Inside the Diamond is a weekly feature during the off-season of NCAA Softball. Each week FPN will look at a 2016 USA Today/NFCA (final poll) top 25 team. FPN will look at the season that was and what 2017 may have to offer.
Things kick-off with The University of South Florida.
Last season the Bulls, under the guidance of Ken Eriksen, went 45-16 on the season. They won the regular season AAC with a 15-3 record and earned a trip to the national tournament where they went just 1-2 in the Tallahassee Regional. They also set a school record when they went on a 20 game winning streak. The Bulls had five players earn All-Region honors and Coach Eriksen’s staff was named NFCA Mideast Region Coaching Staff of the Year. The biggest honor went to senior pitcher Erica Nunn who received NFCA second-team All-American honors. Overall it was a great year for USF.
Nearly half of their 16 losses occurred in their first 10 games where they went just 3-7 to open the season. Breaking down the wins and losses we see that against teams that were in the top 25, at some point during the season, they were just 1-10 and were outscored 67-15 in those games. That is something the Bulls will need to fix in 2017 if they are to go deeper in the NCAA tournament. They will have to do that with out second team All-American Nunn. Last season Nunn accounted for 56% of the total innings and held a nice 1.71 ERA with 223 strikeouts.
Who they Lose
- Pitcher – Erica Nunn
- Pitcher – Rachel Ionata
- Infielder – Amber Donovan
- Infielder – Morgan Litchfield
- Infielder – Monica Santos
- Catcher – Lee Ann Spivey
Of the five players named to the All-Region team they only lose two in Spivey and Nunn. Those are two big losses though. Nunn is your top pitcher and Spivey is your top power hitter. Last season Spivey hit 15 home-runs and led the team in RBI (41) and SLG (.675). She also broke the schools All-Time home run record which now stands at 39.
Who they Get
- Infield – Sam Blashinsky (Kingsville, Ohio)
- Infield/Outfield – Ana Maria Bruni (Schwenksville, Pa.)
- Pitcher/Infield – Kelsey Lay (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)
- Infield/Outfield – Bethany Keen (Bradenton, Fla.)
- Utility – Lashara James (Bradenton, Fla.)
- Infield – Brittany Rayfield (Green Cove Springs, Fla.)
- Infield – Brooke Hartman (Port Orange, Fla.)
- Utility – Britney Schmidt (Wellington, Fla.)
- Outfield – Brooke Leistl (Lithia, Fla.)
- Pitcher – Kalen McGill (College of Central Florida)
Coach Eriksen is bringing in a good size class. As to which players will have an immediate impact, that will have to work itself out. Two players that may fill roles early are McGill and Keen. McGill, who started at South Alabama, where as a freshman she led the Sun Belt conference with a 1.92 ERA and posted a 16-4 record, is also coming off a strong season at NJCAA College of Central Florida. Last season she was 29-1 with a .58 ERA and 113 strikeouts. McGill should be in the mix with returners Cheyenne Eggens (7-0) and Susan Wysocki (11-3). If the latter two continue to develop and McGill can be as effective as she has the past two seasons the Bulls will be tough in the circle.
Keen was a highly sought after recruit known for her bat. The best thing about her according to Eriksen is “Bethany has the type of approach at the plate that can make adjustments on the fly. She has an uncanny ability to hit for average or power depending on her spot in any line-up.” Based on that, we suspect that he will find away to try and get her bat into the line-up. It is really to early to tell where the rest will fit.
The Bulls return their three top hitters in Juli Weber (.406), Kristen Wyckoff (.404) and Astin Donovan (.369). Of their nine everyday hitters they only lose three. That is good news for a team that carried a .399 team OBP.
Heading into next season the biggest question mark for the Bulls will be pitching. On paper it looks like they should be in good shape. They return the majority of their offense and add speed and power with their incoming class. They do lose their best power hitter and will need one or more players to step up and show more power in the 2017 season. Another area they will look to improve is how they play against top 25 opponents. If the pitching comes through they will be in the hunt for the AAC title again next year.
