Redhawks softball launches season today

~ Southeast will need its offense and defense to step forward after losing its top pitcher to injury

After a resurgent season, the Southeast Missouri State softball team had its sights set even higher this year.

Longtime coach Lana Richmond still is optimistic, but the Redhawks will have to overcome the loss of their pitching ace.

Giana Zimmerman, runner-up for Ohio Valley Conference freshman of the year in 2009 as well as a second-team all-OVC pick, is out for the season after having shoulder surgery.

Zimmerman was a big reason for Southeast's success in 2009 after the Redhawks failed to make the OVC tournament the previous two years.

Southeast catcher Alex Ramirez led Southeast with six home runs, 27 RBIs and 29 walks as a junior. She batted .333. (Southeast Missourian file)

"It's a big blow, but injuries are part of the game," Richmond said.

Zimmerman had a dazzling rookie season, going 19-9 with a 2.42 ERA and 23 complete games in 27 starts. She allowed just 148 hits in 185 innings and struck out 184. She struck out the second-most batters in Southeast single-season history and tied for fifth on the wins list.

Richmond is counting on an experienced everyday lineup to help make up for Zimmerman's loss as the Redhawks return seven position starters.

"We return everybody but our first baseman," said Richmond, whose squad opens the season today at Jackson State in Mississippi. "We've got a lot of very good players back."

Southeast recorded the program's most wins since 2000 last year as the Redhawks went 29-21 overall and a second-place 16-8 in the OVC's regular season.

The Redhawks then very nearly earned their first NCAA tournament berth since 1999, coming within two outs of capturing the OVC tournament title before falling in the finals.

"We did make great strides," said Richmond, the OVC's all-time winningest coach and last year's co-OVC coach of the year who begins her 28th season at Southeast.

Southeast finished last year's regular season with 15 straight wins, then claimed two more victories in the OVC tournament before losing its final two contests.

Without Zimmerman, a strikeout pitcher, Richmond knows the Redhawks likely will have to give their two hurlers -- junior Whitney Dupuis (7-8, 5.75 ERA) and sophomore Stephanie Barnes (3-4, 5.22) -- more support.

"We're going to have to play really good defense and score some runs, which I think we'll be able to do," said Richmond, a five-time OVC coach of the year who has a 785-557-2 record at Southeast, including five consecutive OVC regular-season titles and four straight OVC tournament crowns in the late 1990s.

Joining Zimmerman as returning second-team all-OVC picks are senior catcher Alex Ramirez, senior left fielder Jennifer Vasquez and junior Nicole Troncoso, who has moved from shortstop to first base.

Troncoso led Southeast with a .341 batting average. She added one home run, six doubles and 18 RBIs.

Ramirez, entering her fourth year as a starter behind the plate, batted .333 while leading the Redhawks with six homers, 27 RBIs and 29 walks, the latter figure tied for the most in single-season program history. She hit .355 in OVC play.

Vasquez batted .270 overall but led Southeast with a .356 average in league play. She had three homers, seven doubles, two triples and 27 RBIs.

Other returning starters are junior second baseman Carmen Fowler (.301, team-high 11 doubles, one triple, 19 RBIs); sophomore right fielder Shelby Stein (.268, six doubles, 10 RBIs); sophomore Renee Kertz (.266, one homer, two doubles, 20 RBIs, team-high 25 runs scored), who has moved from third base to shortstop; and junior outfielder Elise Sperakos (.243, four homers, nine doubles, one triple, 20 RBIs).

Also returning after receiving limited at-bats are Dupuis (.244, one homer); junior Ashlee Hebel (.250); and sophomore Tiffany Blanco (.160), who also had shoulder surgery and is out for the early part of the season.

Ready to make their Southeast debuts are junior college transfer outfielder Melissa Walker, redshirt freshman utility player Chris Scudder and true freshmen infielders Brittaney Gonsoulin, Marisa Sanders and HaLeigh Willis.

Richmond said Gonsoulin will open the season as Southeast's starting third baseman, with Walker getting the nod in center field.