KIRKLAND - Northwest opens the 2022 softball season with five games at the NAIA Invitational in Allen, Texas.
The Eagles meet Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) and York (Nebraska) on Friday, McPherson (Kansas) and Huston Tillotson (Texas) on Saturday, and finish the trip with a Sunday matinee against Baker (Kansas).
This season marks the 10th season for Northwest University softball. It is the fourth season for Head Coach
Pam Fink and will mark the first time a fourth-year senior class has had one head coach throughout their playing careers.
The NU seniors and grad students have or share seven offensive season records, four career records, and three single-game records.
Jessica Nunes has the career triples record (4), consecutive hits record (7), and season records for batting average (.404), slugging (.808), on-base percentage (.466), RBIs (28), triples (3), and home runs (8). In single games, Nunes has the record of 6 RBIs and 11 total bases.
Nunes,
Sam Parisio, and
Alyssa Maldonado share the single-game record with four hits. Nunes (twice) and Maldonado share the school record of two home runs in a game with five other players.
Nicola Fish shares the single-season record in sacrifice flies (3).
Parisio has the career record in sacrifice bunts (22), sacrifice flies (5), double plays (30), and assists (372). She also has the record of nine assists in a game.
Southwestern Assemblies of God is picked fourth in the highly competitive Sooner Athletic Conference. SAGU opened the season Tuesday at Texas A&M-San Antonio. The Lions were 25-20 last season and return leading hitters McKenzie Schulze (.341) and Airiana Magdaleno (.326), along with pitching ace Autumn Graham (13-9, 1.78 earned run average).
York was 8-30 last season and picked 12th in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. Katherine Arceo (.364) is the top returning hitter. Kate Reyes returns in the circle after leading the team with five wins and a 4.92 earned run average last season.
McPherson was 24-18 last season and picked fifth in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. Brandy Trengove is the top returning batter (.360), and pitching ace Raegan Kleppe (13-4, 2.95 ERA) also returns.
Huston Tillotson opted out of the 2021 season and opened the season Monday at home against Southwestern University. The Rams are picked eighth in the Red River Athletic Conference.
Baker was 20-14 last season and led the nation with 3.44 stolen bases per game. Makayla Akin is the top returning hitter (.371). Baker returns its top four pitchers from last year's team, which carried a team ERA of 4.05.
