MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State opens the 2018 season on the road in a tournament hosted by Troy University beginning Friday, in which they will play a pair of games beginning with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (SIUE).
The game is scheduled to start at 2 pm, and is the first of three days of action in Troy.
Alabama State (22-35 a season ago) fell in the championship game to Texas Southern, but received a bid to the National Invitational Softball Championships (NISC) where they won their first postseason game in school history. The season concluded in the tournament regionals at Georgia State.
Head coach
Chris Steiner-Wilcoxson returns 12 Lady Hornets and welcomes in seven new student-athletes to the program. This year's team consists of all underclassmen, and has to replace several All-SWAC performers over the previous years.
Although they have to replace multiple key components from last season, the Lady Hornets return several key components from the 2017 team that includes a pair of All-Conference selections in
Kaylee Davis and
Charlene Castro. Davis finished last season in the top five in several team categories, including batting average (.331). Davis had a total of 80 putouts while having 116 assists. Last season, Castro hit .309 with 41 hits; while driving in 28 runs and hitting four home runs.
The Lady Hornets also have experience returning behind the plate in junior catcher
Taylor Rosser. Last season, Rosser finished third on the team in hitting at .348 and hit .364 in conference play. Defensively, she had 54 putouts, nine assists and three errors.
Amira James also returns from last season after playing in 34 games. Last season, she scored 19 runs and hit four homeruns with a pair of stolen bases.
In the circle,
Vanessa Bradford – a 2018 Second Team All-SWAC pick, returns for her sophomore year after appearing in 39 games with 29 starts. She finished the year with 165 innings pitched and won 12 games during her freshman campaign. She finished the season with a 4.24 earned run average. She will be paired with fellow sophomore
Justine Jean in the circle, who started 25 games last season. She finished the year with just 138 under innings pitched and finished with an earned run average of 5.83.
The Lady Hornets will play a pair of games each on Friday and Saturday in Troy, before returning home next weekend
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