Wittenberg Softball 2021 Season Preview

Wittenberg Softball 2021 Season Preview
March 3, 2021

The Wittenberg Tigers Softball team returns to action on Thursday, March 4. Returning to action for the first time in nearly a year, the Tigers return to action traveling to Hanover Collee, taking on the Panthers in a doubleheader starting at 3:00PM. 

The Tigers will take the field with six seniors leading the way, including Elaina Adams, Mary Britton, Elise Freeland, Alex Gibson, and the sister duo of Katelyn Niswonger and Megan Niswonger. Adams has seen the field 63 times as a Tiger, slapping 11 hits and scoring 20 runs for the Red and White. Britton and Katelyn Niswonger lead the pitching staff with a combined 295 career innings pitched while in the circle at Wittenberg. Britton posted a 1.19 ERA in 2020, ranking 1st in the NCAC. She also went 4-0 in her outings, striking out 12 batters and only allowing 8 runs. Katelyn Niswonger posted a 2-2 record a season ago, striking out 26 batters while only allowing 11 earned runs for a 2.22 ERA, ranking her 5th in the NCAC. Freeland comes off a First Team All-North Coast Athletic Conference season from 2019 and carried that success into the shortened 2020 campaign, as she maintained a batting average of .444 and a slugging percentage of .611, tallying 16 hits and scoring nine runs. Freeland's slugging percentage ranked 4th in the NCAC and was also 1st in the NCAC in triples with 3. Gibson has 203 total at-bats in her time at Wittenberg batting .276 with 56 hits and scoring 27 runs. Megan Niswonger will command the infield from behind the dish for the Red and White this season. In her career, she has maintained a .292 batting average and a .310 slugging percentage while logging 33 hits, 19 RBI's, and crossing home 11 times. Behind the plate, she has 149 putouts and 26 assists.

The Red and White also look for juniors Clara Andersen and Nikki Hawkins to build upon their 2020 success and play vital roles this season. Andersen has played in 37 games heading into her junior season and has 100 total at-bats. She has maintained a .270 batting average while driving in 10 runs on 27 hits and crossing home 9 times. Hawkins has seen similar success, batting .292 in her two seasons with the Tigers and driving in 11 runners on 31 hits and crossing home 17 times.

Check out the full schedule below.