Opponent:
Salem vs. Carolina U. | February 17| 1 p.m. / 3 p.m. | Winston-Salem, N.C. | Blixt Field

SALEM SOFTBALL OPENS 2024 SEASON VERSUS CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
The Salem softball team opens its 12th season on Saturday afternoon when the Spirits tangle with Carolina University at Blixt Field. The season marks the second under Courtney Tucker for the Spirits.

BREAKING DOWN THE 2024 SCHEDULE
This weekend marks the first of eight schedule home doubleheaders for the Spirits in 2024. Salem will host both Carolina University and Wesleyan (Ga.) in February.

Salem will host a pair of home doubleheaders in March, welcoming Averett on March 2nd and Meredith 27 days later to close out the month.

April marks the month with the most home doubleheaders for Salem, which includes clashes with USA South Conference rivals Pfeiffer (April 6), Southern Virginia (April 10), William Peace (April 20) and Mary Baldwin (April 24).

Salem will make 11 road trips over the course of the slate, including their first road trip of the season, which will send the Spirits to Salisbury, N.C., for a meeting with Livingstone on Monday, February 19th.

SALEM IN SEASON OPENERS
The Spirits are 7-14-1 dating back to the program's induction, which came in 2012, in season-opening series. They have claimed two sweeps to open the season, the first of which came in 2013 against William Peace by scores of 9-1 and 2-1. The most recent season-opening sweep for Salem came in 2019, when Salem downed Southern Virginia on February 15th by scores of 10-0 and 10-0.

Averett marked the first opponent for Salem in the 2015 campaign, earning a 3-0 victory in the first game before the two reached a 4-4 deadlock in the second, where the game was suspended in the sixth inning.

SPIRITS PICKED NINTH IN USA SOUTH CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
The Spirits were picked in a ninth-place tie in the 2024 USA South Conference Coaches Preseason Poll alongside Brevard.

Salem capped off the 2023 season with 4-28 mark and a 1-17 record in USA South Conference action. The Spirits ended the slate with three home wins, which came against Livingstone (twice) and Brevard in March.

Pfeiffer, the defending USA South regular season and tournament champions, was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 80 total points and eight of the possible ten first place votes. The Falcons finished last season with a 15-3 regular season Conference record which was good for a third consecutive regular season crown. Greensboro was second in the poll with 69 total points and one first place vote while N.C. Wesleyan claimed third with 59 points. Finally, Meredith rounded out the top-four with 54 points and the final first place vote.

LINEUP RETURNING NEARLY INTACT FOR SPIRITS IN 2024
The Spirits return 10 of 12 players from the 2023 squad, including four of the Top-5 hitters, in 2024. Furthermore, head coach Courtney Tucker will have three pitchers who made at least 14 appearances a season ago at her disposal in the circle.

While Salem lost its top returning hitter from 2023, Carlee McWilliam, due to injury, the Spirits have the combination of Madeline Brown (.325), Savanah Atkins (.244), Kat Price (.237) and Maleah Tate (.214) returning for 2024. That quarter combined for 53 of Salem's 92 runs scored last season and collected a combined 71 hits along the way.

Brown was the top extra-base hitter on the team with nine, while Atkins capped off the slate with eight, including four home runs. Atkins also led the way with 15 RBI, finishing with four more than teammate Shelby LaPoint. Both Brown and Cree Bass finished with the third-most RBI on the season, recording seven apiece.

Stertzbach led Salem in the circle with 32 strikeouts on the campaign, earning the starting nod on 11 occasions. She logged 51 innings along the way and struck out 4.39 batters per seven innings. Gerhardt totaled 19 strikeouts, while Price added 13 of her own. Price closed out the 2023 season with the most innings pitched (78.1) of any hurler.

KAT PRICE CAPSULE: Closed out the 2023 campaign by posting the lowest ERA (5.51) of any Salem pitcher, making 17 appearances and 11 starts along the way … logged a team-best 78.1 innings in the circle, allowing the fewest runs (86), earned runs (48) and walks (16) along the way … recorded 13 strikeouts over the course of the season … responsible for the lowest batting average (.355) by opposing hitters for the Spirits … also made her presence felt at the plate with a .237 batting average, fifth-highest on the team … delivered 14 hits, which tied her for third-fourth alongside teammate Carlee McWilliam.

MADELINE BROWN CAPSULE: Concluded the season as the only player on the Salem roster to play in all 32 contests, making 32 starts along the way … ranked in the Top-3 of 16 different statistical categories for Salem, including slugging percentage (.475-1st), on-base percentage (.423-1st), runs (17-1st), hits (26-1st), doubles (7-1st), triples (1-1st), total bases (38-1st), walks (12-1st), hit by pitch (3-t-1st), sacrifice flies (2-1st), at bats (80-t-1st), plate appearances (97-1st) batting average (.325-2nd), home runs (1-t-2nd), stolen bases (5-2nd) and RBI (7-t-3rd) … left her mark in the field as well, nothing the most put outs (141) and highest fielding percentage (.973) of any Salem defender, helping turn three double plays along the way.

LAURYN FISHER CAPSULE: Appeared in 29 games for Salem, making 28 starts along the way … delivered four hits and five RBI while scoring three runs … drew three walks and had a stolen base … finished out the season with the fourth-most plate appearances (76) of any Salem slugger.

CREE BASS CAPSULE: Played in 30 games, making 30 starts along the way, for the Spirits … finished off the season by ranking in the Top-5 of eight major statistical categories including RBI (7-t-3rd), walks (9-3rd), at bats (73-3rd), runs (8-t-4th), plate appearances (82-4th), doubles (3-4th), total bases (16-4th) and hits (13-5th).

JESSICA PINNIX CAPSULE: Appeared in 20 games, making 19 starts along the way, before having her season end prematurely with a hip injury … capped off the campaign with eight hits and six runs, while driving in five RBI for the Spirits … responsible for two sacrifice bunts on the slate, second-most on the team to Kat Price's seven.

ALLI STERTZBACH CAPSULE: A solid two-way player for Salem, who closed out her first season with the program with the most strikeouts (32) of any pitcher … made 15 appearances in the circle, including 11 starts … tossed the second-most innings (51), while allowing the fewest opponent hits (98) along the way … held opposing hitters to 19 doubles, three triples and four home runs … finished off the season by scoring two runs and drawing six walks in 33 plate appearances.

KATIE GERHARDT CAPSULE: Solid two-way contributor for the Spirits, appearing in 14 games as a pitcher, including 10 starts … earned the most single-season wins (two) of any Salem pitcher … tossed 48.2 innings, allowed 88 runs, 60 earned runs and fanned 19 opposing hitters, second-most on the team … held opposing hitters to 16 doubles and three triples … as a hitter, Gerhardt closed with four hits, four runs scored and connected on a double … drew four walks and posted a .275 on-base percentage.

SAVANAH ATKINS CAPSULE: Wrapped up her senior season by playing and starting 30 games, missing just two contests as she transitioned from basketball … finished in the Top-5 in 13 statistical categories in 2023 for Salem, including RBI (13-1st), home runs (4-1st), runs (16-2nd), hits (19-2nd), doubles (4-t-2nd), total bases (35-2nd), at bats (78-2nd), slugging percentage (.449-3rd), batting average (.244-3rd), hit by pitch (2-t-3rd), walks (7-4th) and on-base percentage (.318-5th).

MALEAH TATE CAPSULE: One of four first-year players on the Salem roster … was a speedy outfielder who wrapped up the season tied for the second-most outs (65) along with Savanah Atkins … played and started in 31 games for the Spirits … wrapped up the season by ranking in the Top-5 in five statistical categories, including stolen bases (12-1st), steal attempts (13-1st), walks (10-2nd), runs scored (12-3rd) and on-base percentage (.333-3rd).

SHELBY LaPOINT CAPSULE: One of four first-year players on the Salem roster … capped off her first season in the blue and gold by playing and starting in 31 contests … made an impression on the Salem roster by ranking in the Top-5 of eight major statistical categories, including at bats (80-t-1st), RBI (11-2nd), home runs (2-t-2nd), hits (16-3rd), total bases (23-3rd), plate appearances (88-3rd), slugging percentage (.288-4th) and walks (7-t-4th).

In addition to her 10 returnees from 2023, Tucker added 11 first year players to the roster this season. Tucker picked up six in-state recruits (Madison Long, Griffin Pearce, Karma Morrison, Taela Belcher, Carmen Duffey and Ashlyn Stokes) along with one each from Georgia (Aiden McDowell), Tennessee (Rheanne Tullock), South Carolina (Amy McLamb), Illinois (Isabella Morales) and Virginia (Cassandra Miller).

HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
The Spirits have clashed with Carolina University on four occasions in program history with the Bruins coming away with three wins. All four games have taken place at Blixt Field with the first-ever meeting, which took place on March 5, 2022, serving as an away game for Salem after Carolina's usual field unplayable due to weather.

The Bruins swept the doubleheader on March 5th by scores of 15-5 and 4-3, giving them the first two wins in the series. Salem hosted Carolina just over a month later on April 24th, claiming a 5-3 win in the first game of the series before the Bruins bounced back to take game two by a 13-9 margin.