PREVIEW: Softball opens 2025 season in Spartanburg, Augusta

Duncan, S.C. —- The Catawba College softball team kicks off its 2025 campaign with a four-game weekend across South Carolina and Georgia with two games on both Saturday and Sunday.

THE MATCHUPS

- Game One: Catawba vs. Glenville State, Tyger River Park - Field Four, Duncan, S.C., Saturday, Feb. 1, 12 p.m.

          - How to Follow: HiCast Sports ($) | No live stats available

- Game Two: Catawba vs. Lynn, Tyger River Park - Field One, Duncan, S.C., Saturday, Feb. 1, 4:30 p.m.

          - How to Follow: HiCast Sports ($) | Live stats

- Game Three/Four: Catawba at Augusta, Jaguar Field, Augusta, Ga., Sunday, Feb. 2, 12 & 2 p.m.

          - How to Follow: PBC Sports Network | Live stats

THE HISTORY

- Catawba leads all-time series with Glenville State, 12-1

- First-ever meeting between Catawba and Lynn

- Catawba leads all-time series with Augusta, 21-17

GOLD-CALIBER RETURNERS

- Catawba returns two All-South Atlantic Conference First Team selections in 2024

- Brianna Gallagher was a First Team selection in the outfield, while also earning the program's first-ever Rawlings Gold Glove award for stellar defensive play

- The other is Kary Hales, a First Teamer at first base, while setting team-highs in 2024 with nine homers, 53 RBI and a .622 slugging percentage

NEW FACES IN THE CIRCLE

- With Catawba's leader in innings pitched in 2024, Riley Tucker, graduated, the team stands to see many new faces in the circle this season

- Each of Catawba's other three arms return with preseason All-SAC selections Brianna Herring, Alex Baquie and Hales

- Other newcomers to the team with potential to see time in the circle include USC Upstate transfer Micaela Hartman and freshmen Keira Bell, Kate Holland and Bella Boykin

SEARCHING FOR FIRST CAREER WINS

- Saturday will be the first games as interim head coach for Allie Lyerly

- The 2024 Catawba Athletics Hall of Fame inductee served as an assistant for the team both of the last two seasons

- Catawba was picked to finish eighth in the preseason SAC coaches poll

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

- None of the three opponents Catawba faces this weekend appeared in their respective NCAA Regional in 2024

- Glenville State finished second in the South Division of the Mountain East, while Lynn finished last in the Sunshine State Conference and Augusta placed in a tie for seventh in the Peach Belt

- The Catawba Indians and Jaguars split a midweek doubleheader at Whitley Field last season

UP NEXT

- Catawba finishes up its six-game road trip begin to season next Wednesday, traveling to Barton for a twinbill at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.