GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Cornerstone Softball team will begin their season with a 14-game trip to Florida over spring break. First pitch will be Friday afternoon with a doubleheader against Spring Arbor and Mount Vernon Nazarene. Coverage for all games will be available through Twitter as well as live stats at cugoldeneagles.com or the CU Athletics App. Within the app, users can subscribe to Softball to be notified of game start, final scores, and news updates.  

Schedule
Friday, March 1 – Clermont, Fla.
Spring Arbor - 1:30 p.m.
Mount Vernon Nazarene - 3:45 p.m.

Saturday, March 2 – Clermont, Fla.
St. Thomas - 9:00 a.m.
Mount Vernon Nazarene - 11:30 a.m.

Monday, March 4 – Clermont, Fla.
Hannibal-LaGrange - 1:30 p.m.
Trinity Christian - 3:45 p.m.

Tuesday, March 5 – Clermont, Fla.
Trinity International - 9:00 a.m.
Carlow - 11:15 a.m.

Thursday, March 7 – Clermont, Fla.
Grace - 1:45 p.m.
William Woods - 3:45 p.m.

Friday, March 8 – Minneola, Fla.
Hannibal-LaGrange - 11:45 p.m.
St. Francis - 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 9 – Kissimmee, Fla.
Calumet St. Joseph - 9:15 a.m.
Marian - 11:30 a.m.

Notes about the Golden Eagles
Slugging Sophomores
The top sluggers on the team last year were freshmen. The now-sophomores Sierra Sanchez (.482) and Courtney Ducharme (.420) will look to provide power at the plate for the Golden Eagles in 2019. The two sluggers each had ten extra-base hits in 2018.

Pitching Situation
Cornerstone will look to senior Rachel Younts for the primary pitching duties, as four-time number one pitcher Brooke Leonard finished her career last year. Rachel Younts has pitched 205 innings in a CU uniform over the past three years, and had a career-best 2.70 ERA last season. Two freshman pitchers will join the pitching staff in Kaitlin Johnson and Ashley Loera. Johnson comes to CU from Jenison high school, where she was voted the 2018 Grand Rapids softball pitcher of the year. Loera comes to CU from California where she was a four-year varsity player, earning 2nd-team all-conference as a senior. Sophomore Courtney Ducharme, who pitched 18 innings with a 1.94 ERA last year, will also help in the circle.

California Girls
Seven players on the roster come to Cornerstone from the state of California:
Juniors: Alicia Ontiveros
Sophomores: Courtney Ducharme, Jocelyn Hernandez, Sierra Sanchez, Savanna Sanchez
Freshmen: Gaby Fundora, Ashley Loera

Freshmen Frenzy
A total of five freshmen will be traveling to Florida with the varsity squad: Gaby Fundora, Kaitlin Johnson, Ashley Loera, Allisen Martz, and Kailin Hurrle. Jocelyn Hernandez, who redshirted last year as a freshman, will also be making the trip.

RBI Time
Ali Ontiveros led the team with 19 RBI last year. She also played a crucial role in advancing runners, tallying a whopping 15 sacrifice hits over the course of the season. Over the past two seasons, Ontiveros has played in all 74 games.

Hitting Like Lieske
Junior Lexi Lieske has a career .308 batting average and .470 slugging percentage at CU.

Fast as Vassar
Sophomore shortstop Maddie Vassar was named 2nd-team All-WHAC in 2018. She had a team-high 37 hits and 12 multi-hit games. On the basepaths, Vassar used her speed to go 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts. In the field, Vassar had a .930 fielding percentage and a team-high 87 assists at the shortstop position.  

Late Game Runs
Throughout the first five innings of all games last season, Cornerstone both scored and allowed 91 runs. From the sixth inning and beyond the Golden Eagles were outscored 49-23.

Floridian History
Cornerstone has a 40-34 record in the Sunshine State since 2013.
In 2018, Cornerstone went 5-7. (started 0-4)
In 2017, Cornerstone went 3-11. (started 3-2, lost 9 straight)
In 2016, Cornerstone went 5-7.
In 2015, Cornerstone went 9-3.
In 2014, Cornerstone went 8-4.
In 2013, Cornerstone went 10-2.

Scouting the Opponents
Spring Arbor Cougars
• 2018 record: 24-27 overall, 17-19 Crossroads
• The Cougars defeated Cornerstone 4-2 in Florida last year.
• Sydney Taylor batted .351 and led the team with a .583 slugging percentage and 35 RBI last year.
• Spring Arbor will be without their main two pitchers from last season.
• Kyla Semones batted .315 last year.
• Last year's team combined for 31 home runs.

Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars
• 2018 record: 24-21-1 overall, 15-15-1 Crossroads
• The Cougars shut out Cornerstone 6-0 in Florida last year.
• MVNU had an 11-game win streak in 2018.
• Courtney Knepper led the team with a .338 batting average, 18 RBI, and a .446 slugging percentage as a freshman last season.
• Jennifer Kurelic batted .320, drove in 17 runs, and spend 88.2 innings in the circle with a 3.08 ERA
• Pitcher Sarah Boue' led the team in innings pitched last year with 110.2 as well as 15 complete games.
• Every player on the roster comes from the state of Ohio.

St. Thomas Bobcats
• 2018 record: 9-24 overall, 8-16 The Sun Conference
• The Bobcats defeated the Golden Eagles in the most recent meeting by a score of 14-6 in 2016. Cornerstone hasn't played a team from Florida since then.
• St. Thomas was outscored 200-91 last season.
• GiGi Santos led the team with a .389 batting average last year.
• Alliyah Sands led the team with 16 RBI last year.
• Opponents had a batting average of .337 against the 2018 Bobcats defense.

Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans
• 2018 record: 6-34 overall, 5-19 American Midwest Conference
• The Trojans ended their 12-game Florida trip with a 10-2 loss to Cornerstone last year. Ten runs tied a season-high for CU last year.
• Hannibal-LaGrange started 2018 with a 1-30 overall record.
• Jordyn Alford led the team both offensively and defensively in 2018, with a .391 batting average and 35 RBI at the plate, while also pitching 142.1 innings.
• McKenzie Marshall recorded a team-high 46 hits and 26 runs last year.

Trinity Christian Trolls
• 2018 record: 16-27 overall, 8-14 CCAC
• Trinity Christian defeated Cornerstone 8-0 in 2018, as well as twice in 2017, by scores of 13-0 and 5-3.
• Jamie Budreau had 22 extra-base hits in 2018, including eight home runs.
• Dara Megyesi led the team in the circle last year, recording 118 strikeouts, 17 complete games, and a .267 batting average against in 161.1 innings of work.

Trinity International Trojans
• 2018 record: 29-19 overall, 16-6 CCAC
• Lauren Neveau batted .401 as a freshman last year.
• Taylor Carli, the lone senior on the team, pitched 24 complete games and tallied 195.2 total innings in the circle last year.
• The Trojans lost to Cornerstone 5-4 last year in Florida.
• Sarah Grygus batted .356 and a team-high 40 RBI

Carlow Celtics
• 2018 record: 22-19 overall, 8-10 River States Conference
• Cornerstone's last matchup against Carlow was March 9, 2006. The Golden Eagles won 12-2.
• Abby Tatgenhorst had a team-high .462 average and 36 RBI in 2018.
• The team had a combined .316 batting average in 2018.
• Abby Stroud led the team in pitching with 147.2 innings. She had 85 strikeouts, 18 complete games, and a .234 opponent batting average.
• The Celtics outscored their opponents 58-18 in first innings last year.

Grace Lancers
• 2018 record: 16-35 overall, 10-25 Crossroads
• Grace defeated Cornerstone 4-3 in Florida in 2017.
• Britney Young and Sam Heim both batted .391 with 22 RBI last year.
• The team had a combined .315 batting average.
• Dori Knight led the team in pitching as a freshman last year, spending 111.1 innings in the circle with a 4.84 ERA.

William Woods Owls
• 2018 record: 24-22 overall, 15-9 American Midwest
• Emily Robinett led the team with a .385 batting average last year.
• Ali Massey led the team with 36 RBI last year
• Madison Ausfahl batted .324 at the plate last year, and pitched 70.1 innings with a .264 opponent batting average.
• The Owls have had 18 straight winning seasons.
• The team combined for 16 home runs last year.

St. Francis (Ind.) Cougars
• 2018 record: 23-26 overall, 16-18 Crossroads
The Cougars had an even 4-4 record in Florida last year
• St. Francis was outscored 80-43 from the 6th inning and beyond in 2018.
• Breanna Pryor batted .305 with 36 stolen bases last year.
• Lizzie Meyer led the team with 56 hits and 27 RBI last year.
• Brooke Herron led the team in the circle last year as a freshman, pitching 130 innings with a 3.29 ERA.

Calumet St. Joseph Crimson Wave
• 2018 record: 17-28 overall, 8-14 CCAC
• Calumet defeated Cornerstone 6-3 in Florida last year.
• The Crimson Wave were outscored 46-20 in first innings last season.
• In terms of batting average, the top four hitters from last season will not be returning this season.
• Josselline Monge, the number two pitcher last year, led the team with  a 3.64 ERA in 117 innings of work as a freshman in the circle.

Marian Knights
• 2018 record: 51-7 overall, 33-2 Crossroads
• Marian is ranked #6 in the NAIA preseason poll
• Marian was 7-3 against ranked opponents last year.
• The Knights were the 3-seed in the 2018 NAIA National Tournament.
• Marian (#7 at the time) defeated Cornerstone 2-0 in Florida in 2017.
• Olivia Hoffman led the team with a whopping .441 average in 2018.
• The pitching staff had the 4th-best ERA in the NAIA with 1.34 in 2018.
• The 2018 team batting average of .344 was the 11th best in the NAIA.
• Breena Smith, a two-time First Team All-American, struck out 224 batters in 182 innings of work with a 1.12 ERA and a microscopic .160 opponent batting average.


Softball Contact: Seth Walters
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