Tournament Information – DePaul Dome Tournament, Rosemont, Ill.
DATE:                         Thursday, Feb. 10 - Sunday, Feb. 13
LOCATION:                Rosemont, Ill. / The Dome-Parkway Bank Sports Complex
LIVE STATS:              Games 1 & 6 // Games 2, 3, 4, & 5
LIVE VIDEO:               (none)
 
Tournament Information
Full Notes

The Butler softball team opens the 2022 season this weekend with six games over four days at the DePaul Dome Tournament. The Bulldogs will face Valparaiso, Bowling Green (twice), Murray State, St. Thomas, and Western Illinois.

Bulldog Bits

• The Bulldogs were tabbed to finish fifth by conference coaches in the 2022 BIG EAST Preseason Poll. Villanova received six first-place votes and landed at the top of the poll, followed by last season's champion, DePaul, which received three first-place votes. Also chosen ahead of Butler were UConn and Creighton.
• Butler finished the 2021 season with a 17-21-1 overall record. In the BIG EAST, the Bulldogs were 6-6, landing in the fifth spot.
• The five top batters for the Bulldogs, and nine of their top ten, are returning for the 2022 season. In the circle, all five Butler pitchers who made appearances in 2021 are returning.
• Coach Scott Hall enters his 12th season at the helm of Bulldogs Softball. He currently sits at 246-277-1 as head of the program, and, with 18 additional victories, could become the all-time winningest coach at Butler. Barb Greenburg, who coached from 1981 through 1994, was the program's first coach and attained a career record of 263-226-4.
• Lauren Fey currently sits in first and third on Butler's All-Time List for batting average in a season. She hit .433 in 2021 and .421 in 2020.
• Karli Ricketts' eight dingers in 2021 tied for seventh for all-time homeruns in a season. Her 126 strikeouts in the pitcher's circle landed in 10th.
• Lauren Fey currently sits in second on Butler's all-time list for career batting average (.380) and seventh in career stolen bases (33).
• Karli Ricketts is currently sixth for career home runs (18), and, from the circle, ninth for career strikeouts (320) and tied for ninth in career shutouts (6).
• Alyssa Graves is currently third all-time in career strikeouts (479), tied for fifth in career shutouts (7), ninth in career innings pitched (428.0), and tied for ninth in career wins (27).

 
Scouting the Opponents

VALPARAISO (Missouri Valley)  (series record: Valparaiso leads, 22-21)

• The Beacons finished the 2021 season with a 5-35 overall record, losing in the first round of the Missouri Valley Tournament. Top returning players include Alexis Johnson, who batted .286, and pitcher Caitlyn Kowalski, who won four games.

BOWLING GREEN (MAC)  (series record: Bowling Green leads, 1-0)

• The Falcons ended the 2021 season with an overall record of 27-27, going 19-20 in Mid-American Conference action. Top returning players include redshirt-sophomore pitcher Payton Gottshall (20-12) and redshirt-sophomore Greta L'Esperance, who batted .376.

MURRAY STATE (Missouri Valley)  (series record: Murray State leads, 3-2)

• The Racers finished 22-29 in 2021. Top returning players include Sierra Gilmore, who led the Racers in batting average (.327), on-base percentage (.381), and slugging percentage (.532) along with junior pitcher Jenna Veber (8-13) who posted a 2.58 ERA over a conference-leading 39 appearances.

ST. THOMAS (Summit)  (series record: 0-0)

• St. Thomas went 33-10 last season in Division III play. This is the Tommie's first season competing at the DI level. Top returning players include Coryn Jacobson, who batted .424 last season, and senior pitcher Kendall Hopkins, who went 9-1 with a 1.91 ERA.

WESTERN ILLINOIS (Missouri Valley)  (series record: Western Illinois leads, 4-1)

• The Fighting Leathernecks were 16-29 in 2021. Top returning players include Savannah Rodriguez, who batted .336, and grad student pitcher Abby Carlin (7-14), who won 7 games and produced a 3.93 ERA.