By Alex Boggis, UT Martin Assistant Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – Following a long offseason of work and preparation, the University of Tennessee at Martin softball program kicks off its 2022 season with a drive for excellence and its sights set on an Ohio Valley Conference championship run.
Following a strange 2020 campaign which was shortened to just 22 games due to a global pandemic and a bizarre 2021 season that posed different challenges which included the loss of fall exhibition contests, alterations to the conference schedule and a reduction in the OVC Softball Championship field from eight teams to four, the Skyhawks are looking forward to a better sense of normalcy in front of them.
With the Skyhawks entering their third season under head coach Brian Dunn and company, the coaching staff is anticipating its first campaign under standard operation procedures which include a full slate of offseason workouts, a traditional schedule format and the return of the eight-team conference tournament field.
“This year is just normal and that is our biggest thing,” Dunn said. “I think this will be a normal year, which will be really nice because we just have not had one of those yet. Prior to last season, we were able to play in the fall but it was only against ourselves and I think the girls got sick of facing each other. This year, we returned to seeing outside competition in the fall which just gave it a different look. Then with the league not sending a full group to the conference tournament, that made it hard, because our league has really good teams. Just being able to get back to ‘normal’ has given us a chance to compete.”
Along with a return to “normal” on the field, UT Martin features a large crop of talented performers. While the Skyhawks finished outside of the league’s top-four teams and thus on the outside looking in on the OVC Tournament field, the squad still posted impressive statistical numbers and featured several standout performers which return to the fold.
UT Martin posted a 27-19 overall record while going 16-15 in OVC play to post the team’s first winning season during league play since 2017. The Skyhawks also had several team accomplishments including setting a program record with 8.65 hits per game while ranking in the top-five all-time in slugging percentage (.462, second), batting average (.309, third), runs per game (5.13, third), hits (398, fifth), extra base hits (119, fifth) and fielding percentage (.965 fifth).
Individually, the Skyhawks return four All-OVC performers in junior pitcher Alexis Groet (13-6 record, 1.36 ERA) and junior infielder Kaitlyn Kelley (.338 average, 17 home runs, 48 RBIs) who garnered first team honors. Sophomore infielder Kaci Fuller (.350 average, 18 extra bases hits, 21 steals) and graduate outfielder Paige Clark (.372 average, 10 doubles, 16 steals) rounded out the foursome with All-OVC second team selections last season. In addition to All-OVC selections, UT Martin boasts five All-Newcomer honorees from last year’s 12 recipients including Fuller, Groet and Kelley along with junior outfielder Shyanne Sheffield (.381 average, 10 extra base hits, 12 steals) and Southeast Missouri transfer Katie Dreiling (.356 average, 10 extra base hits, 18 RBIs).
Along with the team’s all-conference recipients, UT Martin returns two other positional starters in infielder Kallie Pickens (.319 average, nine doubles, 14 RBIs) and catcher Maddi Long (.294 average, seven doubles, 18 RBIs) along with pitcher Erin Gallagher (6-6 record, 2.96 ERA). The Skyhawks also welcome back seven other letterwinners to the squad while adding five total newcomers to the mix.
“I am very excited to see this team take the field this spring,” Dunn said. “We have a very talented team that our entire coaching staff believes will be very competitive both in and out of the OVC conference.”
When you look at the roster from top to bottom, the Skyhawks are hoping the mix of top-level talent, solid contributors and new faces will generate the winning formula needed to not only be competitive throughout the season but compete at the top-half of the OVC.
“Chemistry is a huge part of team,” Dunn said. “You can’t create chemistry. You can help it grown and we tried that. At the end of the day, it is a bunch of individuals trying to form a team. I think the smaller we have gotten in our roster, the better our chemistry has developed. This is a great group of young ladies that have formed a family type bond and are willing to battle for each other in their pursuit for an OVC championship.”
The Skyhawks are looking to replace the loss of three offensive starters from last season while already suffering key injuries to the team’s depth. The trio of outfielder Emily Alexander, catcher Kenna Garst and outfielder Gracie Lusk have suffered potentially season-ending injuries before the campaign has officially begun. Despite the losses, UT Martin is hoping the return of six offensive starters along with the addition of transfers like Dreiling (Southeast Missouri), Avry Blume (Bradley) and Anna Hazlewood (Tennessee) will give the team strong replacements to fill in those gaps.
“We believe this is the best nine we have put on the field, but you still have to play the games and try to win them,” Dunn continued. “We feel like we are very talented but not as deep, especially positionally after injuries. As long as we can stay healthy, we feel confident that we can compete at a high level.”
UT Martin will begin its season with five tournament appearances with a few mid-week contests sprinkled in-between. The Skyhawks will begin with a stay in the Lady Demon Classic (Natchitoches, La.) before traveling to the Gata Challenge (Statesboro, Ga.), Capital City Invitational (Jackson, Miss.), Blues City Classic (Memphis) and MTSU Invitational (Murfreesboro, Tenn.). In additional to the team’s OVC schedule, the squad will also square off against Mississippi State, Bellarmine, Evansville, Arkansas Pine Bluff and Ole Miss.
During the league play the Skyhawks will play host to league foes Tennessee Tech, Belmont, Southeast Missouri, Eastern Illinois and Austin Peay. UT Martin will then hit the road against Murray State, Morehead State, SIUE, Southeast Missouri and Tennessee State.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, if the Skyhawks qualify as one of the top eight teams in the league’s final standings they will participate in the OVC Softball Championship which will be held at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.
“Our preseason games and tournaments are touch with some really good teams,” Dunn said. “We feel like they will only make us better and prepare us for league play. Our conference is tough because you have to show up and play. You cannot take anything for granted. Obviously you need to just get one of those eight spots but we don’t want to just get in the tournament, we want to win the conference, but we know it won’t be easy.”
While UT Martin was picked to finish fourth in the OVC Preseason Poll, voted on by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors, the team will get its first crack towards besting those predictions when the season opens at the Lady Demon Classic on Friday, Feb. 11.
Catchers: Avry Blume, Kenna Garst, Maddi Long
Infielders: Katie Dreiling, Autumn Eleazer, Kaci Fuller, Emily Gilstrap, Anna Hazlewood, Kaitlyn Kelley, Kallie Pickens and Shyanne Sheffield.
Outfielders: Emily Alexander, Anna Blanton, Avry Blume, Paige Clark, Kaci Fuller, Emily Gilstrap, Gracie Lusk and Shyanne Sheffield.
Pitchers: Emily Brown, Katie Dreiling, Erin Gallagher, Alexis Groet, Anna Hazlewood, Abigail Kubin and Seeley Layne.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information