Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Softball is set to open the 2019 season on Tuesday evening in Wichita Falls, Texas, with a doubleheader against Midwestern State
- MSU has already played seven games to enter the game with a 5-2 record while the Bulldogs will be playing their first games of the year
- SWOSU has been picked to finish 12th in the Great American Conference this season, one point behind Arkansas-Monticello
- Third-year head coach Kim Maher returns 11 letterwinners from last year's team, which finished 13-38 in GAC play and posted the third-most conference wins by the Bulldogs since the formation of the conference in 2012
 
About the Opponent
Midwestern State (5-2)
- The Mustangs opened the season by going 4-1 at the TAJ Hospitality College Softball Kickoff, where they defeated GAC foe Southern Nazarene for one of their four victories
- Last weekend, MSU picked up a split at the D2 Crossover Classic in Bentonville, Ark., falling to Northwest Missouri State 6-3 before defeating Missouri Southern 4-2
- Midwestern State has two players hitting over .450 in Lauren Lindgren and Kelsey Eropkin, both of which are leading the team with 11 hits this season
- Mark Ryal is in his third season as the head coach at Midwestern following a lengthy high school coaching career and stints at two different NCAA Division I schools
 
The Coach
Kim Maher (31-71, 3rd Season)
- Named the fourth head coach in SWOSU Softball history in the summer of 2016 and she's now in her third season leading the Bulldogs
- Spent eight seasons as the head coach at Purdue University, leading the Boilermakers to 240 victories and two NCAA Tournament appearances from 2006-13
- Previously coached at Cal-Berkeley as an assistant coach from 2000-05 following a playing career with USA Softball and the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL)
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU returns their top three offensive threats from last season in Amanda Moreno, Sidney Kirk and Allyson Gafford
- Moreno hit a team-leading .358 in her freshman season with 10 doubles, two home runs and 25 RBI while going 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts
- Kirk was second on the team with a .356 batting average and she led the Bulldogs with nine home runs and 33 RBI
- Gafford had 46 hits, including 11 doubles and two home runs as she finished the year batting .354
- Hannah Morris started 46 games as a freshman, hitting .282 with 40 hits while matching Moreno for the team lead with 13 stolen bases
- SWOSU returns three pitchers who saw action in the circle last season, led by Miranda Grover, who went 6-8 with a 5.65 ERA in 83.0 innings of action
 
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs head to Edmond this weekend for five games at the UCO / OC Tournament, beginning on Friday against Oklahoma Christian and Lubbock Christian