Date: 1/25
Position: Outfielders

Returning Letterwinners (Key stats): Haleigh Lowe, Sr. (45-34 GP-GS, .317 avg, 33 hits, 15 runs, 4 2B, 1 3B, 9 RBI, 18 TB, .400 ob%, .980 fld%), MC Nichols, So. (49-43 GP-GS, .339 avg, 41 hits, 21 runs, 1 2B, 1 3B, 44 TB, .400 ob%, 4-4 sb-sba), Megan Harris, Jr. (49-35 GP-GS, .288 avg, 30 hits, 16 runs, 2 2B, 3 3B, 38 TB, .365 slg%, 1.000 fld%), Dayla Gulledge, Jr. (18-6 GP-GS, .208 avg, 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 11 TB, .458 slg%)

Letterwinners lost (Key stats): Amanda Minahan (55-54 GP-GS, .277 avg, 43 hits, 27 runs, 11 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 36 RBI, 82 TB, .529 slg%, 8-9 sb-sba),  Haleigh Lane (35-31 GP-GS, .247 avg, 22 hits, 9 runs, 5 2B, 2 HR, 27 TB, .303 slg%, .313 ob%)

Newcomers (Yr., Previous school): Bobbi Smith (Jr. LSU-Eunice), Amanda Flynn (Fr., Coral Springs Charter School), Jayden Dukes (Fr., Sam Houston High School).

Miscellaneous Notes
- Gone is four-year starter and all-conference selection Amanda Minahan who ended her career ranked in the program's top 10 in games started (T-8th), hits (6h), slugging percentage (2nd), runs (8th), stolen bases (8th), extra-base hits (3rd), doubles (7th), home runs (T-3rd), RBI (4th) and batting average (10th), while tied for the career mark in triples with 10, among other categories.
- Haleigh Lowe batted over .300 for the third straight season ending the year at a .317 clip, but over her final six starts the Prattville, Ala., native batted .500 going 10-for-20 after moving to number two in the batting order and switching to a slapper.
- All three of Megan Harris' triples during the season came against Sun Belt competition.  The three triples also tied for fourth-most in a single season at USA.
- After redshirting the year prior, MC Nichols posted a .339 batting average which was second-highest on the club last season and fourth best by a freshman in program history.
- During her time at LSU-Eunice, newcomer Bobbi Smith helped lead the Lady Bengals to back-to-back NJCAA Division II national championships.
- Freshman outfielder Amanda Flynn was part of three-straight Florida state championships (2017 – 5A, 2016 – 5A, 2015 – 4A) at Coral Springs Charter School, and both Flynn and fellow freshman Jayden Dukes helped lead their respective clubs to four district championships during their prep careers.

Head Coach Becky Clark
-On what Amanda Minahan brought to the team the last four seasons and replacing her: "Minahan was a vocal leader for us and understood what it took day in and day out to win.  Her work ethic and overall love for the program is hard to replace, but the good news is we have several people who are stepping up and filling that void not just one or two."

-On her expectations for Haleigh Lowe: "Haleigh is a talented player and extremely athletic.  I think a key for her is staying healthy this year.  Over the past few seasons she has fought through injuries and has not had a chance for consistency.  When she is healthy, she has the potential to really help us both offensively and defensively."

-On the progress of MC Nichols and Megan Harris during the offseason: "Both of them have matured and both are playing with more confidence this year.  Getting playing time under their belt and getting that chance to see what it takes day in and day out is valuable experience for both of them.  I think both of them have worked incredibly hard this year and both have taken a step forward from the mental side."

-On how the newcomers have made the transition: "We do have some freshmen in our outfield who have a chance to compete for playing time.  I think the more experience they can get the better.  We have done a lot of live scrimmage work in practice to help all of our newcomers adjust and make the transition to the speed of the game and the expectations at this level.  For our freshmen it is always a challenge to adjust to the mental side of the game but they are working to figure it out."

-On the benefit the depth at the position provides: "Depth is always a great thing because of the competition it creates.  Over the past few years, I have gradually expanded my roster for that reason.  We have a lot of depth in the outfield and it will come down to who is making the defensive plays and who is being most consistent at the plate."

Senior Haleigh Lowe
-On replacing Amanda Minahan: "You can't really replace 'Mini' [Amanda Minahan], rather you have to find someone to fill in that role and that's what we have in a player like MC [Nichols].  I feel like she is a great leader in the outfield and a great center fielder.  She'll bring it both offensively and defensively.  'Mini' is irreplaceable, but we still have others behind her that can do the job just as good."

-On the depth of experience level of the outfield group: "It's great to have a high experience level under your belt, but at the end of the day we are just playing ball out there.  It doesn't matter if you're a freshman out there or an experienced player, you're still going to get the job done.  In practice, our freshmen are still working on getting comfortable out there, but as soon as they let all of that go and just play free out there, then they will get 'it' just like everyone else. "

-On who of the newcomers have stood out to you in the outfield thus far: "I would say [Amanda] Flynn has stood out the most out of all of the outfielders to me.  Offensively, I've never seen a ball fly off a slapper's bat as well as it does off of her bat.  Defensively, she has struggled just playing free out there, but when she is free, I've never seen anyone make plays as a freshman as she is able to."

-On what she attributes her strong performance at the plate at the end of last season: "When I started slapping it just sort of clicked for me.  I don't really know why I didn't go to it at the beginning of the season.  When started slapping towards the end of the year, I was able slow myself and my eyes down and track and see the ball better."

-On her goals for the group and the team as she closes out her time here at South: "I just want to see us finish strong and not come up short at conference.  I want to be able to get to a regional.  The College World Series is a big goal for us as well, but I just want to take things one game at a time.  I want us to just focus on the simple things of playing together and competing together."

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