MONROE, La. – It's been two weeks since
Molly Fichtner stepped foot on the ULM campus as the seventh head coach of the ULM softball program. Fichtner and her staff have been hard at work preparing for the fall schedule, which is slated to kick-off on Sunday (Oct. 7) in a double-header against Bossier Parish Community College.
"We have had a very productive first two weeks back," said Fichtner. "We had a team meeting on Monday afternoon and hit the ground running on Tuesday with the team's first practice."
ULM will have a few more days of practice before facing its first fall opponent in BPCC, who will be traveling east down I-20 to Monroe on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 and 3 p.m. at GeoSurfaces Field at the ULM Softball Complex.
BPCC is coming off a successful season in the NJCAA, finishing the season with a 44-13 overall record. The Cavs tallied a .378 batting average as a team and a .447 on-base percentage.
Returning for the Lady Cavs is Zoe Hancock. The utility player out of Bullard, Texas recorded 65 hits behind her .448 batting average last season. Hancock ranked third among her teammates, just behind departed starters and All-Americans Elisa Favela and Chelsea Fagan.
On the rubber for BPCC is Kaitlyn Roth. Roth pitched 89.2 innings for the Lady Cavs last year and accumulated a 2.58 ERA while striking out 69 batters.
"Jessica [Thornton], Mel [Coyne], and I have implement some pretty challenging practices and the girls have maintained great attitudes and high-energy throughout," Fichtner said.
"Our primary focus up until this point has been fundamentals, getting to know each other, building team chemistry and paying attention to details. We have a lot more work to do, but excited to keep moving forward with this special group of young ladies."
Following Sunday's fall-opener, ULM will travel to Shreveport on October 13 to face Arkansas Tech at 4 p.m. and in-state rival Northwestern State at 7 p.m.
The Warhawks will host Northeast Texas Community College (Oct. 14) and Kilgore College (Oct. 17) for double-headers as well, rounding out their fall slate.
To spark excitement for the new-era of Warhawk softball, the ULM softball team will be holding its Homecoming Home Run Derby on Saturday, October 20
th at 11 a.m. Stay tuned for more information and event details.
ULM will open up the 2019 spring schedule on Feb. 13 in Nacogdoches, Texas at Stephen F Austin and begin its home-slate on March 6, when they host Central Arkansas. Full spring schedule to be release in the coming weeks.
Fans are encouraged to follow ULM softball online at ULMWarhawks.com, as well as on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at ULM Softball.
