The University of Memphis softball team will play a seven-game exhibition schedule this fall to prepare for the upcoming season.
The Tigers have a very young and inexperienced team this season, returning only two seniors and three juniors from last year’s team, which had an overall record of 23-33.
Head coach Natalie Poole believes this will be a great way to evaluate where her team is and get them prepared for the Spring.
“It is extremely important to see as much as we can this fall to get these kids comfortable at the plate,” Poole said. “There is nothing like getting real live-game situations.”
The Tigers lost a few heralded seniors in May to graduation, such as pitcher Ellen Roberts, who leads Memphis in all-time career starts, appearances, innings pitched and saves; and infielder Kelly Braman, who lead the team in homeruns last season. Though they lost many team leaders, Poole expects the underclassman to pick up the slack.
“A couple of our sophomores got great experience last year,” she said. “We are relying on many underclassman this year and need a nice team effort.”
Poole says this exhibition schedule will help the Tigers in many different areas, especially in strategy and chemistry building.
“These exhibition games help us with strategy, both offensive and defensive,” she said. “It will help our pitchers gain confidence on the mound and allow our base runners to test the waters a little. It also boosts chemistry and helps mold us together as a team.”
The NCAA allows all teams to play eight exhibition games every pre-season. Poole intends to use the games to put her players in as many different game situations as possible.
“Basically the NCAA allows eight games,” she said. “We are going to stretch it out and play 10-inning and 14-inning games to get as many different situations as possible to prepare our team.”
Exhibition play will begin Sept. 20, when the Tigers will play against UT Martin, Austin Peay and Wallace State Community College in the UT Martin Fall Tournament. After the Tigers’ triple-header at UT Martin, they will play four home exhibition games starting Sept. 27 against Harding in a 10-inning game. Then, the Tigers will face Southwestern Tennessee on Oct. 5, followed by a 14-inning matchup against Northwest Community College.
In the final fall exhibition game, the Tigers will take on Ole Miss at home on Oct. 12.
Poole is very excited to see her team play and see how prepared they are for the upcoming season.
“I’m excited about the fall and seeing our girls out there,” she said. “ I have a lot of confidence in this team.”
