The 2023 Mount softball season

Steve Morano
MSMU Class of 2024

(2/2023) Like many other sports at the Mount this year, softball will have to navigate through the newness of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. After moving on from the Northeast Conference in 2022, the season to follow brings together so many possibilities for the team as they look to continue their success from the NEC to the MAAC. Their first season could be a stepping stone for years to come with success in the program and could open the door for a spot at the NCAA tournament. They will use their experience from the past two seasons to navigate this landscape.

The past two seasons have been very successful for the softball program with regards to their conference play. In 2021, they finished 5th in the NEC with an overall record of 19-25, just missing out the conference tournament in an already-truncated and complicated season due to the pandemic. They finished out with a team batting average of .263, drew 108 walks and hit 19 home runs as a team. The worrying statistic from 2021 was their strikeout count at the plate, with 247, it was the second worst in the conference behind Central Connecticut at 253. But the pitching was the major problem during the season. With a team ERA of 4.75, 241 runs given up (196 being earned runs) and 125 strikeouts, 2022 looked to be worrying.

But it was not like that at all. After a lackluster season, the 2022 Mount softball team jumped to a 26-22 record, good enough to finish 2nd in the conference behind high flying Saint Francis, who garnered a 37-18 record. Team batting average dropped to .234, however they hit 25 homeruns, walked 122 times, and stole 95 bases with a success rate of .871. Pitching drastically changed as well, they recorded a team ERA of 3.11, 172 runs allowed (with 138 of them being earned runs) and 64 walks allowed, the least in the conference.

Moving to the MAAC is turning out to be a struggle for a lot of different teams at the Mount. A new school joining a new conference is challenging for anyone, trying to adjust to different opponents, style of play and travel methods are factors to performances. But softball was one of the most successful programs at the school last year, making it to the conference tournament semi-finals, so it is not out of the imagination that the team could be more adjusted to MAAC play than other teams at the Mount. The Mount went 17-7 in conference play last year; if we compare that to the 2022 MAAC softball season, that would have put them in 3rd place in the standings, enough for a spot in the conference tournament.

Mount Saint Mary’s new conference is very good at softball, miles better than the NEC, with five opposing teams having 25+ win seasons. Their main opponent will be Canisius: they went 32-18, were both regular season and conference champions, and barely missed out a regional semifinal, as they lost 3-0 to Wisconsin. Another opponent to look out for is Fairfield: they went 27-22 but had a 17-5 conference record. The Mount has a history with them dating back to last year, where the Stags beat the Mountaineers 11-6 in Raleigh.

One of the biggest missing pieces to the Mount’s team this season will be the absence of Amanda Berkley, who, last season, played her fifth and final year of eligibility for the Mount. She had a record of 14-6, an ERA of 2.26 and pitched 133.1 innings. She led the team in strikeouts with 66 opponent batting average of .231, the fourth lowest in the NEC. Her absence will be felt during the season, especially with the longevity she had on the mound, having eleven complete games; but rising sophomore, Olivia Murphy, would surely look to fill the shoes of Berkley.

If Amanda Berkley was the Mount’s ace, then Olivia Murphy was surely her understudy on the mound. Murphy tossed 82.1 innings, notched 35 strikeouts, and had a 7-4 record with a 2.38 ERA. An opponent batting average of .264 led her to be ranked fifth in the NEC in overall pitching statistics, it was a very good first season for Murphy. She was clearly the team’s second starter last year. But the question surrounding Murphy coming into the 2023 season is, can she pitch deep into games the way that Berkley did last year and save the bullpen?

On the offensive side of the plate, the Mount ranked 8th in the NEC in 2022, with a team OPS of .679. A major absence for the Mount this season will be the missing Bridgette Gilliano, who transferred in the summer. Gilliano led the team with 43 hits, batting average of .283 and swiped 39 bases. She was also an anchor in the middle infield, turning 17 double plays. With regards to the fielding aspect of the team, the Mount still has graduate student Kaia Bostock, who enters her final year of eligibility. She turned 24 double plays during 2022, led the team with 370 put outs and had a fielding percentage of .990.

By far the biggest asset to the Mount this season will be junior Abigail Perry. She had a team leading 1.034 OPS, 33 runs scored, eight doubles, five triples, seven homeruns and 28 RBI. She also led the team in walks with 25. She will be key to Coach Nagro’s strategy this season; with the team leading OPS, she provides a threat on the basepaths and would be key to the run rate for the program this coming year.

In 2022, the Mount was ranked 164th among Division I teams, and their schedule reflects some challenges early on. They start in Conway, South Carolina on February 25th in the Chanticleer Showdown, where they play Saint Joseph’s, Albany and Coastal Carolina twice. They then play in the Ole Miss Classic, where they face Missouri State, Southeast Missouri, and No. 25 Ole Miss. After that, they face their biggest challenge: a doubleheader against No. 2 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Their first home game is on March 11th with the start of the Mount Softball Invitational, where they will play Central Connecticut and Saint Bonaventure. They play North Dakota at home on March 15th and then they play in the Mount Saint Mary’s softball invitational, where they have two game sets against Albany and Lafayette.

The Mount plays their last set of out-of-conference games, starting with a game against George Washington on March 22nd, and a doubleheader against Coppin State on March 28th. MAAC play starts on April 1st, with a doubleheader against Iona. A packed out-of-conference schedule will be a good indicator as to how the Mount will adjust to softball in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.