ATLANTA – The Georgia State softball season came to a close on Friday, May 13th, as the Panthers fell to Troy in the Sun Belt Conference tournament. But not before making it further than they have in the last five years.
The team finishes the season with improvements from last year in both their overall record and home record, showing the influence of the team's new coach, Angie Nicholson.
In her first year as the Panthers' head coach, Nicholson led her squad through a rollercoaster of a season which featured some lows alongside some highs, such as their victory over a ranked opponent (#22 Louisiana) in March.
Perhaps the largest highlights for the team this past season were setting a new school stolen-base record with over 100 bags stolen, as well as boasting a 3.71 team GPA for the spring semester, the third highest of any team at GSU.
Individually, the stellar stolen base numbers were led by Daisy Hess, Emily Brown, and Chloe Middlebrooks, each of whom stole over twenty bases during the season. Their efforts on the base path were complemented by some stellar hitting, in which no one performed better than Junior Bailee Richardson, who hit for a batting average of .321 and 10 home runs.
The team also performed wonderfully in their academics, with six players on the AD honor roll, 14 on the dean's list, and five on the president's list for the spring semester. President's list
honors (a GPA of 4.0+) were granted to Caroline Brownlee, Skylar Chavez, Carolyn Deady, Jaycee Goodwin, and Bailee Richardson.
The team's successes, most saliently in the classroom and on the base path, have come directly from Coach Nicholson's unique style, emphasizing work ethic and staying aggressive in the face of adversity.
Early in the season, Nicholson noted that speed and base running seemed like strengths of her Panthers that may offer the team a leg up on their competition.
"My first goal was to see them, and see what their athletic ability was, so that's what we did the first few weeks. We put them in, and said hey let's go, and I was able to evaluate and say that, hmm, this team's actually faster than it would say on paper."
Speaking more broadly about her coaching philosophy, Nicholson added that the strengths she saw in her Panthers were just the sort she had been accustomed to coaching throughout her career.
