Sept. 22, 2008

TULSA, Okla. - On the heels of its second consecutive NCAA Regional appearance The University of Tulsa softball team is in the heart of its fall practice season, and is looking to develop itself and improve enough to reach new heights for the TU program.

The 2008 Golden Hurricane played in the NCAA Norman Regional and lost both of its games, but Tulsa head coach John Bargfeldt and his staff is hoping to build on the experience of playing at that level, starting with this fall practice session.

"We always use the fall for evaluating and getting girls ready for the Division I season," Bargfeldt said. "What's nice about this year's team is that it is a very veteran group back. We only lost two players. With the versatility of our players, we've got a number of different ways that we can go to replace. So, that's what we're trying to replace this fall - what is the best way to make our team work."

Through the first two weeks of fall practice, TU is working hard to fill its holes, and has won both of its exhibition games. In the first game Tulsa defeated Seminole State College 9-3, and was led by senior outfielder Broke Smart who went 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored, and by senior outfielder Lauren Lindsay who was 3-for-5 with an RBI. Sunday evening, the Golden Hurricane beat Northeastern State 9-2, with freshman outfielder Jessica Stoelke (3-for-4, RBI, run scored), senior infielder Stephanie Chomicki (2-for-5, 2 RBI) and Smart (2-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored), leading the way.

Pitchers senior Katie Lee, junior Jackie Lawrence and sophomore Jordan Kinard all threw in both games. Combined, Kinard gave up five hits, one earned run and struck out 19 batters to two walks. Lee gave up seven hits with four earned runs, 15 K's and no walks. Lawrence gave up three hits, zero runs and struck out nine to just one free pass.

The Golden Hurricane returns 13 players from the 2008 team, having lost only two, and replaced them with two freshmen. The top returners for the Hurricane include Lindsay, who led the club with a .366 average, 22 doubles, 15 home runs, 46 RBI, a .760 slugging percentage, and a perfect fielding percentage for the season. Lindsay set five school records, including runs (46), total bases (133), slugging percentage (.760), on-base percentage (.457) and tied for the most home runs in a single season with 15 dingers.

"We've got all of our pitching back, so one of the things that we look for there is another year of experience, and getting better than ever in our pitching," Bargfeldt said. "We'll also have our top offensive player back - Lauren Lindsay. Something else from last year that we will look to improve on even more is our on-base percentage - it was one of the highest in the history of Tulsa."

Tulsa's 2008 on-base percentage was in fact a school record at .354, breaking the highest percentage set by the 2006 club, TU's first NCAA regional team. The best in that category are three players who all had on-base percentages above .400 - Lindsay at .457, Sara Dyer at .442 and Vanessa Vice at .425. Dyer, a 2008 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American, and Lindsey Tower have both moved on from the program. The Hurricane welcomes two freshmen - outfielder Jessica Stoelke and utility athlete Skylar Swanson - to the squad, and filling the voids will be a team effort.

As far as pitching is concerned, Tulsa returns all of its arms from 2008, including Lee, Lawrence and Kinard. The Hurricane's best pitcher last season was Kinard, a second-team All-C-USA selection as a freshman in 2008, who finished with a 14-6 record, a 1.94 earned run average in 144.0 innings pitched, 16 complete games and five shutouts. She gave up only 89 hits and allowed 40 earned runs, while striking out 143 and walking only 70, and opponents hit just .170 against her.

While the pitching appears to be solid, other areas of the defense have holes to fill. Three starting infielders return from the 2008 team in the persons of sophomore Kelly Chapman, senior Kailey Yarmer and senior Stephanie Chomicki, and three 2008 starting outfielders return in Lindsay, Vanessa Vice and Brooke Smart. Catcher Christian Timmons also returns to solidify the defense.

The Hurricane coaching staff, however, is trying two players who were in the outfield last season at first base this fall. Of course, that would open up a hole in the outfield for somebody to step in and take over. Bargfeldt said working the freshmen into the mix, and altering some defensive roles is one of the main goals of the fall season.

"We are trying to acclimate the two new players with the system and just reshuffle defensively," Bargfeldt said. "What someone's role was last year, that may not be their role this year. For instance, we have two outfielders from last year that are working at first base. Both of them are looking pretty good at this point. Both of them are working hard."

Only time - and some regular season games in the spring of 2009 - will tell how much the Golden Hurricane has improved from the 2008 NCAA regional team, but the one thing that remains certain is Bargfeldt will prepare his team to be better than ever.

The next game for the Golden Hurricane is scheduled for Wednesday against Northern Oklahoma College at the Donna J. Hardesty Sports Complex. All TU softball fall games are open to the public. A full schedule of fall exhibition games is available at www.TulsaHurricane.com.