PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico softball team is slated to start their 2019 regular season campaign this weekend in Albuquerque, N.M. at the U.S. Bank ENMU Softball Kickoff Classic.

All seven games over the course of Friday and Saturday will take place at the Rio Rancho High School Softball Complex with admission being free of charge to all games. The Hounds will play back-to-back games on Friday afternoon beginning at 3 p.m. and then again on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m.

Head coach Kira Zeiter will make her Eastern New Mexico debut as head coach and will lead a team that finished the 2018 season with an overall record of 18-34.

NEW BEGINNINGS
With six graduated seniors gone from last year's roster and a brand new coaching staff in place for the 2019 season, this weekend will mark a new beginning for the Eastern New Mexico softball program. Coach Zeiter has a wealth of experience at the Division II level, having served as head coach at two previous institutions in Urbana College and Fort Lewis College, and brings an understanding of the region as well having both playing and coaching experience in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

The Hounds will feature five seniors on the 2019 roster and have a multitude of other faces that saw action in games a year ago returning, but will have to replace five of their top seven best average hitting batters from a season ago as well as their most active pitcher. Senior Kimberly Herron will assume the majority of pitching duties in her second season at Eastern after a two-year stint at Dodge City Community College, while sophomore Jennifer McElroy was as consistent as they come in her freshman season, finishing second on the team with a batting average of .351.

Catcher Samantha Brockman has posted a batting average of better than .300 in each of her first two seasons as a Greyhound, and will be vital working with Herron and the rest of the Hounds pitching staff from her catcher position.

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Eastern New Mexico will take on three different opponents over the course of the tournament in Fort Lewis, Oklahoma Baptist and Adams State. The Hounds will play Adams State and Oklahoma Baptist once, and Fort Lewis twice throughout the weekend.

Adams State qualified for the RMAC Postseason Tournament a season ago after finishing with a conference record of 14-22, but won just four games outside of conference play. The Grizzlies have been selected to finish ninth in the 2019 RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll despite finishing in seventh place a year ago and returns three of their top five statistical hitters in Tyler Hays, Brittany Phillips and Shelby Haskins.

Phillips will enter the 2019 season as the Grizzlies most experienced pitcher after making 16 appearances last season while head coach Delvin Taylor begins his 12^th season at the helm of the program and will send out a freshman class consisting of 13 true freshman.

 Fort Lewis finished last season with an overall record of 16-38 and has recently been picked to finish 11^th in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll. The Skyhawks return their top hitter in senior Angelique Elemen and their top pitcher in Mandy Lorenson for the 2019 campaign. Elemen hit .370 last season and recorded 11 homeruns to lead the Skyhawks in both categories. Lorenson had a team-best 3.60 ERA in her 107 innings pitched last year and also picked up a team-high 10 wins in the circle.

The Hounds have dominated the overall series against Fort Lewis, winning eight of the 10 match-ups all time between the two programs, but lost in the last meeting between the teams by a final score of 8-3 in Canyon, Texas back on Feb. 13, 2016.

Oklahoma Baptist and Eastern New Mexico will meet for the first time in either team's history on Saturday afternoon as the Lady Bison will also welcome a new head coach to their dugout in Sam Maples. Maples joins the Oklahoma Baptist staff after serving in a variety of roles at Colorado Christian University during which time she had a hand in leading the program to a program-record 43 wins and an appearance in the NCAA Central Regional.

The Bison finished 16-31 last season and were recently picked to finish 10^th in the Great American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Junior Cheyenne Demaree will headline a Lady Bison lineup in 2019 after being named a Second Team All-GAC selection at the end of last year.

Sophomore Katie Long returns as the top pitcher on the staff after making 16 starts last season and posting an ERA of 4.28.

FOLLOW IT UP FRESHMAN  
Jennifer McElroy was one of the top freshman in the Lone Star Conference last season, returning as the top producer in nearly every hitting category and recorded 12 multi-hit games in the 2018 season. She was named a Third Team All-LSC selection at season's end after tying for fourth in the LSC with 15 doubles and leading the Hound's offense with 36 RBI's.

McElroy projects to hit in the heart of the Hound lineup and will need to produce for an offense that lacks the experience that many of their competitors will feature. The Forney, Texas native has had a full year of offseason conditioning and time in a collegiate weight room, so she should be ready to pick up right where she left up a season ago.

TWIN POWER
Seniors Hanna and Emma Gary will both be relied upon in a variety of ways throughout the season and will also be tasked along with the rest of the ENMU seniors to provide leadership as the program gets going in the Zeiter era. Hanna Gary produced the best ERA on the team despite making just seven starts last season and will be expected to be ready to go in the circle early and often as the Hounds have a limited number of pitching options on the roster to start off the year.

Both twins can play multiple positions and will also see time in a variety of different spots throughout the lineup as they get their fourth year of collegiate softball started.

WILL THE HOUNDS RUN?
Eastern New Mexico ranked at the bottom of the LSC with a team batting average of .257 last season and consistently struggled to manufacture runs in other ways throughout the year. A big emphasis for coach Zeiter in year number one will undoubtedly be to press the issue and force the other team to make mistakes in the field.

The 2019 version of the Hounds has proven to be much more active on the base path throughout the preseason scrimmages and will look to get runners in scoring position in a multitude of ways. The Hounds may not have the statistical backing in the past to show that they can be an elite offensive team, but with a newfound focus on small ball Eastern may just surprise some of their competition, beginning this weekend.