Sioux softball team begins new season

After finishing last season at a mediocre 23-28 the Fighting Sioux women's softball team hopes to get on track and claim their first winning season since 1997.

At the forefront of that challenge is new head coach Sami Strinz.

Strinz joins the program after coaching at Dakota Weslyan University (DWU) of Mitchell, S.D. for the last two seasons. DWU finished 17-21 last season. Strinz also spent one season has a hitting coach at Division I Louisiana Tech. Coming from an established Division I program to a fledgling Division II team comes with its share of challenges.

Strinz appears unphased, "You're building from the ground up... Moving from division I to division II, you need a shift in mentality."

Mentality was something Strinz stressed at DWU. Her 17 wins last season were the most in school history. DWU competes at the NAIA level, while UND is entering it's last season of Division II competition.

What is unusual for the team however is that they begin their season Feb. 9-10 in Cedar Falls, Iowa with four Division I games.

The Sioux will open with a game against South Dakota State University (SDSU), followed by a two game match up versus the University of Dayton, and a game against the University of Northern Iowa.

The Sioux are 16-43 all time against SDSU, with the Sioux losing in their last match up 9-1 on Apr. 16, 2005. UND has never faced Dayton, and are 1-1 all time against Northern Iowa.

The Sioux lost to UNI the last time they faced on Apr. 15, 1990. In starting with a schedule against Div. I opponents, Strinz said, "DI isn't that far from DII… I'm showing these girls that they can compete, and that they can succeed."

To capitalize on that success the Sioux will look to both their starters, and their new group of recruits to build on the season. Returning pitcher Alicia Pearce was the team leader in wins last season with 13, while setting school records in wins, and innings pitched for a freshman.

According to Strinz, "Pearce carried the load last year." Also returning is junior All-American Catcher/Center Fielder Casie Hanson.

Hanson won the North Central Conference batting title last season hitting an astonishing .455, she also led the league in runs, hits, led the team in stolen bases (11) and Home Runs (7), she also set a school record in total bases.

Also expected to carry some of the load will be freshman pitcher Hanna-Rose Peters.

The freshman from Santa Monica, Calif. was named the Ocean League MVP her senior year. As a hitter she carried a .428 batting average, and held a 1.41 ERA last season.

Strinz made it clear though that she expects the most out of all of her players, "The best player is going to play" she said, "it doesn't matter if you're a freshman or a senior."

In preparing for the season, and their division I opponents she added, "We're going to do the same thing we do everyday, we want to bring our big game every single game."