Feb. 6, 2009
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
| Tournament Central
DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton softball team will open its 2009 season at the Ramada UNI-Dome Classic on Feb. 7-8. The field includes the host, Northern Iowa, as well as Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota State. UD opens the tournament against the Big 12 Conference's Nebraska on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 12 noon ET.
DOME OPENER
This marks the third consecutive season the Panthers have hosted an event in the Dome, and the second straight season the Flyers have opened their season playing in the Classic. Last season Dayton went 0-4 at the UNI-Dome Classic with a 7-5 loss to the hosts, a 6-0 shutout on its final game of the tournament against South Dakota State and a pair of one-run losses to North Dakota (5-4, 14-13).
UD's appearance in the UNI-Classic last year marked the first time in the program's history that Dayton played an indoor softball game.
THE DIRT ON DAYTON
Last season the Flyers achieved their first 20-win season in three years and more than doubled their Atlantic 10 win total from 2007. Cara Clark's 20 wins was the most by any first-year head coach at UD. A vast majority of the team numbers improved from the 2007 season to 2008. The Flyers return nine players, including six position starters, and a starting pitcher. The team also features six incoming freshmen. After going 0-4 in the UNI-Dome Classic, the Flyers went 10-1 in neutral-site games.
SCOUTING NEBRASKA
Nebraska returns every starter from the 2008 season and adds an additional starting pitcher in Robin Mackin, who transferred from Fresno State and was named to the 2009 USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List. NU is especially experienced in the circle, as Mackin and senior Molly Hill each have recorded at least 50 wins, 500 strikeouts and 500 innings pitched in their careers. The Huskers were 25-28 last season and reached the finals in the Big 12 Tournament. NU was 11-8 in neutral games last season. Rhonda Revelle is entering her 17th season at Nebraska and owns a 615-323 record.
SCOUTING NORTHERN IOWA
The UNI softball team returns eight starters from a 2008 team that finished 20-28. The Panthers return first-team all-conference performer pitcher/first baseman Jen Larsen along with center fielder Megan Machovec, who led the Panthers in numerous statistical categories. The Panthers will have numerous new faces on the roster. Coach Ryan Jacobs added 11 freshmen and three transfer players to the Panther roster. Jacobs is in his second season as head coach at UNI.
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE
Senior Nicole Puerling brings a .327 career batting average into her final season after leading the Sioux to a 19-34 record in D-II play last season. This season will mark the first for the Fighting Sioux in Division I softball. Eight new players from six different states will grace the lineup for UND this season, along with six returning starters. Hannah-Rose Peters is the leading returning pitcher, leading the Fighting Sioux with seven wins. Sami Strinz is in her season as head coach of the Fighting Sioux softball squad.
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
The Jackrabbits return to the Ramada UNI-Dome Classic Tournament for the third straight year. The Jackrabbits compiled a 17-27 record last year and return seven players from that squad. Infielder Ashley Durazo returns after hitting .336 last year along with 46 hits and 27 RBIs. Veteran pitcher Jenna Mat¬son returns after going 15-27 on the mound. Joana Lane, native of Circleville, Ohio, is in her second season as head coach of the Jackrabbits.
IOWA HOMECOMING
This tournament is a homecoming of sorts for head Coach Cara Clark who hails from Central City, Iowa, 60 miles from Cedar Falls, Iowa. Also, sophomore Allie Falk went to high school at Cedar Falls and is from Hudson, Iowa, located nine miles outside Cedar Falls, Iowa.
BIG 12, BIG PAIN
The Flyer softball squad is 0-4 all-time against the Big 12 Conference. Dayton has not faced a Big 12 opponent since 1994 when the Flyers took on Texas Tech.
RAPPE IT UP, TIE IT IN A BOW
Junior pitcher Eva Rappe broke the UD record for saves in a season with three and also broke the previous record for career saves.
GOING OUT WITH A BANG
In the Flyers' last series of the season, which came against Saint Louis, Emily Stegeman (4-for-7), Molly Meyer (3-for-6) and Megan Lee (4-for-7) combined to hit .550.
MEYER IS MASTER AT BAT
Junior Molly Meyer brings a career batting average of .336 into the 2009 campaign. She is Dayton's leading returning hitter, bringing a .339 average and 58 hits. She led the Flyers with 37 runs scored (5th in the A-10) and three triples. Her .336 average is fourth best all-time.
THE GOOD HANDS PEOPLE
The Flyers finished first in the Atlantic 10 in Team Fielding Percentage (.968) and a conference-low 47 errors. Junior Molly Meyer had a phenomenal .988 fielding percentage in center field and junior first baseman Anne Maci was right behind her with .986 and only five errors. Maci was fourth in A-10 in opportunities and putouts, recording 347 and 322 respectively. Maci was tied first in fielding double plays with 10. Juniors Eva Rappe and Megan Lee did not post a singe error.
TRIPLE YOUR GAINS
Eva Rappe nearly tripled her strikeout total, sitting down 65 last season, after fanning 21 in her rookie campaign. She had more than four times the wins, notching nine in 2008, after going 2-7 as a freshman.
BATTING FOR THE BOOKS
During the 2008 season, the Flyers came up just short of tying the single-season record for team batting average. UD posted a .275 average, one-thousandth of a point off the mark of .276 set by the 2000 squad.
WALK LIKE A FLYER
The 2008 squad also had a knack for spotting a bad pitch. The Flyers drew 114 walks last season, just six off the UD record of 120 set in 2005. Senior Katie Jordan had 21 walks, just three behind graduated Laura Matthew's team-leading 24.
DAYTON ADDS FOUR WITH `09 CLASS
University of Dayton head softball coach Cara Clark announced the signing of four student-athletes to National Letters of Intent that will make up the 2009 class. The class includes a versatile group that can pay immediate dividends for an already rising Flyer softball squad. The class includes pitcher Amanda Daly of McHenry, Ill., middle infielder Carlyn Harlow of DuPont, Wash., outfielder Kathleen Maloof of Indianapolis, and outfielder Shelby Pohlman of Olathe, Kansas.
FLYERS HAVE GAME AND SMARTS
The University of Dayton softball team was named to the Girls Got Game/NFCA All-Academic Team. Dayton posted a team GPA of 3.363, which was the 17th best in the NCAA Division I category. The Flyers were just one of two schools from the Atlantic 10 to be named to the Top 100. Only one other university in Ohio posted a higher GPA than Dayton - Akron was No. 13 with a 3.390 team GPA. success in the classroom. Sophomores Allie Falk and Alicia Nichols, along with recent graduates Erin Lafayette and Laura Matthews, also received individual kudos and were named NFCA All-America Scholar Athletes. Each had a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.
UD TRIO TAKES ON ITALY
Three Dayton Flyers softball players experienced the trip of a lifetime this summer (Aug. 3-12), competing for the USA Athletes International softball team in Italy. Sophomores Allie Falk and Emily Stegeman, along with incoming freshman Raime Cronkhite, represented UD and the United States of America in the Arezzo Softball/Baseball International Tournament. The Team USAs consisted of women from Illinois, California, Georgia, South Carolina, Iowa, Ohio and Michigan. USA Athletes International sponsors 13 sports and has been represented at tournaments on six continents.
HARMAN JOINS FLYERS STAFF
Sarah Harman joined the Flyer softball team as the assistant coach in January of 2009. Harman replaces Christine Steines, who left Dayton to take the head coaching job at Otterbein College, a Division III institution located just outside Columbus. A native of Port Clinton, Ohio, Harman returns to her home state after coaching stints in Texas, Virginia and Indiana. She comes to the Flyers after serving as an assistant coach and lecturer at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.
