STATESBORO - Coming off of an up-and-down first season in Statesboro, Georgia Southern Head Softball Coach Sharon Perkins and the Eagles have taken steps to ensure the Eagles will be ready to compete in the new-look Sun Belt Conference in 2023.
A completely revamped pitching staff, upgraded offense and a more challenging schedule means that the second year under Coach Perkins will be filled with plenty of opportunities to take a step forward and surprise some people, given that in a vote of Sun Belt Conference coaches, the Eagles were picked to finish tied for last in the upcoming campaign.
You can understand why that happened as the Eagles are coming off of a 13-34 overall campaign and a 6-18 mark in the Sun Belt in 2022, but Georgia Southern did pick up its first home win over a nationally-ranked team since 2016 and individually, Coach Perkins did record her 300th career collegiate coaching victory.
First and foremost, an almost entirely new pitching staff will head out to the circle in 2023, with Kastin Belogorska (5-7, Sr., Eden, Ga.) as the only healthy returning pitcher from last year's squad. Belogorska won six games last season, including getting the victory against No. 23 Louisiana at Eagle Field on March 19. This year, she'll be joined by a pair of transfers in Gulf State College product Graceanne Spears (5-10, Jr., Opp, Ala.) and Morgan Kendrick (5-6, R-Fr., Fleming Island, Fla.), who redshirted last season at Florida State. A pair of area freshman also join the staff in Bailey Holland (5-9, Fr., Vidalia, Ga.) and Alana Barnard (5-10, Fr., Statesboro, Ga.).
"We were looking to bring in pitchers who had different pitches, with different speeds," Coach Perkins said. "When we first got here, we had four arms that looked exactly the same with the same speeds, so we were just trying to change that. It's nice to have Kastin back, she's solid and we know what we have with her out there. But to bring in people who have more speed - Graceanne, Morgan, Alana, Bailey - they're all different, with different styles of pitches, locations and all are able to change speeds."
The look at the position players begins behind the plate, with Janai Conklin (5-3, Sr., Miami, Fla.) representing the Eagles' leading returning hitter. Conkllin hit .304 with nine home runs and 24 RBI, with a team-best .626 slugging percentage, with seven of her nine home runs coming against Sun Belt opponents. She'll be joined by freshman Baileigh Pitts (5-6, Fr., Ringgold, Ga.) and Sam Vinson (5-6, Sr., Jefferson, Ga.) in the catching corps.
The infield will be half new with Olivia Creamer (5-5, Sr., St. Johns, Fla.) and Courtney Ball (5-6, Jr., Macon, Ga.) returning as starters, but joined by Georgia transfer Faith Barth (5-5, Soph., Dacula, Ga.) and North Carolina graduate transfer Katie Perkins (5-6, Grad., Buford, Ga.). Gulf Coast State transfer Emily Greek (6-2, Jr., Thomasville, Ga.) can play both middle infield positions and Janiyah Strong (5-6, Fr., Lagrange, Ga.) will help at the corner spots, as will Vinson.
The outfield sees Chandler Caldwell (5-4, Grad., Suwanee, Ga.) as the only healthy returnee, and she could see time at all three outfield spots. Georgia Tech transfer Kinley Stewart (5-8, R-Jr., Loganville, Ga.) will be a nice addition in center field, with lefties Emma Davis (5-3, Fr., Grayson, Ga.) and Brooke Kell (5-6, Fr., Marietta, Ga.) looking to secure spots in the outfield as well.
The Eagles will try to get Vinson's bat in the lineup at the designated player spot, but Pitts and returner Dejah Mills (5-5, R-Soph., Powder Springs, Ga.) could see at-bats there also.
Offensively, the Eagles should be able to improve on their output from last season. "We've added some speed, more baserunners that can get on and make things happen, which helps," Coach Perkins said. "We have hitters that can hit different pitches well, and they don't all have the same exact swing. All of them are buying into our system, and I think we've got a wide range in our lineup with power hitters and speedsters."
Defensively, the team improved incrementally from the previous season, putting up a .958 fielding percentage compared to a .954 percentage in 2021. Coach Perkins saw early on in the Fall that this team should be even better in the field, for a couple of reasons.
"The pitching is obviously going to help," Coach Perkins said. "The better pitching you have, the better fielding you'll have. There'll be less chances, the ball won't get hit as hard. And you can't defend a home run, which we were running into last year. But it's also nice to have some depth out there too. And even early this Fall, you could tell the difference."
The Eagles will participate in five tournaments in the pre-Sun Belt Conference portion of the schedule. Georgia Southern will be hosting the Bash in the Boro and the GATA Challenge on the second and third weekends of the season, then traveling to three other sites for tournament action - at No. 9 Alabama to start the season at the Easton Leadoff Classic, at No. 5 Florida State and at Michigan. All three were NCAA Championships participants a year ago. The clear upgrade in schedule, along with the Sun Belt adding James Madison, Marshall and Southern Miss means that the Eagles will have their work cut out for them in 2023.
"Our players need to learn how to play in those kinds of environments to get to where we need to get," Coach Perkins said. "We also need to start working on our RPI. It's my hope that playing these tougher teams will make us more prepared for an immensely tough Sun Belt Conference."
It's clear that the expectations surrounding the Georgia Southern softball program are heightened internally, even if they're not reciprocated externally. But Coach Perkins is excited to get the season started to show the improvement she feels the team has made even before that first pitch is throw in Alabama on Friday.
"If we focus on the small goals, then we'll get the results that we want," Coach Perkins said. "We've talked about how we should be winning these conference series with the schedule we have. And that's my expectation, to make big strides from last year. That's what we're working towards."
