Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Savannah State University Athletics

1

Softball

Softball Opens 2014 Season

2014 Quick Facts  |  2014 Schedule  |  2014 Roster

SAVANNAH, Ga. -   The Savannah State softball team enters their third year of competition in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) after two highly successful years in the conference.

SSU fell one game short of the title game in 2013's MEAC Championship Tournament, after garnering big wins over Norfolk State and perennial MEAC power Bethune-Cookman. The Lady Tigers concluded the season with a 26-24 record. It was the second consecutive winning season for the program.  

In his 7th season as head coach, Jose Gonzalez is the winningest coach in SSU softball history with a 104-158 overall record. He was named the 2012 MEAC Coach of The Year.

The 2014 Lady Tigers have 13 lettermen returning, and lost eight to graduation or matriculation. SSU lost the program's all-time winningest pitcher Madison Hedderly to graduation last season. Gonzalez will look to sophomore Amanda McDowell to take over the starting pitcher duties.

McDowell pitched 69.0 innings in the 2013 season with a 5-10 record. Allison Tucker and Amanda Hallman will also be added to the pitching staff this season. Both are true freshman.

Returning to first base for the Lady Tigers is sophomore Torrian Wright after a spectacular freshman debut.  Wright was named the 2013 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Year after garnering three MEAC Rookie of the Week awards during the season.

Wright led the Lady Tigers in batting average (.384), slugging percentage (.797), hits (53), RBI (51), and home runs (16). She led the MEAC in home runs and was second in RBI. Her home run and RBI stats were both SSU single season school records. Nationally, Wright was ranked 23rd in home runs per game, and 32nd in RBI per game.

Junior Amber Hallman will anchor third base for the third year in a row. Hallman set the single season school record for hits (60) and batting average (.397) in her freshman season. Last season Hallman ended with a .295 batting average last year and led the team in plate appearances (170).

In addition to Hallman and Wright, SSU will return valuable starters in senior India Morgan, sophomore Antonette Smith, senior Rachel White, and senior Megan Uhrman.

The 2013 recruiting class included five newcomers; three freshmen, one junior transfer and one sophomore transfer. Freshman Alexis Singleton, and junior Kylie Teirce will play outfield, while sophomore Kelsey Swinson will fill the vacant spot at short stop.   

Gonzalez added Katherine Dotson to the coaching staff during the off season. Dotson, a Savannah, Georgia native, attended Savannah Country Day where she was a four sport star in softball, basketball, soccer, and track.  She played in three Women's College World Series as a member of the University of Tennessee softball team.

The Lady Tigers are scheduled to play in four tournaments this season before opening Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play in late March.

SSU opens the 2014 campaign with the annual Savannah State Tournament, beginning on February 7. They will make the short trip to Jacksonville, Florida twice for the North Florida Tournament and the Jacksonville Tournament, before playing in the annual HBCU classic Tiny Laster Tournament in Birmingham, Ala.

In the ides of March, SSU will head back to Alabama for the Auburn Tournament. They return home for nonconference games against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Miles College. They open MEAC play on March 29 in Savannah, against Florida A&M.




Print Friendly Version