LAURINBURG — St. Andrews University’s baseball and softball teams will kick off their seasons on Friday. The baseball team will play at home, and the softball team will be on the road.
Here’s how both teams are looking as the new season begins.
Baseball
The St. Andrews University baseball team begins its season with a game against Ohio Christian University at 2 p.m. on Friday.
The Knights finished with an overall record of 21-30 last season, including an 18-14 clip at home. St. Andrews was 3-16 away from Laurinburg.
St. Andrews graduated six seniors from last season’s squad, including several of its top hitters, two weekend starters and the team’s best reliever.
“We’ve got a young team,” said Andy Fox, the Knights’ head coach.
Junior infielder Cam Harvey, senior outfielders Josh Wallace and Noah Whalen, senior catcher Seth Spillman and sophomore infielder Noah Lawson are some of the Knights’ top returners on offense.
Kristopher Allen, a freshman who transferred to St. Andrews from the College of Central Florida, is projected to play center field for the Knights.
“He’s one of the best center fielders that I’ve ever coached, from a defensive standpoint,” Fox said. “From an offensive standpoint, I think he’s got a chance to be pretty good. We’ll just have to see.”
Fox said his team faded late in several of its conference losses last season, as the Knights’ bullpen struggled to neutralize opponents.
Whalen, who hit .296 with 20 RBIs and four doubles last season, said the Knights need to have the right mentality to stay competitive late in games.
“It’s being that guy that steps up and gets that big hit, or throws that last strike, or makes that last play in the field,” Whalen said. “You can’t underestimate anybody, so you have to play a full nine-inning game. We have to be locked in all the way from the first pitch to the last at-bat.”
Left-handed pitcher Davis O’Brien, who posted an 8.77 ERA and a 3-3 record in 39 innings last season, will be the Knights’ starter on opening day.
The Knights are looking to fill the voids left by Trevor Maly and Zach Saylor. Both players graduated after picking up a combined 23 starts on the mound last year.
“We’ve got guys that have experience,” Fox said. “We just need to get a little more out of them. We’ve got young guys that have talent, we just need to see how they’ll produce for us.”
Fox said the team’s bullpen has a different look this year.
“I think we’ve got more options in our bullpen this year than we did last year,” Fox said. “But a lot of them are unproven. It’s just a matter of getting them in there. Kind of throwing them in the fire, per se. We’ll see what they can do.”
After Friday’s game, the Knights will wrap up their three-game series with Ohio Christian by playing a doubleheader on Saturday. The first game of the twinbill begins at noon.
Softball
The Lady Knights and their six seniors are back on the field after finishing with an 18-30 record last season.
St. Andrews will visit Belmont Abbey on Friday for a doubleheader that begins at 1 p.m.
The team’s top returners on offense include senior Lexi Dawson and sophomore Cassie Fortner. The duo led the team in RBIs last season, logging 22 apiece.
Dawson posted the team’s highest batting average (.345) and drew the most walks (28).
Junior Brennan Broadaway led the team in doubles with 11 last season. In the circle, Broadaway posted a 4.60 ERA in just over 63 innings of work last season. S.K. Brown pitched 118 innings for the Lady Knights, striking out 75 batters and tallying five complete games.
Those individual statistics aren’t important in the eyes of head coach Elizabeth Burris, who said the Lady Knights are maintaining their “team-oriented” mindset.
“We don’t focus on the individual level,” Burris said.
The Lady Knights brought in five freshmen this season. That freshman class includes local product Kierra Locklear, who played high school softball at Sandhills Athletic Conference competitor Purnell Swett. She is joined by newcomers Carolyn Ashley (Fuquay-Varina); Mollie Phillips (North Davidson); Alyssa Farrar (Charlotte Country Day School); and Stevie Holland (Northwest Guilford).
St. Andrews finished 6-18 in Appalachian Athletic Conference play last season. Before getting into league action this year, the Lady Knights will face a non-conference slate that includes games against Limestone, Methodist, USC Beaufort, William Peace, Mount Olive, Converse, Fayetteville State and St. Augustine.
