ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's softball team opens its 2018 season this Friday traveling to Rochester, Minn., to take on Winona State in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
The Flyers went 26-25, 14-16 GLVC in 2017 and return eight of their top 10 hitters to this year's squad.
Kaylee Prieto (Chicago, Ill./Marist) led the team with a .407 batting average, led the team with 16 doubles and was tied for the team lead with three triples.
Sarah DeMasi (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) hit .358 and led the team in home runs (7) and runs batted in (38).
Emily Guske (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem) hit .321 while
Alise Perna (Naperville, Ill./Metea Valley) and
Carley Maupin (Peotone, Ill./Peotone) hit .288 and .270 respectively.
In the circle, Lewis returns its top hurler,
Dara Sanders (Crestwood, Ill./Mother McAuley) who went 18-9 with a 2.17 ERA with six shutouts last season. She tossed 19 complete games and held opponents to a .256 batting average. She averaged 6.1 strikeouts per seven innings and she had a K/BB ratio of 3.5-to-1. Also back in the circle is
Taylor Boelte (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah). Boelte went 1-1 with a 5.44 ERA in nine appearances.
The Flyers were picked to finish 10
th in the GLVC Preseason Coaches Poll.
ABOUT WINONA STATE: The Warriors enter 2018 as the favorites to win the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference after going 52-13 (27-3 NSIC) a season ago. They finished the season ranked 20
th in the final NFCA poll, their 52 wins were a school record and they advanced to the NCAA Central Region Championship game, falling one win shy of going to the Super Regional.
Catcher Alison Nowak paced the Winona State offense as a freshman last year with a .425 batting average, and gold glove shortstop Lani Van Zyl hit .396 while leading the Warriors in hits (78), doubles (18) and RBI (43).
McKenna Larson was tabbed as the preseason Pitcher of the Year after posting a 26-5 record with 1.12 ERA in 2017. Jordyn Kleman (20-8, 1.79 ERA), the 2017 NSIC Freshman of the Year, also returns to the pitching circle this season.
