ROLLA, Mo. – The second season for Missouri S&T's softball team under the direction of Bryan Howard gets underway on Friday, as the Miners will open their season by taking part in the Hawkins-McGhee Memorial Tournament in Arkadelphia, Ark.

This weekend's event is one of five such events the Miners will take part in over the first month of the campaign, as they will play their first 27 scheduled games away from Rolla before their home opener on March 23.  The team that will take the field will be a mix of a group that finished 20-28 a year ago and just outside the top eight in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, along with a group of talented newcomers that will compete for starting roles.

S&T has solid depth across the board heading into the upcoming season, including five pitchers in the rotation.  Charlye Rowland (Pearcy, Ark./Lake Hamilton) leads that group after she earned second-team All-GLVC honors last spring when she finished with a 6-7 record and 2.50 earned run average, capped by a 12-strikeout performance in a win over sixth-ranked Indianapolis on the final day of the season.

Rowland will be joined on the staff by Bryn Wooldridge (Salisbury, Mo./Salisbury), a senior who led the Miners with nine wins and 114 strikeouts in 133 2/3 innings a year ago; Julia Kanoy (Hamilton, Mo./Penney), who fanned 79 hitters in 66 2/3 innings in her 16 appearances; Mayce Barber (Excelsior Springs, Mo./Excelsior Springs), who pitched in 12 games during her sophomore year; and newcomer Natalie Cuadras (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison), a freshman from Huntington Beach, Calif.

They will throw to a trio of catchers that includes two transfers that will join returned Gretchen Roth (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South), who caught in 14 games for the Miners a year ago.  The newcomers are Trista Grobe (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto), who comes to S&T after playing her freshman season at Three Rivers College and hitting .368 last spring and Lula Sassano (Decatur, IL/St. Teresa), who transferred to the Miner program from Notre Dame College in Ohio.

The Miner infield has three returning starters in Wooldridge, who played at third base when she was not pitching and was a .306 hitter at the plate with 13 runs batted in; shortstop Baylee Jobson (Marceline, Mo./Marceline RV) and second baseman Alyssa Haile (St. Peters, MO/Francis Howell Central).  Jobson drove in 10 runs and committed only six errors in 115 chances at short last season, while Haile batted .250 before suffering a season-ending injury 17 games into the campaign.

Wooldridge will be joined at third base by freshman Mackenzie Shields (Kansas City, MO/Platte County), a first-team all-state selection at the high school level, while Grobe and freshman Ty Neal (Enid, OK/Kremlin-Hilldale) figure to see playing time at the middle infield spots as well.

Not only have the Miners added potential pop to its lineup with the addition of Grobe, who hit 17 homers last season at Three Rivers, but also with the addition of Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk) at first base.  Anderson was a two-time All-America selection at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa after belting 50 home runs in two seasons at the school and leading that team to an appearance in the NJCAA Division I World Series in 2022.

Anderson will be joined at the first base position by transfer Allie Kelly (Park Hills, MO/Central), who also comes to S&T from Three Rivers and returner Christina Eliopulos (Tinley Park, Ill./Victor J. Andrew).

Missouri S&T has returning starters at both corner outfield positions in Elizabeth Viox (Glen Carbon, Ill./Edwardsville), whose .314 average a year ago is the best among the returning players and who led S&T with 11 stolen bases last spring and Emma Vaughn (Pevely, Mo./Herculaneum), who batted .267 a season ago.   The Miners also have veterans who will be vying for spots in the outfield mix as well as at designated player in Chloe Saltijeral (North Aurora, Ill./Rosary), Peyton Dillon (Yorkville, Ill./Rosary) and Madi O'Farrell (Olathe, Kan./Olathe Northwest).  Saltijeral has the most experience as she played in 34 games last year – primarily behind the plate – and in 94 contests throughout her career at S&T.

Meanwhile, the center field position will likely be manned by a new member of the roster, either transfer Kiera Jones or freshman Isabella Welton (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West).  Jones comes to S&T after playing in 27 games last year at Southeastern University in Florida, while Welton earned all-conference honors at the high school level last year after hitting .391 at Fort Zumwalt West High School.