What to know about Southern Miss softball heading into 2020
The Southern Miss softball team comes off a 30-24 season, which is the program's best mark since winning 30 games in 2016.
Despite returning a significant amount of experience, the team will see several changes under first-year head coach Brian Levin.
Levin most recently spent the last three seasons at Belmont, where he posted a 91-70 mark and brought the program to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament twice.
According to players Kalyan Ladner and Lacey Sumerlin, Levin has quickly established excitement and leadership for the team, and every player has easily bought into his system.
"Coming in the thoughts in the back of my head were that he didn't recruit us," sophomore pitcher Ladner said. "Coming in, it was like having this self-inflicted pressure that I had to prove myself all over again and prove that I belong here. All of us were kind of on edge. But he gets here and just wows us and makes us speechless almost every single day."
The new coach has a process, said Ladner.
"The main thing that sticks out to me is a lot of coaches talk about having a process. He has one. He has a process, and we do it every single day. It's very detail-oriented, there's an angle, and it's a conference championship," she said.
The Golden Eagles return six starters from last year in the lineup. However, due to immense team depth, the lineup could easily fluctuate, said Levin.
In the infield, Sumerlin, a 2019 first-team All-Conference selection, will be at shortstop. Alyssa “Tata” Davis, who also was a first-team All-Conference in 2019, will return to third base, and Karley Nichols will make the return to first base. Nichols previously played at first base in her freshman year. Injuries found Nichols starting in right field last season, but she earned a Second Team All-Conference selection in 2019.
At catcher, the Golden Eagles will have to replace long-time starter Samantha Papp. As of now, sophomore Breanna Blankenship and freshman Hannah Borden will each see time behind the plate. According to Levin, each catcher is equally solid defensively, but the decision will likely come down to hitting.
The only position not decided in the infield is second base. Heather Hill, freshman Maddie Vasquez and Beth Taylor all appear to be in the mix for the position, which will likely be another position decided by hitting.
In the outfield, Destini Brown, who was another first-team All-Conference selection in 2019, will return to centerfield. Madison Rayner also returns to left field. Right field will be between Kaityln Passeau, Caroline Casey and Amber Pack, but each one could see significant playing time in the outfield.
Offensively, the Golden Eagles will have a different approach to the plate this season. In past years, Southern Miss had been a team trying to manufacture runs, but according to Levin, the team will shift and be a power-hitting team.
"I don't think we have a tremendous amount of overall team speed," Levin said. "We have got a few people that can flat out run, but we are not that kind of team that is going to slap the ball and run. We'll implement hit and runs and things like that, but we'll probably have enough power that five, six or seven of them are double-digit home run people. I think there are even a few more players that are capable of five to seven home runs."
Southern Miss returns 28 of their 30 home runs of a team that posted a .287 batting average.
According to Sumerlin, who hit a team-leading nine home runs last year, any member of the lineup could go yard on any given at-bat.
"Our team this year is seriously fun to watch us have at-bats," Sumerlin said. "I think even people from last year who didn't take aggressive swings and were kind of hesitant [have changed]. Every hitter swings hard and hits the ball hard."
Inside the circle, the Golden Eagles lost C-USA Pitcher of the Year Abby Trahan, who logged 162.2 innings of the team's 343.1 innings. Last year, USM posted a 2.30 team earned run average with Trahan logging 1.89, but even without Trahan's innings, the Golden Eagles posted a 2.54 ERA.
However, Southern Miss returns all of its other innings from last year, and, in addition, adds two freshmen who will both see significant time.
"[Despite] losing the pitcher that they did last year, if you take her out of the equation, the team ERA was still really low," Levin said. "All the pitchers coming back and the ones we added to the roster are capable. I'm pretty confident in them."
Sophomore Makenna Pierce will miss opening weekend since she is recovering from surgery but is expected to make a full return in the early part of the season. Pierce returns the most innings at 58 innings with a 2.72 ERA. Baillie Springfield also returns 51.1 innings, where she logged a 2.05 ERA.
Sophomore Kaylan Ladner, who logged 58 innings last year, will look to carry the team's load to start the year. Last season, Ladner logged 58 innings and posted a 3.38 ERA to go with 40 strikeouts and 23 walks.
"Coming off my freshman year, I really wasn't that self-satisfied with the ending of things," Ladner said. "I didn't realize how much more growth that I could have. I have never been more physically and mentally prepared for a season."
Ladner is focusing on technique.
"I changed some windup techniques, something that makes my body better. I focus a lot on spin. I have started spinning the ball a lot more and even threw in a new pitch and I have upped my speed and game all-together," she said.
Freshmen pitchers Savanna Wood and Breley Boykin will also see significant time in the circle.
"Savanna Wood has been incredibly impressive," Levin said. "She is more of an up-ball, curveball, change-up type of pitcher. Breley throws with a little more velocity. She doesn't have as great of movement on pitches as Savanna. One is more of a spin-type pitcher and the other is more of a power pitcher. That contrasts a little bit, but they have both done exceptionally well."
Southern Miss will host Mississippi Valley State and Saint Louis on opening weekend in the Black and Gold Invite starting on Friday with the first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
"We have a lot of talent and experience back, but it's a pretty young team," Levin said. "The future is really bright, but we're just excited about getting this year started."
