BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – With the 2018 WKU Softball campaign just days away, fifth-year Hilltopper head coach Amy Tudor along with redshirt-senior Brittany Vaughn and junior Kelsey McGuffin previewed the upcoming season at the team's media day.
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Coach Tudor opening statement
"We are very young again this season but we have added even more athleticism and different looks at the plate. I think the game changer for us is that we added three lefties to our lineup. We also added another arm in the circle, which combined with our big-hitting returners has helped us become more balanced than we were a year ago. The biggest key for us this season is how mentally strong we can be."
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Tudor and the WKU unit will take on Hampton in the Gardner-Webb hosted tournament on Friday, Feb. 9, in Boiling Springs, N.C., to get the 2018 season underway. After five contests over opening weekend, the Hilltoppers will head to Chattanooga the following weekend for five more tilts before returning to The Hill to host a pair of their own tournaments.
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A young, yet experienced squad comprised of 15 players this season has 10 returning letterwinners on the roster in addition to a junior transfer. Vaughn and McGuffin represent two on the team's five upperclassmen with Vaughn being the team's only senior. Last season alone, the WKU team saw action in eight postseason games thanks to a run through the Conference USA Tournament and an appearance in the inaugural Postseason NISC event.
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More than half of the WKU Softball roster hails from the Bluegrass State, with nine players staying in state. A trio of those student-athletes hail from Bowling Green including Vaughn and freshmen Kendall Smith and Shelby Nunn. The remaining six hail evenly from Indiana and Iowa.
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WKU has 28 home contests on the slate this season including a pair of early-season tournaments at the WKU Softball Complex. Additionally, the Hilltoppers have nine games on the schedule against teams that appeared in last year's NCAA Tournament.
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QUICK HITS
- The Hilltoppers will play at the WKU Softball Complex 28 times this season
- WKU will take on five squads ranked or receiving votes in the Top-25 Preseason Poll (LSU, Kentucky, Marshall, FIU, LA Tech)
- Three Hilltoppers hail from Bowling Green, Ky.: Brittany Vaughn, Shelby Nunn and Kendall Smith
- Coach Tudor enters her fifth season at the helm of her alma mater and owns a 117-99-1 record on The Hill
- This year's squad features five new faces including four freshmen and a junior transfer
