Pitching the Question

Most college softball teams keep a maximum of three pitchers on their roster. The Memphis softball team currently has five pitchers on its roster.

Last season the team had the pitching position locked down with Molly Smith. Smith was the winningest pitcher in University of Memphis history. In her senior season, Smith set career bests in strikeouts, shutouts, and batting averages allowed. She claimed the top spot on the strikeout leaderboards and was named to the Second-Team All-American Athletic Conference Smith graduated after the 2018 season and left the team with some big cleats to fill.

The players that make up the Tiger’s pitching corps this season are Mariah Nichols(Sophomore), Karli Perque(Junior), Bayleigh Wisher(Senior), Kailey Hilderbrand(Sophomore), and Madalyn Alexander(Freshman). Currently, Nichols and Wisher lead the pack in most innings pitched. Nichols is on top with a total of 92.1 innings pitched so far while Wisher comes in second with 60.1 innings pitched. Perque is trailing behind Wisher with 58.2.

Players on the team seem confident that the space left by Smith can be filled. Senior Ashley Threat said, “I think we have the players to fill the pitching role. It will be big shoes to fill, but I do think we are capable of filling it.”

Nichols and Wisher are the only pitchers on the roster this season that pitched behind Smith in the 2018 season. Nichols had a fair amount of innings her freshman year as she finished the season with 136.2, but Wisher only pitched in 8.1 innings over the season. Wisher also played first base in 2018.

Perque and Hilderbrand are JUCO transfers to Memphis this season. Perque came from Jones County Junior College where she had an impressive career. She helped lead her softball team to a national championship in 2018. Perque was named a NJCAA and NFCA first team All-American and was also named the 2017 MACJC and NJCAA Pitcher of the Year.

Hilderbrand came to Memphis from Mississippi Gulf Community College. Hilderbrand did not record any stats at her former college, but she led her team at Hernando High School to three District Championships. Hilderbrand was selected to the All-State second team her junior and senior years and also earned the titles of Best Offensive Player in 2016 and Best Defensive Player in 2014.

At the beginning of the season, Coach Natalie Poole said that she expected Nichols to step up to the role of starting pitcher, but Poole did not rule out taking more of a pitching by committee approach during the season.

“If we feel like someone is able to manage more innings than others then we will ride that as well, basically those that are able to last longer on the mound and compete the way they need to will probably get the ball more.”

Poole also gave her thoughts on Alexander, the freshman pitcher. “I think she is going to be able to spin the ball really well for us and give us some innings.” So far though Alexander has only appeared in three games and has a record of 1-2 in those games.

When looking at the statistics, it appears that Nichols is the one trying the most to fill in the void left by Smith. Nichols has pitched more innings this season than any other pitcher on the roster by far, but has she been the most successful.

When taking a closer look at the stats, you can see that Nichols, Wisher, and Perque are all very close when it comes to performance in games. Perque actually leads the team in earned runs allowed with an average of 3.22 and she also appears to be more efficient with strikeouts. Perque has 54 strikeouts over 58 innings, an average of .93 per inning, while Nichols has 73 strikeouts over 92.1 innings which averages out to .79 per inning.

Assistant coach, Helen Peña, said she expects the team to continue to pitch by committee throughout the rest of the season, “When we go out and face an opponent I look at the pitchers strengths and the opponents weaknesses and also I look for who can get the job done.”

Peña also said that looking to next year she still cannot say if the team will make a certain pitcher the main starter “I think they are all fully capable of coming in and getting better, this is a year where the mental and physical abilities of the players are trying to match up.”

So far Nichols appears to be the main choice for starter, but the team also has another pitcher recruited to the team for next season. The Tigers are looking for their next Molly Smith, and only time will tell if they find her.