The UCA softball team is polishing up on the diamond as they prepare for the season ahead.
The Bears will take the field for the first time for the 2024 season on Feb. 9 against Notre Dame at the NFCA Leadoff Classic tournament in Clearwater, Florida.
Coming off its winningest season in the program’s history with a 45-12 record (22-2 ASUN), as well as winning both the ASUN Conference regular season and tournament titles, the team is still hungry for a win.
Coach Jenny Parsons, who took over the program in June 2021, said that the goal every year is the same: To do better than the year before.
“The goal every year is to win the ASUN regular season, ASUN Conference tournament. Our ultimate goal is to make the NCAA regionals again and hopefully move on further than we did last year,” Parsons said.
The Bears have added some new players to their lineup for the upcoming season.
“We have a young squad this year. I’ve returned, I think, five starters from last year’s team, so it’ll be interesting to see how they compete in the spring,” Parsons said.
The team uses the offseason to help teach the fundamentals and expectations of the UCA softball program.
“The fall is a lot of teaching, a lot of development, instruction and teaching our design as far as what we expect defensively and offensively,” Parsons said.
After spending the offseason practicing against themselves, the team is ready to see how it matches up against opponents.
“It’s a tough schedule, but we’re looking forward to getting out and competing again and playing against somebody besides our own self like we’ve played against all fall,” Parsons said.
While looking forward to facing its ASUN Conference opponents, the team is also interested in seeing how they compete against bigger, successful teams.
“We play [the University of] Oklahoma twice in Lake Charles at the McNeese tournament. They’ve won the national championships three times in a row, so that’ll be interesting games,” Parsons said.
Last season, the Bears beat Arkansas for the first time in program history, both on the road and at home. The Razorbacks are on their schedule once again, and Parsons said last year’s experience makes her excited to compete against them again.
“We had a great crowd last year, hopefully, we can be in the same situation,” Parsons said.
The game against Arkansas on April 11, 2023, broke an attendance record at the Farris Field as the Bears shut out the Razorbacks 4-0. The teams will meet again in Fayetteville on March 6 and in Conway on April 30.
The 2024 softball season is right around the corner and the Bears will play their first game at home on Friday, Feb. 23 against Purdue University.
Despite having a young roster, the team is looking for success in the upcoming season and is simply eager to play.
“We’re ready. We’re excited about competing and getting after it again. It’ll be largely a different team than we had last year,” Parsons said.