Posted: Mar 04, 2014
BEREA, Ohio -- The Baldwin Wallace University softball team has it sights on the school's first Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title as well as its second OAC Tournament Championship in the last four years.
Veteran Head Coach Tom Spencer returns 12 letterwinners, 10 position players, two pitchers and seven every day starters from the 2013 squad that posted a record of 20-18. Spencer brings back a solid defense as he returns his entire starting infield, one starter in the outfield and a starting battery that has played together all four years in the Brown and Gold.
The Yellow Jackets return two All-OAC players from 2013 in senior designated player and pitcher Tabitha Murray (Mogadore/Field) and senior outfielder Nikki Peskura (Strongsville).
Murray, who was the OAC Rookie of the Year in 2011, earned her second first-team selection after having a career-year both on the mound and at the plate. On the mound, she became the first pitcher in any level of NCAA softball to pitch back-to-back perfect games during BW's spring break tip. Murray had career-highs in wins (17), strikeouts (173) and innings pitched (171). She also enjoyed a solid year at the plate as she batted a career-best .475 with career-highs in hits (58), homeruns (9), walks (19) and RBI (33).
For her career as a hitter, Murray has an average of .410, a slugging percentage of .650 and an on-base percentage of .463. She has recorded 150 hits, 32 doubles, one triple, 18 homeruns, 35 walks and 80 RBI. Murray has a career record of 30-18 on the mound with 33 complete games, nine shutouts and two perfect games. She has struck out 289 batters in 312.2 innings.
Joining Murray on the mound will be junior Lauren Mims (Wellington) and first-year players Samantha Dostall (Oberlin/Firelands), Darcy Daniel (Sandusky/Perkins), Erica Morgan (Brook Park/Midpark) and Mackenzie Nelson (Powell/Dublin Scioto), who also could see time in the infield. Mims appeared in five games last year and had a record of 1-1 with nine strikeouts.
Peskura, who also saw time on the mound a season ago, was selected as honorable mention and returns as the lone starter in the outfield. She had a career-year at the plate as she batted a career-high .300 with four doubles, 25 runs scored and 10 RBI. Peskura, who appeared in four relief appearances in 2012, made 16 appearances, including 11 starts last season. She had a record of 2-7 in 61.2 innings of action with 28 strikeouts. For her career, Peskura has a batting average of .294 with 40 hits, six doubles, 12 RBI and 18 walks. On the mound, she has a career mark of 2-7 with 29 strikeouts in 66.2 innings.
Peskura and senior Kate Carabin (Norwalk/St. Paul) are the only two players on the roster to see time in the outfield. Carabin has appeared in 23 games in her career and has four hits with 18 runs scored and two RBI. Freshmen Brianna Jesionek (Parma/Holy Name) and Sydney Kimball (Brecksville/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) have the opportunity to become every day players in the outfield.
In the infield, the Yellow Jackets return senior three-year starter and two-time All-OAC third baseman Lauren Feciuch (Kent/Field), junior two-year starter and All-OAC shortstop Brittany Lightel (Tallmadge), sophomore second baseman Alison Fiorucci (Seven Hills/Holy Name) and junior first basemen Mackenzie Brua (Avon).
Feciuch, who missed 18 games due to injury, batted .265 with three doubles and two homeruns. She was a second-team All-OAC pick in 2012 and honorable mention in 2011. Lightel, who has started 75 of 76 games in her career, hit .284 with three doubles, her first career home run and career-high 16 RBI. Fiorucci started 36 games and batted .218 with six doubles. Brua, who got the start at first when Spencer had to shuffle the infield during Fecuich's injury, hit .231 with nine RBI in 31 games.
Senior Melissa Vermes (Middleburg Heights/Midpark), junior Jenna Sammon (Hinckley/Medina Highland) and sophomores Angelina Ciraci (Bolivar (Tuscarawas Central Catholic), Nikki Gannon (North Ridgeville) and Taylor Kinsey (Jeromesville/Ashland) all saw action in the infield and will push for more playing time. Newcomers Olivia Bianco (Buffalo, N.Y./Buffalo Seminary), Alex Miller (Akron/Coventry) and DJ Rogers (Warren/Champion) will look to crack into Spencer's infield lineup.
Senior Sami Brown (Kent/Field) returns as a three-year starter behind the plate and continues a battery that has played together since high school. Brown has appeared in 91 career games and has 412 putouts, including a career-best 208 last year. Jesionek and Sammon are the other two catchers on the roster but look for Brown to handle most of the duties from behind the plate
The Yellow Jackets open the 2014 season in Tucson, Arizona at the annual Tucson Invitational Games with four games versus NAIA opponents as well as five games against Division III opponents, including pre-season sixth ranked Central (Iowa) College. BW also plays non-conference doubleheaders against Bethany (W. Va.), Case Western Reserve, Geneva (Pa.), Oberlin and Wooster. The Yellow Jackets open OAC play on March 21on the road at Capital University.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
