Softball | February 25, 2016

PHILADELPHIA- The La Salle softball team looks to build off the momentum its built over the past two seasons and continue making waves in the Atlantic 10 softball scenery as it prepares to kick off the 2016 season on Friday. The Explorers are coming off a season that saw them going 15-22 and 9-11 in the A-10. La Salle reached the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the second straight season and won two games at the Championship for the first time in program history including eliminating the second seeded Saint Louis Billikens.
 
"The only goal is to get to the conference tournament," said head coach Ron Shoemaker. "Once you get there you can win it, if you aren't there you can't win it. I know that's an oversimplification, but our goal is to get to the A-10 Tournament. Once we are on the bus there then we reset our goal for bigger fish."
 
Below is a position-by-position breakdown for the 2016 La Salle softball team.
 
Catcher
La Salle returns junior Suzanne Swanicke who has made 77 starts behind the plate in her first two seasons at La Salle. Swanicke was a key cog in the middle of the Explorers lineup during her sophomore campaign batting cleanup in the order. She ranked fourth on the team scoring 15 runs on the year and finished third on the team with 20 RBI on the season. Swanicke also threw out seven runners on the season.
 
"Personally I expect to get my numbers up," added Swanicke. "As the cleanup hitter I would like to produce more RBI and get my power numbers up. For team expectations I feel like we shouldn't overlook the conference tournament. Yes we have made it two straight years but that should still be our top priority to get there. Once we make it just to say that we are going to get to the very end."
 
The Explorers also return a pair of upper classmen behind the plate in junior Kristin Martin and senior Genevieve Gaynor. Martin appeared in seven games making three starts behind the plate in 2015. She hit .300 on the year and threw out one would be base stealer. Gaynor also returns providing depth as she appeared in five games last season. She has 18 RBI over her three years in the program.
 
La Salle also welcomes Emma Schweigert into the mix behind the plate. The freshman from Auburn, Pa. is a two time Pennsylvania 2A 1^st Team All-State honoree who hit .600 with 17 extra base hits, 35 RBI, 33 runs scored, and 18 stolen bases during her senior campaign.
 
"Emma is a very versatile player," said Shoemaker. "In high school she was an All-State player as a catcher and All-State player as a third basemen and right now we have her playing in right field because she has a great arm. She gives us a lot of flexibility and we see her as a middle of the order hitter."
 
INFIELD
First Base: Senior Erica Reis returns after appearing in 33 games and making 22 starts during the 2015 season. Reis hit a walk off homer against St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10 Softball Championship and knocked in a total of eight RBI on ten hits throughout the season. Sophomore Taylor Rohrbaugh also returns after making 17 starts during her freshman year including scoring a run and knocking in two RBI on the year. Rohrbaugh was solid defensively as she recorded 90 putouts with eight assists throughout the season.
 
Second Base:  Junior Mackenzie Obert returns after making 33 starts at second base during the 2015 season. Obert hit .253 on the year with 11 runs scored, nine extra base hits and 11 RBI during her first season as an Explorer.
 
Shortstop: Junior Michelle Hagarty returns after a strong finish to her 2015 campaign as she was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Tournament Team after going 4-for-14 at the Championship with four runs scored and a pair of RBI over the four games. Hagarty hit leadoff for much of 2015 and sits in sixth place in school history with 15 home runs entering the season. Hagarty led the team with 24 runs and six homers last year while batting .259 on the year with a .380 on base percentage.
 
"I think that one of our biggest assets is our upper classmen outnumber our lowerclassmen," stated Swanicke. "That brings experience and we all know what will come when we get into A-10 play. With our offense I feel we are getting stronger. Our preseason work outs have been more intense, we are hitting the gym harder than we have been and we are in better shape."
 
Third Base: Christina Bascara returns at the hot corner for her junior campaign after being named Second Team All-Atlantic 10 at third base a season ago. Bascara hit a team high .341 on the year and led the team with eight doubles and 13 total extra base hits on the season. She also knocked in 23 RBI and scored 23 runs of her own.
 
Outfield
Sophomore Valerie Pineiro returns after making 34 starts, primarily in left field during her freshman campaign. She finished third on the team with a .271 average and second on the team with five homers on the year. She also knocked in 19 RBI on the season. Senior Kendra Heyer made 14 starts and appeared in 30 games during the 2015 season splitting time in right field. She was named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team during the 2015 season.
 
La Salle also returns considerable depth with senior Alli Waddington, junior Tori Gollie, sophomore Angelina Refice, sophomore Bridgett Magee and junior Lindsey Gaines all pushing for a spot in the outfield. Of the group, Refice appeared in 18 games with ten starts on the season while scoring two runs on the year. Rookie Emma Schweigert also could push for time in the outfield.
 
Pitcher
The Explorers return a pair of pitchers who are coming off strong 2015 campaigns. Senior Mary Cate Scott finished the season with a 2.11 ERA which ranked 45^th best in the nation. She threw a team-high 109.1 innings on the year finishing with an 8-7 record with nine complete games. Scott ranks 11^th in school history with 23 career wins and 197 strikeouts as an Explorer. Scott also earned the win in both of La Salle's A-10 Championship Wins.
 
"I think last year I started to figure out how to understand the mental side of pitching," said Scott. "I realized that you may not be throwing a pitch to strike out a batter, that it might be a set up pitch. Once I was able to mentally understand what Ron and Taryn were calling it became easier to throw the ball where I wanted it."
 
Sophomore McKenzie Peace earned A-10 All-Rookie Team honors during her freshman campaign. She finished the year with a 5-9 record and 3.69 ERA to her name. She struck out 49 batters in 87.1 innings and issued only 37 walks.
 
La Salle also will feature Val Buehler who missed the 2015 season with an injury. Buehler appeared in ten games as a freshman in 2014 tallying six strikeouts in 17.0 innings.
 
Freshman Marlo Roadcap enters the mix in the circle for the Explorers as well this season. Roadcap is a lefty from Millersburg, Pa. who was named the Tri-League MVP as both a junior and senior and went 22-2 with 240 strikeouts in 160 innings and a 0.83 ERA during her senior campaign. She threw three no hitters while hitting .508 with 20 RBI during her senior year at the plate.
 
"Marlo had a really impressive fall not only on the field but how she handled herself," stated Shoemaker. "Marlo looked like she had been here for years with how she played in the fall. I think the other girls are starting to see Marlo as a challenge for pitching time and vice-versa for them. The other cool thing is how well they get along. It's a friendly competition for innings."
 
Schedule
La Salle opens the season traveling to South Carolina to play in the Spartan Classic. The Explorers will square off against Ohio (3-1), USC Upstate (7-1), Virginia (3-7) and Furman (5-6) during the course of the weekend. La Salle will also play tournaments at UCF, Liberty and UMBC prior to the start of conference play. In addition to the tournaments, the Explorers face a plethora of local foes throughout the year in nonconference matchups as they travel to Penn, Drexel and Delaware State while hosting Rider, Villanova, and Lafayette.
 
In Atlantic 10 play La Salle hosts Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure, George Mason, and Massachusetts while making road trips to George Washington, Dayton, Rhode Island, and Saint Joseph's. The 2016 Atlantic 10 Softball Championship is hosted by George Washington and gets underway on May 11 at the GW Softball Field.
 
"One of the things we have talked about a lot in our chalk talk meetings is we are now a contender to win," said Scott. "We are in the process of becoming the number one team in the conference. We may not be ready yet this year but it's in our future."