Aces head coach Mat Mundell previews 2020 softball season

Aces travel to Chicago to open the season

 With the 2020 softball season just a few days away for the University of Evansville softball team, head coach Mat Mundell previewed the season and his roster, which brings back a wealth of experience despite his team still being pretty young.

“We lost just one starter from last year – Bailee Bostic,” Mundell said.  “This year, we return the majority of our experience and are still relatively young with just three seniors.  Our lineup has several girls who have played a lot of games for us.”

Last season, the Aces won 19 games, but with the amount of experience coming back, there is a reason for optimism.  Eight position players return who saw action in at least 38 games a season ago with seven of them seeing 42 games of action.  Junior Eryn Gould was UE’s top hitter last year, finishing at .306 with team highs in home runs (10), RBI (31), runs (30), hits (41) and walks (35).  She earned her second nod on the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team.

Senior Katie McLean had a strong debut season as a junior in 2019, hitting .305 while accumulating 34 walks and a .454 on-base percentage.  Allison Daggett and Mea Adams batted .260 and .257, respectively.

On the pitching side, the Aces return starters Emily Lockhart and Izzy Vetter while the team is set to welcome back a healthy Jaime Nurrenbern.  The team also added freshman Erin Kleffman from Lockport, Ill.

“It is great to have Emily and Izzy back with Jaime back healthy once again,” Mundell continued.  “We also brought in Erin, who has a lot of promise.  I feel really good with where we are at.”

Along with the returning players, the Aces welcome three transfers as well as three freshmen.  Alyssa Barela, Kat Mueller and Bella Coffey each join the UE squad as sophomore transfers.  Barela comes to Evansville from New Mexico State University while Mueller is a native of Evansville and played her freshman season at USI.  Infielder Bella Coffey joins the Aces from Parkland College.

Hannah Hood and Jenna Lis join Erin Kleffman as UE’s freshman class.  Hood and Lis each come from Newburgh, Ind. where they played at Castle High School.  Hood was an infielder while Lis served as the catcher.

“Our transfers each had really good fall seasons and we look forward to what they bring to our lineup,” Mundell exclaimed.  “Our freshmen have also shown a lot of promise.”

“This is the deepest team that I have coached at UE when you combine the returning players and the newcomers.  We have added some very talented pieces to go along with the talent that is already on the roster,” he said.  “I feel like we have depth at every spot.  Every practice is competitive with our girls competing to earn their spots.”

The Dome in Rosemont, Ill. will be the host of the opening weekend of action when UE heads to the Total Control Sports Invitational.  The Aces open up on Friday at 12:30 p.m. against Miami Ohio.  UE also faces Butler, Western Illinois, IUPUI and Green Bay in the tournament.