: P; 5' 7"; Junior; Louisville, Ky.

#9 Tori Humphrey: INF; 5' 8"; Sophomore; Paducah, Ky.

#22 Rebecca Miller: C; 5' 5"; Senior; Louisville, Ky.

#7 Neely Quint: P; 5' 6"; Senior; Brookport, Ill.

#20 Jacqueline Roof: INF; 5' 9"; Senior; Paducah, Ky.

#2 Brianna Scott: OF; 5' 6"; Senior; Summersville, Ky.

#24 Alexis Smith: INF; 5' 11"; Sophomore; Louisville, Ky.

#18 Kelly Wheeler: INF; 5' 0"; Junior; Fisherville, Ky.

Players Mentioned

#10 Dana Adkins
: 5' 3"; Sophomore; Sedalia, Ky.
: UTIL

#4 Mia Aldridge
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; Lawrenceburg, Ky.
: OF

#17 Morgan Gailor
: 5' 7"; Junior; Louisville, Ky.
: P

#9 Tori Humphrey
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; Paducah, Ky.
: INF

#22 Rebecca Miller
: 5' 5"; Senior; Louisville, Ky.
: C

#7 Neely Quint
: 5' 6"; Senior; Brookport, Ill.
: P

#20 Jacqueline Roof
: 5' 9"; Senior; Paducah, Ky.
: INF

#2 Brianna Scott
: 5' 6"; Senior; Summersville, Ky.
: OF

#24 Alexis Smith
: 5' 11"; Sophomore; Louisville, Ky.
: INF

#18 Kelly Wheeler
: 5' 0"; Junior; Fisherville, Ky.
: INF