University of Delaware Athletics
2022 Delaware Softball Season Preview
2/8/2022 4:30:00 PM | Softball
NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware softball team opens the 2022 season this weekend when it travels to Florida for the Stetson Lead Off Tournament. The Blue Hens will begin play on Friday morning with a 10:30 a.m. game against Indiana State.
For Head Coach Jen Steele, who is entering her fourth season at the helm of the program, this season is all about building on the success of previous campaigns.
“This is the most excited I’ve been to start a season in a long time. We are playing a full schedule again, have some competitive early-season matchups, and are looking to continue building off last year’s success. We will be challenged early and that will put us in a strong position to compete at the highest level in the CAA.”Delaware Head Coach Jen Steele
2021 Recap
The Blue Hens are coming off a strong 2021 season that saw the squad finish with a 25-9 overall record and a 9-5 mark in CAA play. UD won its first seven games and nine of the first 10 overall.
Delaware went 3-1-1 in series against CAA opponents to earn the No. 4 seed in the 2021 CAA Tournament. The Blue & Gold came away with a 1-0 win in the opening round behind a two-hit shutout by Emily Winburn before falling to James Madison in the winner’s bracket. UD bounced back with victories in consecutive elimination games over third-seeded Elon and second-seeded Drexel.
In the first elimination game against Elon, the Blue Hens trailed 5-4 going into the seventh inning before a two-run home run by Brittney Mendoza and a solo shot by Karolina Flores catapulted UD ahead for the 7-5 victory. Later in the day, Kailey Christian hit an eighth-inning grand slam to lift the Blue & Gold over Drexel 5-1 and into the championship game.
Who is Returning
This season, UD is returning a veteran squad of 14 letterwinners, including several key members of the starting lineup. Hanna Garber leads the returners after batting .384 last spring with 12 extra-base hits and 12 stolen bases to earn All-CAA First Team honors. Julz Garber will look for a strong follow-up to her CAA All-Rookie performance in 2021, batting .369. Brooke Glanden and Brittney Mendoza were both named to the All-CAA Second Team after batting .364 and .340, respectively, in all 34 games last season. Glanden tied for the team lead with nine home runs while Mendoza had eight round-trippers and led the Blue Hens with 35 RBI.
Halle Kisamore and Sarah Bessel both started 29 and 22 games, respectively, while Emily Blum and Grace Hrustich were also in double figures in games started. Kate Hondru, Zoey Valentino, Kailey Christian and Grace Rudolph will all look to increase their roles this season.
In the circle, Emily Winburn returns after pitching 103 innings with a 2.79 ERA in 2021, registering a 13-4 record with eight complete games and four shutouts. She struck out 84 while earning All-CAA Second Team and CAA All-Rookie honors. Kailey Christian pitched 19.2 innings, going 2-2 with one save and Kendall Shank made five relief appearances.
Welcome Newcomers
The Blue Hens have eight new faces to the roster with the addition of five freshmen and three transfers. The pitching staff will receive a bump with the addition of transfers Megan Stauffer and Marisa Browne, along with freshman Graceyn Frost. Stauffer, a graduate transfer, has appeared in 61 career games in stops at Monmouth and Marshall, while Browne, a junior, appeared in four games as a freshman at Drexel in 2019.
Junior infielder Morgan Olynyk, in her first year with the Blue & Gold after transferring from Lafayette, will provide infield depth along with freshmen Chloe Blantz and Jayla Brooks. Bailey White and Erica Paisley will bring depth to the outfield positions while providing speed on the base paths.
Preseason Honors
The Blue Hens have been selected to finish second in the 2022 CAA Softball Preseason Poll, receiving 42 total points and one first-place vote.
Senior Hanna Garber was named to Extra Inning Softball's Extra Elite 100 College Players for the 2022 season. Garber became the seventh player in Blue Hen history to be named First Team All-Region last spring. The Lancaster, Pa. native produced an outstanding junior season for the Blue Hens as she led the team with a .384 batting average and 38 hits to go with a CAA-best five triples. An All-CAA First Team selection as well, Garber ranked eighth in the league in batting average, posted 11 multi-hit games on the year and batted .556 in conference games.
2022 Schedule Breakdown
After opening the season with 20-consecutive games on the road, playing at four weekend tournaments to start the season, the Blue Hens will play 18 of their final 31 contests in the friendly confines of Delaware Softball Diamond. A challenging slate awaits the Blue & Gold right out of the gates as the first 20 games will be played at tournaments hosted by Stetson, Georgia, NC State and Florida Atlantic.
Delaware will return home to host Penn State and Canisius in the Blue Hen Invitational the weekend of March 11-13. A home doubleheader against Mount St. Mary’s (March 16) and a doubleheader at Villanova (March 19) will provide UD with the final preparations before CAA play begins.
The Blue & Gold will travel to UNCW for a three-game series March 26-27 before hosting Elon the weekend of April 2-3. Delaware will also host CAA series against Drexel (April 9-10), Hofstra (April 23-24) and Charleston (May 6-7). The Blue Hens will hit the road for series at Towson (April 16-17) and James Madison (April 30 - May 1).
The 2022 CAA Tournament will now be hosted by Elon and is set to be held Thursday, May 12 through Saturday, May 14. The tournament winner will earn the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Congrats to senior Hanna Garber who was named one of college softball's top 100 players by @ExtraInningSB!
— Delaware Softball (@Delaware_SB) January 25, 2022
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For the latest on the Delaware softball program, follow the Blue Hens on Twitter @Delaware_SB and Instagram @Delawaresoftball and like "Delaware Softball" on Facebook.
