Story by Evan Tidwell, contributing writer
From the semi-warm weather in the air to the sound of chanting ringing out from the dugouts, it’s evident that Murray State softball is officially in swing.
The Racers’ softball team had a very successful fall preseason by finishing 8-0 in the Saluki Fall Round Robin. This will be their eighth season under Head Coach Kara Amundson. The Racers hope to continue their winning ways when they kick off their spring season on Friday, Feb. 9, against East Tennessee State University.
Amundson said the Racer softball team used the preseason as not only a way to grow and develop, but as a way to get acquainted and build chemistry.
“The fall for us was honestly a super new team in general,” Amundson said. “Obviously it’s a new team every year, but we lost seven seniors who all started for a good chunk of their career. That turnover for us, we just didn’t know what we were going to get from our freshman and some of the transfers we had coming in, so I think for us as a coaching staff, it was a see what we’ve got kind of thing.”
The Racer softball team had to find new personnel to step up and play a pivotal role after the team graduated seven seniors. One position in particular was that of pitcher Mason Robinson, who has the career wins record. With Robinson leaving, the next person in line is senior pitcher Haven Campbell.
“Haven Campbell, who is a senior this year, has been under Mason’s wings the past three years, and we think it’s kind of Hayden’s time to shine,” Amundson said.
The Racers start their season on the road for the first five weekends in a row, then come back and host on the sixth weekend.
“In this time we hope to piggyback off what we did in the fall and put some things together offensively,” Amundson said.
Murray State begins its spring season on the road for a majority of non-conference play. It does get an opportunity to play in front of the home crowd as the Racers will have the second annual Racer Classic.
The Racer Classic will be a three-day event consisting of five teams, which is slightly larger than last season’s field.
The Racers will hope to start their season off on a bright note when they take on ETSU this Friday, Feb. 9, in Statesboro, Georgia.