Softball ready for start of the 2021 spring season

The Muskingum softball team is ready to start the new 2021 spring season in a non-conference doubleheader home/home series against Mount Union starting on Saturday, March 6, with Muskingum traveling to Alliance, Ohio.

The Coach: The Muskies are led by Head Coach Kari Winters, who is entering her 11th-season with the program. In 2019, Winters led her squad to an Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season championship with a 31-11 overall record and a 15-3 mark in the OAC. Her staff also earned the OAC Coaching Staff of the Year for their outstanding play in 2019. During her tenure, numerous Muskingum student-athletes have been recognized on the field and in the classroom with all-conference and all-regional accolades. 

The Captains: Muskingum will be led by senior utility player Shaena Mayer, senior infielder Riley Powers, and senior pitcher Hannah Duff. In the 2019 season, Mayer played in 21 games with 20 at-bats and notched a career-high in hits (7) and RBIs (6). Powers played in 42 games during the 2019 campaign with 129 at-bats for the Muskies. She earned career-highs in hits (43), doubles (8), home runs (1), and RBIs (30) with a .333 batting average at the end of the year. In 2019, Duff secured 10 starts on the mound for Muskingum, pitching a total of 77.1 innings and recorded a career-high in strikeouts with 47. She grabbed seven wins on the year and logged a career-low 2.53 ERA.

The Players: Players to watch out for and make a big impact in the 2021 spring season are senior infielder Karsyn Shaffer, senior outfielder Alexia Dowdle, senior outfielder Bailey Waitkus, junior pitcher/outfielder Hannah Smith, and junior infielder Haley Hawk.

In 2019, Shaffer coined Second Team All-OAC accolades and earned Academic All-OAC Honor Roll honors while recording 46 hits and scoring 39 runs. She registered a career-best in doubles (5), RBIs (23), and stolen bases (14). Dowdle recorded a career-best 13 hits in 2019 and was named to the Academic All-OAC Honor Roll. Waitkus earned a career-high in hits (26), doubles (3), home runs (3), and RBIs (19) during the 2019 campaign.

Smith played in 23 games with a total of 89.0 innings of work in 2019. She secured a career-best 13 wins and strikeouts with 44 while ending the year with a 3.54 ERA. Smith was named Second Team All-OAC and earned OAC Softball Pitcher of the Week accolades. During her freshman season in 2019, Hawk played in 40 games with 128 at-bats and registered a career-high in hits (56), doubles (12), home runs (6), and RBIs (42). She ended the year with a .438 batting average and was named OAC Rookie of the Year, earned First-Team All-OAC honors, and was named NFCA Division III First-Team All-Central Region.

The Schedule: The schedule features a 40-game season followed by the OAC Tournament. Muskingum will play all OAC schools in doubleheaders in a home/home series on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The opening weekend of play against Mount Union on March 6 and 7 are non-conference contests. Game times are scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

Broadcasts: All home games will be played at Donna J. Newberry Field and will feature an HD video stream accessible through the OAC TV app and on fightingmuskies.com.