Feb. 28, 2007

The University of Dayton softball team will begin the 2007 season at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational on Saturday, March 3. The Flyers will travel south to Richmond, Kentucky to face Youngstown State and host EKU in their first four games of the year.

While the Flyers fell short of reaching the 20-win mark in 2006, the season could be considered a step in the right direction. Despite some damaging injuries the Flyers were competitive finishing sixth in an 11-team Atlantic 10 conference. Dayton finished the season with an 18-30 record and 8-12 mark in the A-10 and made significant strides toward the end of 2006. Head Coach Jodi Eickemeyer was able to build a base thanks to improved hitting, consistent pitching and defense and strong team chemistry.

Dayton adds six newcomers to an already solid core as 16 of 19 letterwinners return in 2007, including sophomore Mollie Schrank who hit .344, good for 15th best in the conference and tied for second on the team in hits with 44 in 2006. The speedster from Fairfield, Ohio tallied 41 singles and three doubles in 128 at bats. Schrank also scored 20 runs and was a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen bases. She was named to the A-10 Softball All-Conference Second Team and All-Rookie Teams last season.

Also expected to lead the offense in 2007 is sophomore Christine Eggers who finished last season with a .327 batting average and team-leading 49 hits. Classmate Tamsyn Kellough will be looked upon in the field and at the plate. Last year she led all players in games played and started (48) while collecting nine doubles, one triple, and two homeruns for a .415 slugging percentage.

Senior pitcher Chelsea Grozenski returns in the circle for the Flyers after collecting seven wins for UD last year. She had the second best ERA on the team with 3.51, behind Melissa Myher, who Dayton will look to replace after her graduation last spring.

The Flyers will be on the road for the Eastern Kentucky Invitational before returning home to open on March 8 to play their first game at the UD Softball Stadium. UD will host a doubleheader against Oakland. Game times are set for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. EST.

Coach Eickemeyer previews the 2007 season in an interview with DaytonFlyers.com:

DaytonFlyers.com: When you reflect on last season, what positives do you see from last year that will carry over to this season?

Jodi Eickemeyer: Offensively, we return our top two hitters from last season's lineup: sophomore outfielder Mollie Schrank and junior first baseman Christine Eggers. We only lost one offensive threat to graduation, Tami Roudebush. Our lineup has a lot of experience and a lot of at-bats. In addition, I thought Chelsea Grozenski emerged as a very good pitcher last season so I'm excited to see what she will produce this year. With the exception of one, we return all of our starting defensive players from last year's team. We have a lot of experience going into this season and that is something that we lacked last year.

DaytonFlyers.com: What do you feel the six new recruits will add to the returning roster?

Jodi Eickemeyer: Our freshmen class will add much needed depth to our entire team. We are eight deep in the outfield and we are two and three deep on the infield. This is something that we have lacked the past couple of years. We have also added speed and power to our lineup. The freshmen class will push the returnees every day in practice. Several of the freshmen class could be direct impact players for our team this spring.

DaytonFlyers.com: What do you see as the strengths of this team?

Jodi Eickemeyer: I feel that their desire to work hard and push each other to compete for starting positions is going to be a huge strength for us this year. With the added depth, it makes practices harder and more competitive. Also the experience this team returns is a strength. We have so many kids with a lot of collegiate experience. They have had a lot of playing time and I believe it is something that is going to pay off for us.

DaytonFlyers.com: What does the infield look like this year?

Jodi Eickemeyer: We return three starting infielders (Crabtree 3B, Eggers 1B, and Malchow 2B). The shortstop position is up for grabs at this point. I look for senior Sheena Rothwell and sophomore Maggie Stopka to compete for the starting job. Freshman Anne Maci could legitimately play any position on the field except for the pitching position. I look for her to make an impact on the infield. Redshirt freshman Katie Jordan will push senior Ellie Malchow at second base. We have had some great defensive practices due to our depth on the infield. The infielders work hard and compete against each other on a daily basis.

DaytonFlyers.com: How does the starting outfield shape up for 2007?

Jodi Eickemeyer: The outfield returns four strong players with a lot of experience (Kellough, Schrank, Adams, Rothwell). Kellough is tough. She has worked hard to get where she is today and makes playing the outfield look so effortless and easy. She will be leading our outfield from the centerfield position. Schrank (LF), Adams (RF and catcher), and Lacey Severins (LF, RF) also return for their sophomore campaigns. Rothwell could possibly see time in the outfield. We will add freshmen Molly Meyer, Christine Gates, Jordan, and Maci to the list of potential outfielders. 

DaytonFlyers.com: What are some of the highlights of this year's schedule?

Jodi Eickemeyer: I am really looking forward to our schedule this season. There are some extremely challenging non-conference teams to play and I hope that they will prepare us for our conference opponents. As far as Atlantic 10 competition is concerned, I think that you can expect to see just about anything in our conference this year. I think that there is potential to send two teams from our conference into the NCAA tournament. UMASS, UNC-Charlotte, and Fordham are always tough teams to beat. However, I do think the rest of the conference teams will be fighting for the remaining spots in the A-10 tournament. The nice thing is there are six spots this year for teams to make the tournament. In the past, we have only taken the top four teams to the tournament. My goals for this year are to be competitive in the non-conference games as well as the A-10 games. I think that we can do well with our non-conference schedule and I think that will help us finish near the top of the Atlantic 10. I would like to see this team competing in the conference tournament at the end of the season.