The Southern Miss softball team added middle infielder Claire Ginder from the transfer portal.
The graduate transfer spent the last three years at Texas State.
Ginder’s career began at Furman, where she was a starter for 41 games. In that season, she posted a .266 average, hit three doubles, eight home runs and drove in 22 runs, leading to her being named to the SOCON All-Freshman team.
The Florida native then transferred to Texas State, where she started in 56 games for the Bobcats in 2022. That season, Ginder held a .261 average, hit five doubles and drove in 26 runs.
However, Ginder’s career the last two seasons was plagued by injuries. In 2023, she played in 11 games before missing the rest of the season because of an injury and then did not complete in 2024. In the 11 games, she made 10 starts as the designated player and recorded four hits, two RBI and drew two walks.
The Golden Eagles have lost three players to the transfer portal as Pine Belt Sports confirmed the departures of junior Amayiah Hall and true freshmen Ansley Hight and Emily Chandler.
Hall played in eight games where she batted .125, while Hight posted a .105 average and drove in four runs in 14 appearances, while Chandler appeared in just three games. Notably, USM graduated five seniors.
Currently, the Golden Eagle signing class includes 10 players, which consists of two junior college players and eight incoming freshman. The class is highlighted by Northwest Rankins’ Jolie Hayes, who was recently named Gatorade’s Mississippi Player of the Year, Maxpreps’ Mississippi Player of the Year and was chosen as the MHSAA’s Miss Softball of Class 7A.
This past year, Hays had a batting average of .524 with 55 hits and 29 RBIs. She was also 20-0 in the circle with a 0.86 ERA and 189 strikeouts in 113⅔ innings pitched.
The group also includes Petal High alum Natalie Herrington, who earned All-American honors at Pearl River CC.
In two seasons at PRCC, Herrington made 59 appearances and threw 313 innings. She racked up 313 strikeouts and walked just 70 batters. Her two-season ERA sits at 1.61, and she finishes with a career WHIP of 0.94. Her career win-loss record is 35-10, and she threw 34 complete games.
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