Entering their second year on the SWAC, the Wildcats will look to improve upon a 17-7 conference record and a 24-26 overall mark. To do that, they will need to see an improvement in power and run production. They had a decent year in the circle in 2022 and will look for continued improvement.
Sophomore Desirae Martinez out of Whittier, CA was tied for the team lead in RBI (23) a season ago. The good news is that four of their top five hitters from 2022 return. Those four accounted for nearly half of the team’s total RBI (48). The others are senior Haley Parks, junior Joslynn Davis, and junior Essence Gibbs.
In the circle sophomore, Halyne Gonzalez (11-10) returns and most likely will serve as the Wildcat’s staff ace. In 2022 she posed a 3.12 ERA with 124 strikeouts over 127 innings of work. They will have five arms on staff and only one senior. We will have to see how the early part of the season unfolds before we know which other arms will be relied on.
If head coach Laura Watten, who is in her 17th year, can get her squad to move forward from last year, they could make a run within the conference. They will kick the season off on February 10, 2023, in Boca Raton against the Iowa Hawkeyes.
