TUSKEGEE, Ala. ^__ The Tuskegee softball team opens up the 2024 season this weekend in the Mardi Gras Invitational when it starts a six-game series with Southern Nazarene on Friday at 11:30 a.m., before finishing the weekend on Sunday against Harding with first pitch set for 1:30 p.m. All six games over the weekend will be held between the Broussard and Youngsville Sports Complexes.

SERIES INFORMATION
Date/Time: Friday, Feb. 2 - Sunday, Feb. 4
Location: Broussard Sports Complex l Youngsville Sports Complex (Youngsville, La.)
Opponents: Southern Nazarene, Augustana (SD), Central Oklahoma, Southern Arkansas, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Harding

The Golden Tigers are coming off their second straight trip to the NCAA South Regional Tournament in a 2023 season which saw them finish with a 15-4 mark in the SIAC while posting a 25-21 overall record. 2022 Conference SIAC Coach of the Year Deitrich Randle enters his sixth season at the helm with 10 returnees and nine newcomers on his roster, highlighted by a pair of 2023 All-SIAC performers in graduate student Jada Chadwick and senior pitcher Kamya Hampton.

Chadwick batted .337 in 2023 in 31 games in which she accounted for 28 hits, 21 runs batted in, 15 runs, and four home runs on the year. In the field, the Columbus, Ga. native recorded 38 putouts and 40 assists, while maintaining a .907 fielding percentage. Meanwhile, Hampton held a 3.12 ERA and an 11-11 record in her first year with the Golden Tigers, pitching 18 complete games and two shutouts. The right-hander pitched for 143.2 total innings, and allowed 119 hits, 64 earned runs and struck out 140 batters in 2023.
 
Junior Kaeley Roldan is also back, a previous All-SIAC performer after a stellar freshman season in 2022. The utility player started 25 of 30 games played last season, while recording a .203 batting average, 15 hits, nine RBI, and five runs scored. She also accounted for 118 putouts and 13 assists in the field, holding a .956 fielding percentage.

Other returning starters include outfielder Victoria Harrison (.214 Avg., 18 H, 10 RBI, 28 putouts), outfielder T'yauna Rector (.487 Avg., .532 OBP, 55 H, 40 R, .958 fielding percentage, 42 putouts), and utility Nylah Strange-Lindley (63 career starts, .275 Batting Avg., .881 fielding percentage, 63 career putouts).

Southern Nazarene
Southern Nazarene was voted seventh in the preseason Great American Conference, followed by East Central and Henderson State. The Crimson Storm brings back Liana Heshiki, who paced the conference with a .409 average and a .478 on-base percentage, and Hailey Evans, who led the GAC with 13 home runs and 54 RBI. ECU returns Gabi Quintanilla and Megan Lesko. Quintanilla hit .336 with four home runs while Lesko led the team in home runs, doubles and RBI. The Reddies bring back Katelyn McMahan and Brooke Johnson. McMahan hit .298 and Johnson homered five times and went 7-7 inside the circle.

Augustana
Augustana was voted by the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference coaches as the favorite to win the league for fifth-consecutive season. The Vikings return the 2023 NSIC Player of the Year, Torri Chute, as the preseason favorite once more. Chute also returns as a 3x First Team All-NSIC, First D2CCA All-American and Second-Team NFCA All-American First Team All-Region (NFCA/D2CCA), and the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week (May 2, 2023).

The reigning NSIC champions are tasked with facing the top-three teams in the Central Region (No. 22 Oklahoma Baptist, No. 13 Southern Arkansas, No. 3 Central Oklahoma) as their first three contests for the regular season. The Vikings have actually been picked as the preseason favorites for the fifth-consecutive season, but a champion was not awarded in the 2020 season due to the cancellation of the season.

#13 Southern Arkansas
Southern Arkansas returns a number of key components from last year's squad including 2023 All-GAC First Team pitcher Sydney Ward, All-GAC Second Team outfielder Ariana Rolle, All-GAC Second Team designated player Regan Dillon, Kamryn Moctezuma, and Gracie King. The Muleriders begin 2024 being voted second among Great American Conference coaches behind 2023 regular season champions Oklahoma Baptist. SAU begins 2024 as the highest-ranked team among GAC competition and the second-highest in the Central Region behind No. 3 Central Oklahoma.

#3 Central Oklahoma
UCO returns five position starters, both starting pitchers and five other players from last year's that that won a school-record 54 games in finishing 54-9. The Bronchos won the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and Central Regional championships in advancing to the final four at the Division II World Series.

The team is led by a trio of returning All-Americans – pitcher/first baseman Terin Ritz, shortstop Emily Deramus and outfielder Jacee Minter. The Bronchos also have back two All-MIAA performers in pitcher Jordyn Pipkin and first baseman Tatum Long along with two more starters in outfielders Rylee Lemos and Shayleigh Odom.

Southeastern Oklahoma State
Second-year head coach Mackenzie Sher leads Southeastern Oklahoma State, who will also take on Delta State, Mississippi College, Augustana (SD), and Union on the weekend. The Savage Storm was picked fourth in the preseason GAC poll after capturing the program's second postseason GAC Championship title when they defeated Southern Arkansas in the final. 
 
Southeastern Oklahoma State brings back four 2023 All-GAC selections in pitchers Reese Taylor and Amberlyn Walsworth plus catcher Sabetha Sands and designated player Iliana Olivares. Taylor earned GAC Tournament MVP honors. Taylor and Walsworth combined for 26 wins. Sands led the team in average while Olivares drove in 22.

Harding
Harding found themselves ranked third in the GAC preseason poll, after having the program's most successful season ever. Head coach Ashley Reeves is in her third season at the helm leading the Bison with a record of 84-32. Harding will also face off against Union, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Delta State, and Central Oklahoma.
 
Last year, the Bison captured their first GAC regular-season title and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. They return Kayleigh Jones, the GAC and Central Region Pitcher of the Year, and Emily Adler, the league's Player of the Year, and Kennedy Clark, last season's Freshman of the Year. In addition, the Bison also return three supplemental All-GAC performers in second baseman Adi Reese, outfielder Sammie Greene and designated player Morgan Max.