Preview: 2011 Dallas Softball

The University of Dallas softball team will open their 2011 season on Sunday, Feb. 20, against Huston Tillotson University in Austin, Texas.

After a solid 2010 campaign which produced 18 wins, first year head coach Amber Conner looks to expand on that success.

In 2011, the Lady Crusaders will play 13 home games, while competing in another eleven on the road, including a trip to Arkansas for the Warrior Spring Fling tournament, hosted by Hendrix College in Conway, Ark.  

UD Softball will also play host to the Wyndham Las Colinas Classic in late February (25, 26, 27) and early March (11, 12) which will feature a round robin of eight teams.

Dallas will be returning four letter winners, including senior infielder Cheryl Hinze (Houston, Texas/Langham Creek H.S.), junior outfielder Jessica Mollner (St. Paul, Minn./Convent of The Visitation School), and sophomore infielders Brittany Castro (Houston, Texas/Langham Creek H.S.) and Christina Jeffery (Tomball, Texas/Concordia Lutheran). 

Mollner will provide the firepower, after registering a homerun and 13 RBIs in addition to a .380 batting average in 2010.  Castro, the team leader in runs in 2010, and Hinze, both return from breakout years, after hitting .340 or better in 2010. Jeffery finished second on the team last year in triples, and will look to duplicate that effort in 2011. Freshman first baseman Mallori Westbrook (Carrollton, Texas/Hebron H.S.) also joins the team.