Read Nebraska softball coach Rhonda Revelle’s lineup card Thursday, and it won’t include the names of seven starters from last year’s team.
Instead, Revelle will be counting on three players who missed most or all of last year with injuries to step into prominent roles this season, which opens with six games this week in Las Cruces, N.M.
That trio includes Ashley Guile, a sophomore catcher who was the team’s best freshman hitter in 2008, but who redshirted last season after suffering an elbow injury. Also in the group is Robin Mackin, a junior pitcher and former Canadian Olympian who pitched only one game last year after transferring from Fresno State. Finally, there’s Crystal Gonzalez, a junior outfielder whose career has been plagued by injuries since midway through her freshman season in 2007, and who hopes to earn playing time once her hamstring heals.
Combined, Guile, Mackin and Gonzalez accounted for four at-bats and two innings pitched last spring. But Revelle, whose team is slotted fourth in the Big 12 Conference’s pre-season poll and is unranked nationally, is depending on the veteran trio to help lead her club back to national prominence.
“I think Nebraska should be back in the national spotlight and one of the top teams in the country,” Revelle said. “When we get back there, anything can happen.”
Guile, for one, feels she’s ready to help the team get back into that spotlight. She said spending last season training and studying the game has put her in position to build on the .250 batting average she posted two years ago.
“I think it’s taken my game to the next level,” Guile said. “I think last year redshirting was the best year I’ve had so far.”
Revelle said she also sees growth in the true freshman who started 50 games for her in 2008. Now a third-year sophomore, Guile looks to figure prominently in a three-catcher rotation this season.
“She’s a lot better off, honestly, to have had that year of training,” Revelle said. “To mature, to get in better physical condition, to get better mechanics and really to hone in on her catching skills, too.”
Mackin will be one of two pitchers Revelle will look to often this season, the other being sophomore Ashley Hagemann. Mackin starred at Fresno State in 2006 and 2007, where she was named an All-American. She redshirted in 2008 to train with Team Canada and received a medical hardship redshirt after suffering an injury early last year.
Despite the time away from the college game, Revelle said Mackin’s Olympic experience and 1.44 career ERA command the attention of opponents.
“Robin brings immediate respect and credibility to our program just because of what she’s achieved already in her life as a pitcher,” Revelle said. “And she also brings a presence. When she’s on the mound, there’s a presence that our team feels.”
Hagemann, Nebraska’s other pitcher, hopes to build on a 2009 season that saw her post a 6-4 record and a 3.07 ERA, primarily as a backup for Molly Hill. With Hill gone, Hagemann said that she and Mackin’s distinct pitching styles will allow the coaches to select which pitcher is best against a given opponent.
“We’re totally two different pitchers,” Hagemann said. “Coach can come in and pick the best pitcher to beat that team that day. It’s amazing that our coaches can have that ability and have that confidence in us.”
Exactly who plays in the field behind Mackin and Hagemann isn’t certain yet. Although Revelle said she has her infield in place, the outfield remains “wide open.”
Gonzalez, who has played in only three regular season games since March 2007, enters the year as the team’s most experienced outfielder, but likely won’t be ready for action in Las Cruces. Having those open spots in the lineup has helped foster competition in practice, Revelle said, but has also resulted in a tough approach to preparation.
“It’s made for a very competitive and spirited environment,” she said. “We’re not letting anything slip. We’re not doing too many ‘atta girls.’”
That tough practice atmosphere is in preparation for an unforgiving trek through the nation’s southern regions. Starting Thursday, Nebraska will play 26 games against 19 different teams in a five-weekend stretch in New Mexico, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma and Arizona.
The Huskers play a double-header against tournament host New Mexico State on Thursday before matchups with Texas-San Antonio, Texas-El Paso, Colorado State and Penn State.
While the team will wait for winter to leave the Midwest before its home opener March 17, Revelle hopes the combination of foreign environments and tough competition will help prepare her club for a possible post-season run. Guile, however, said the team is just excited to get back on the field.
“I think we’re more excited about putting our cleats back on and putting our spikes in the dirt and getting dirty,” Guile said.
mitchsmith@dailynebraskan.com
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