Softball season is upon us and reigning AAC regular champion FAU is looking to continue their success in year 3 under their fearless leader Jordan Clark. The Owls won 41 games in 2024 which marked their most successful year since their 2016 season that ended with 51 wins and a regional appearance.
Although last season didn’t end in glorious fashion, it was an important step in the right direction for Coach Clark and Co, as after their 2023 season ended with a CUSA tournament loss but no regional appearance, they received an at-large bid due to a schedule which featured wins over Michigan State, Louisville, Michigan, and series wins over Charlotte and Wichita State. Now with success under their belt, FAU will look to build on that in 2025 and return to the consistent success that saw Joan Joyce reach an NCAA regional in 7 out of 8 seasons from 1999-2006.
The Owls will have their coach back in 2025 which in the AAC isn’t a given after success, as co-regular season champion Charlotte lost their coach Ashley Chastain to the University of South Carolina, however Coach Clark is looking to build something here and with an influx of new talent alongside key returners, this program is on a path to doing exactly that. It is not just Clark who is looking to build something at FAU, it is a majority of her staff as well, as only one assistant departed, leaving the Owls with continuity both on the field and in the dugout.
With FAU looking to build on their success, they have built the schedule to allow for that, featuring 7 games against power 4 opponents, including Clemson and Ole Miss who are both receiving votes for the AP top 25 preseason poll. The stars are aligning for potentially another successful season in Paradise, however with the success FAU had in 2024 they will be going from the hunters to the hunted this season, which will make every game that much more difficult.
The Staff-
Head Coach- Jordan Clark (Year 3)
Assistant Coach- Nicole Newman (Year 3)
Assistant Coach- Shelby Petik (Year 1)
Assistant Coach- Katelynn De Leon (Year 1)
Graduate Assistant- Elizabeth Hightower (Year 2)
Graduate Assistant- Dezarae Maldonado (Year 2)
Graduate Assistant- Trinity Schlotterbeck (Year 1)
Breakdown
The largest staff for Coach Clark during her 3 years in paradise expands by 2 as one departure has been matched with 3 additions, 2 of which have experience directly with FAU.
Nicole Newman returns for her 3rd year as pitching coach for the Owls, back to lead a rotation that notched a combined sub-3 era this past season, while also allowing the fewest walks in the AAC with 186. She is joined by GA’s Elizabeth Hightower and Dezarae Maldonado, who both are back for year 2 bringing different expertise, with Hightower a former pitcher at the University of Florida, where she pitched for 5 seasons and recording 14 combined shutouts, while Maldonado was an infielder at USF from 2019-2022, making an NCAA regional in 2022, a year where she batted .270.
Shelby Petik fills the open assistant role vacated by Taylor Smartt, who accepted the head coaching job at UAB. Petik heads to FAU after 3 years at the JUCO level, where she was the head Coach of Eastern Florida State College and led them to a 40 win season just a year ago. Petik will bring in immense hitting expertise, as EFSC was number one in the nation in sacrifice hits and she herself was a hitting coach at Presbyterian, her Alma Mater where she is the career record holder for doubles, home runs, RBIs, total bases, walks and games played.
The other two newcomers to the staff aren’t necessarily new to Boca, as Trinity Schlotterbeck and Kate De Leon join the staff less than a year after graduation and will help carry over the winning tradition from a season ago. De Leon will be crucial in helping the multiple catchers on the roster and Schlotterbeck will be able to provide pitching expertise to a staff that will be looking to build on their success from a season ago.
Quotable from FAU Coach Jordan Clark on the staff:
On fostering a successful coaching dynamic:
“I always say this business is about people first, and you want to be in a job where you love who you’re around every day. And so, luckily, we were good enough last season, and with success brings opportunities to your assistance. With our assistant. Last year, it was able to get Taylor Smartr a head coaching job. And I tell our girls all the time, you want to be so good that we give opportunities to our staff. We hope our staff stays forever, but we’re going to be excited when they get to go other places. And so with that, we’ve gotten to keep Nicole Newman. She’s our OG. She is our pitching coach. She’s been with us from the start. She’s been phenomenal to have Gabby Sacco, player of the year, pitcher of the year, her first year to have Trinity as an All American last year. It’s just been really impressive to see what she’s done with our staff. And just to have consistency with me, I’m a big personality. I am going to ride the waves of emotion. And Nicole is calm, cool and collected, which is really good for our team. We added Shelby Petik, who was a head coach at the JUCO level last year, she won a lot of games. She’s had to do a lot of things. And so with that, it comes with, you want to be around great people, and Shelby is an amazing human. She works hard. She’s invested in not only me, but the girls, this place. She’s originally from Fort Lauderdale, so she has her heart in South Florida, which makes it even more special. And then we’ve got Kate De Leon. Kate was a player for us last year, and I’m usually really picky about hiring former players because they played with our current athletes. But the way Kate’s been able to come in and be super professional and to be creative and just to bring a different dynamic has been really special. And so what makes FAU softball FAU softball is the development, and I think that we do an amazing job of letting our players know that they are people first, and they are athletes second, and we want them to know that we care about their parents, their significant others, their dogs, and constantly checking in with them. And so our staff has helped this thing grow really fast,” Clark said.
On bringing Former players back as assistants:
“Yeah, we always talk about business, right? You want to be a business. You want to have a business, professional relationship. And you just want to ask yourself that, if you were sitting in my seat as a head coach, what would you want your assistants to act like towards your players? And so that’s really important for me. It’s something that in my 10 years of coaching, I’ve seen good examples and bad examples. And so it’s important that I make that known in the beginning of what I want from them. And I think Trinity, Elizabeth, Kate, they’ve done an amazing job of going from being a player to a professional. And I commend our players, because our players aren’t trying to be their best friends either. And I think that that’s pretty special when everybody knows the mission and they’ve just done a good job with it,” Clark said.
How her previous coaching experiences shaped her as a head coach:
“It’s been everything to me. And so I got to start in the SEC, which not a lot of people get to say that I got to go to a regionals, go to a super regionals in my first three years of coaching. And so I’ve gotten to be on the big stage, going to Ohio State. I was able to run the offense, run the defense. And so my hands were in a lot more things. And so those working for Kelly, Shane Lee at Ohio State and working for Courtney Deifel at Arkansas, it’s every day like I’ll do something, and I see bits and pieces of them. And so whether you have a good working experience or a bad working experience, it’s what do you learn from it? And so I was thankful that I had two awesome experiences, and so I get to bring pieces of that here, but it’s also important to make sure our girls know that I’m not trying to make it Ohio State and Arkansas, that this is FAU, but I’m forever indebted to those two. They gave me a chance. I always tell Courtney she took a chance on me, and she was like, I didn’t take a chance on you. I was like, I was a school teacher, like I was a sixth grade teacher that got into college coaching because she took a chance on me, and so that has opened my mind up to hiring people like an Elizabeth, a Trinity and a Kate, is that it takes one person to believe in you, and so those experiences are priceless, and I still talk to a lot of those athletes,” Clark said.
Quotable from Ainsley Lambert on the Coaching Staff:
On the Impact of Trinity and Kate being on staff:
“I think for returners, it’s a big help, because we obviously had a different relationship with them last year. They were our teammates last year, and now they’re our coaches. So yes, they technically are our superiors now, even though last year, we were equals, and so I think having a relationship last year has actually made our coach to player relationship even better than it was like I have a different dynamic with Coach Kate and coach Trinity than I do With Coach Nicole or coach Jordan or coach Shelby. It’s a different dynamic because we knew each other so personally last year that now it’s just helped build into this beautiful thing where there’s more, there’s more back and forth when it comes to coaching and having a conversation about, okay. So you know this happened at practice? Well, it’s like, okay, I can go up to Trinity and be like, Well, what did you think of this? And then I can give her the same different feedback of, oh, well, this is what I thought. And so it’s very easy to have really good conversations with them, because we had a different relationship with them last year,” Lambert said
On Jordan Clark:
“So I was actually, I was coach Jordan’s first recruit here after she got the job. And I want it was 2023, she got the job, and I was her first recruit here. And I just remember meeting the woman and immediately trusting her, immediately trusting her and knowing she’s got my best intentions at heart. She wants the best for me. That’s what I knew from day one of meeting her, and so ever since that day, I have had full faith, full trust in her, I believe in her 100% I never question her, her tactics, why she does what she does, because she has this way with her personality that makes you believe that you can trust her from the moment you meet her and so playing behind her, having that trust and really believing in someone that much gives you, I think, gives you a leg up, because if you’re put you can’t tell me you’re gonna play the same for a coach that you don’t trust you’re not you’re gonna play way harder, way better for a coach that you trust and believe in 100% and so I think she has that personality trait about her that makes it so easy to play under her. She’s a fireball, and I love it too,” Lambert said.
Returning Players:
Pitcher- Gabby Sacco, Senior, 12-4 3.38 ERA 22 GS
Pitcher- Ainsley Lambert, Senior, 9-2 2.41 ERA 35 appearances
Pitcher- Kelsey Endress, Junior, No decisions 1.05 ERA 6 appearances
Pitcher- Jaden Martinez, Junior, 4-3 3.52 ERA 20 appearances, 10 GS
INF/2B- Cam Orland, Senior, .239 20 RBIs 9 Stolen Bases
INF- Yani Guzman, Junior, 1 appearance in 2024
INF- Bella Cimino, Sophomore, 6 appearances in 2024
INF- Kiley Channell, Sophomore, .333 1 HR 35 RBIs
INF- Jesiana Mora, Junior, .393 1 HR 45 RBIs
C- Corin Dammeier, Sophomore, appeared in one game
OF- Abby Ota, Senior, .333 across 28 games
OF- Kylie Hammonds, Redshirt Sophomore, .306 1 HR 8 RBIs across 43 games
Breakdown
The Owls return many contributors from 2024, as they will have the right balance of veteran leadership and new talent both on the pitching staff and in the field.
In terms of the pitching staff, Gabby Sacco, Ainsley Lambert and Jaden Martinez all saw significant playing time this past season with Sacco serving 2nd in the rotation behind Trinity Schlotterbeck, Lambert coming out of the bullpen and Martinez as the Owls 3rd starter. Lambert revitalized herself after moving to the bullpen since coming to FAU and now with nearly 2 seasons of it under her belt, this season figures to be a dominant one out of the pen.
The starting rotation will feature some newcomers, however Sacco and Martinez will provide some stability and both will look to take a step up in 2025. Martinez saw significant playing action for the first time in her collegiate career after transferring from USF this past season, notching a sub 4 era and a 31-17 SO-BB ratio, and in similar fashion to Lambert now with experience under her belt, 2025 could potentially be a breakout season.
In the infield, Cam Orland, Kiley Channell and Jesiana Mora bring success and experience back to the Owls in 2025 and all 3 will figure to be a critical part of what FAU does this season. Channell is coming off her breakout freshman season where she earned AAC freshman of the year honors and cemented herself as a clutch player many times throughout the season, setting herself up to be a star to watch for the Owls this upcoming year.
Taking a look at the outfield, the Owls only return Abby Ota and Kylie Hammonds, both of whom contributed heavily during their 2024 campaigns, mainly coming off of the bench, but with the departures of Kam Jackson, Cammeto Presutti the door will be open for more playing time and potentially a starting role. Both will have breakout potential this season, however Hammonds is someone to watch for as she was able to bat .306 across 43 games last season and with an expanded role in 2025 that could potentially skyrocket.
Quotable from Jordan Clark:
On her first time meeting with Ainsley Lambert:
“I’ll never forget Ansley’s visit. And you know her experience at her previous school didn’t go as planned. And I kept remembering, on her visit, she kept talking about her old school, and I finally looked at her and I said, Hey, we are not going to wear those colors. We are not going to talk about that school ever again. And you have to know that if you’re coming here, we’re going to love you, we’re going to coach you, and you have to give us a chance. And so I do think that because I was a teacher first, and I have never been the biggest recruit. I’m five foot two. I’m, you know, I’ve had to kind of put myself in conversations, and I’ve had to put myself in the room, and it hasn’t been handed to me that I truly believe in the value of making someone feel special and trying to go above and beyond, to make them feel like they matter outside of softball, whether it’s a text at night, a text after practice, you know, a Chick Fil a date, a coffee date, and you know, being open with families as well, that when they have a good day, texting a mom or dad and telling them that their kids doing a good job. And so that’s important to me, that winning is one thing, but your legacy of how you make people feel is going to last forever. And that’s my goal, is that people leave here and know that I might have been a tough coach. I might have yelled at him, maybe cussed at him a couple times, but at the end of the day, like I love her and I want to be in their lives after this,” Clark said
Thoughts on the outfield & Kylie Hammonds:
“I feel really good about our outfield actually Kylie Hammonds, who you guys got to hear from earlier. She is a beast, and she was sending them out over the hitting facility yesterday. And so I was just smiling, going, we’re going to be okay,” Clark said.
Thoughts on Kiley Channell & Jesiana Mora:
“I mean, if you’ve ever met Jesiana and you’ve met Kylie, they are very confident. They know they’re good. They don’t have to be told they’re good. And so for them, they are just doing what they always do, and they’re prepping the same way. You know, I think that deep down, you’re gonna feel pressure, but they’re so good that we have others around them that, you know, they’re gonna have to get good pitches to hit. People are gonna have to throw to them, and they’re gonna get an opportunity with Jesiana. She’s a five tool player. She can slap, she can hit, she can bunt. With Kylie. She’s gonna be your kid that’s gonna hit for power. She’s gonna hit doubles. She’s gotten stronger. She’s put some more muscle on so I think that’s going to help her as well. She’s been working on the mental part of the game and feeling that. So we are thankful that they are owls and that they are a big part of this. And the beauty is that they don’t just have this year. They have multiple years, which is, which is nice to have, is that the team is kind of rallied around them. They are considered leaders on this team, and so with that, they don’t take it lightly,” Clark said.
Ainsley Lambert and Kylie Hammonds Quotable:
Lambert on her success in 2024:
“Sophomore year, whenever I transferred here, I didn’t have a set role. Pitching wise, it was, you could be a starter, you could be a reliever. Well, about, I would say, the midway point of this season. My sophomore year, Coach Jordan and I had a conversation of, hey, you do better in the relief role you are, you know, you are a closer at heart. We know that’s what you’re good at. We’re going to have you stick to that for the rest of the year. And so it took going from sophomore year to junior year to realize, hey, you’re way better in the relief role. And so I also think my mindset changed, like a flip switched to where I went from, oh, I’m gonna be a starter, reliever. No, no, you’re just gonna be a reliever. That’s your focus. And once I figured out what my role was, and how I could be so good in that role. That’s what gave me the confidence to keep doing it and just being in relief and giving this team the best opportunity to win every game,” Lambert said.
Lambert on what she’s looking to improve this season:
“Just perfecting my craft, adding a few things here or there. Let’s say I was getting six inches of break last year. We’re trying to add seven to eight inches of break this year. So really, just perfecting my craft and building on what I’m already good at, we’re not changing anything. We’re not making a different picture. Just because I was a spin pitcher last year doesn’t mean you change who you are, what you do, day in and day out, we’ve come back, and we’re doing the same things, just making me better in different ways, in small ways, so I can have a leg up on the competition,” Lambert said.
Hammonds on coming off the bench in 2024:
“It’s always a little disappointing to know that, like you’re not starting the game, you’re not in the starting lineup, but I really just had to get past that and know my ability. I always knew that I was capable of being a starter or just contributing anyway to the team. So just, I definitely turned my mentality, just being the best teammate I could be if someone went out before me, I was ready if I needed to go in, I’m gonna pick them up, and I’m gonna do my best and definitely just learning to play a role. I actually loved my role last year,” Hammonds said.
Hammonds on her role in 2025:
“I don’t think the mentality changes. I’m just going out there to play my game, be the best player I can be, definitely. Just building off of my game, building off my confidence from last year definitely helped to get some experience last year, so just building off of that definitely gonna help this year,” Hammonds said.
New additions:
Pitcher- Emma Grace Williams, Freshman, Buford GA
Pitcher- Autumn Courtney, Junior, Transfer from Queens (NC)
Utility- Destiny Johns, Freshman, Groveland, FL
Utility- Ciara Gibson , Sophomore, Transfer from Liberty
Utility- Camrynn Guthrie, Freshman, Burnet Texas
Utility- Brooke Kuczyynski, Freshman, Downers Grove, Illinois
Utility- Emilie Ching, Freshman, Windermere FL
Utility- Annika Segedi, Freshman, Trenton Michigan
Catcher- Sophia Camacho, Freshman, Boca Raton FL
Catcher- Chloe Yeatts, Junior, New Mexico
Outfielder- Bella Foran, Freshman, Hoover AL
Outfielder- Kiley Shelton, Sophomore, Transfer from Colgate
Breakdown:
FAU has added several impactful transfers both through high school and the portal and combined with those who they retained there will be an abundance of talent in paradise this season.
In the pitching department, Emma Grace Williams is the lone freshman pitcher joining the Owls and she comes to FAU after a High School career where she went 28-1, also earning a winning decision in the 2023 title game. Williams is joined by Autumn Courtney, who joins the pitching staff after 2 very successful seasons at Queens, where this past season she pitched to a 1.58 era over 213.1 IP, going 21-11 and striking out 257 batters to only 45 walks. It is unknown how big of a role Williams will play this season, however Courtney is expected to be a major workhorse for this staff as she looks to build on her previous success in paradise.
Multiple freshman utility players joined FAU this season, but the one to keep an eye on is Ciarra Gibson, a sophomore transfer from Liberty, who played in a limited role this past season but could see that role expand in 2025. Gibson was ranked as the 85th ranked player in the Extra Inning Softball National Rankings as a junior in high school and she will bring elite level contact to FAU.
Behind the dish, FAU brings in 2 new additions, Sophia Camacho, a freshman from Boca Raton and Chloe Yeatts, a transfer from New Mexico. Camacho batted .407 while totaling 66 hits and 54 runs during her High School career and has the potential to be a future staple at the catcher position. Yeatts is someone that has a chance to take control of the catching job this season, as she batted .265 with 10 homers and 34 RBIs this past season at New Mexico and that type of power could make her a fan favorite at FAU.
In the outfield, keeping up with the traditions of productive Kiley’s, Kiley Shelton joins Owls after a freshman of the year season in the Patriot league a season ago at Colgate. Last year, Shelton batted .324 with 5 home runs with 28 RBIs, also recording a .933 fielding percentage with 3 Putouts from the outfield.
There are a lot of additions that it is not exactly known where they will slot in this season for FAU softball, but Chloe Yeatts, Autumn Courtney and Kiley Shelton all will be day one impact players for the Owls this season.
Quotable from Jordan Clark:
Clark on the additions of Autumn Courtney & Chloe Yeatts:
“”So if you guys have followed us at all, it’s going to be a completely different team. It’s going to be a completely different vibe, which makes it fun. And autumn is autumn. Her numbers speak for itself. And we keep telling her, like, hey, what you did was great at Queens, however, is that gonna translate to the America, is it gonna translate against some of this top, top competition? We don’t know yet. And so we have to make sure that we’re not complacent with last year and just expect that it’s going to happen. And so we’ve really pushed her buttons a little bit, and we’ve challenged her in the bullpen to have an open mind and to do some different things. And within the last two weeks, there’s like a light bulb that’s gone off with her. And we scrimmaged this past Sunday, and she made our hitters look silly. And as the offensive coach, I’m sitting there going, okay, is this a good thing? Is this a bad thing? But everybody knows in softball, if you have pitching, you’re going to be okay. And so autumn is a blessing. We are so thankful that Autumn chose paradise. She’s one that the minute she went into the portal, I had that thing circled, I had her highlighted, and I was like, I’m not losing this one. And so, so we’re happy for her. I think Chloe is going to be a big surprise for everybody. Chloe comes from New Mexico. She’s a small town Oklahoma kid, and let me tell you what, when she gets in front of the camera, you’re gonna fall in love with her. She is the epitome of what you want on this team. And I think transferring gets a bad rap. I think that people think transferring is a bad thing. I think transferring gives kids a new opportunity to become the best versions of themself. I think that sometimes kids come in with baggage and whatnot, but Chloe is going to catch, Chloe is going to hit. And if Chloe can hit and Autumn can pitch, the owls are going to be really good this year. And if they can’t, then we’re going to get creative and we’re going to figure out ways to help them until they can get started,” Clark said.
Clark on new additions combining with returners:
”I said this the other day, and I truly believe one through 24 we’ve got six pitchers, 18 hitters, and we’ve got 18 girls that could take an at bat at any point this season, which I couldn’t tell you, that the past two seasons you’ve had your core group. But as far as some names that you’ll see that are new, you’ve got a Cierra Gibson who transferred from Liberty. She was hurt all last season. I think she’s the sleeper in the bunch. I think that she has this presence. She’s quiet, but she’s also dynamic. You’ve got Chloe, who we talked about. She’s gonna be your Trinity. She is gonna be an all or nothing. She’s hitting it off the wall, and she’s gonna hit the ball at you about 80 miles an hour. You’ve got a Bella Foran, who’s a Slapper and who’s gonna put the ball in play, and who’s gonna make a mess, who is gonna be replacing a similar to Cammeo. You’ve got Jesiana, who’s just on a completely different level, Kylie Chanel, who’s obviously back. You’ve got Kiley Shelton, transfer from Colgate, who is the Freshman of the Year, who’s a big lefty bat that has the ability to hit doubles in home runs. So I think it’s gonna be a balanced lineup. I think it’s gonna be a lineup that we’re gonna have our fair share of growth and learning, and it might not be pretty at times. And the one thing we talk about is we’re gonna blunt, we’re gonna steal, we are going to hit and run like we are going to find ways to score, and it’s up to our pitchers to give us time to get comfortable in seven innings,” Clark said.
Clark on the pitching staff:
“This pitching staff, we’ve got six pitchers, we’ve got Jaden Martinez, we’ve got and she’s, she’s gonna be our lefty, and I think she is the key to this. And so you know, if she’s gonna watch this, and she’s gonna feel pressure, but you know she is someone that last year was getting comfortable, she transferred to us. And so I think she’s gonna be a key component. You’ve got Gabby, is gonna be a bulldog. Gabby is gonna compete. Gabby’s gonna look different this year. And then you’ve got Emma Grace, you’ve got Kelsey, who you haven’t heard a lot about. And I think that’s the beauty, is they get to write their own story, and they get to decide how this season goes and what they do with their opportunities. But I truly do believe we’re going to have six pitchers. We’ve got four girls who are going to start it for us, and we’ve got two that are going to close it for us. And that’s going to kind of be our philosophy this season. We just have to figure out what order, what are the best matchups you could see three pitchers in one game, if we want to sandwich it, and we really want to try to throw some people off, and so the success will come if the pitching staff can do a good job,” Clark said.
What’s Ahead:
The Owls will open their season with a major tournament, the Paradise Classic, as FAU will take on Ole Miss (RV) and Kansas in a doubleheader against FAU on 2/6, Clemson (RV) and Georgia State on Friday 2/7 and will close out the Paradise Classic with matchups against Missouri State on Saturday 2/8 and Georgia State again on Sunday 2/9.
They will then host the Joan Joyce classic the following weekend, as they will face off against Minnesota on Thursday 2/13, Villanova on Friday 2/14, a double header against NC State and Dartmouth on 2/15 and lastly a matchup with Louisville on Sunday 2/16.
Following a matchup at home against FIU on 2/19, the Owls will hit the road for a pair of back to back road tournaments with one home game in between, facing off against LIU, Stetson and Marist in the Stetson Invitational 2/21-2/23 before heading back home for a matchup with UCF on 2/26. They will then head to Clarksville Tennessee for the Austin Peay invitational where they will match up against Morehead State, Northern Kentucky and Austin Peay.
The Owls will close out Non-conference play with matchups against MTSU and Toledo on 3/3 and 3/5 before jumping right into the thick of AAC play, hosting Wichita for a 3 game series 3/7-3/9, before heading on the road the following weekend to face off against former FAU assistant Taylor Smartt and UAB 3/14-3/16. The Gauntlet doesn’t stop there as after those 2 series they will head back home for a 3 game set against Co-AAC champion Charlotte from 3/21-3/23.
After those tough 3 series, the Owls will close AAC play with series against UTSA, USF, UNT, ECU, Memphis and Tulsa, also heading to FIU for a 1 game road trip in between UTSA and USF on 4/2.
Quotable from Jordan Clark:
Jordan Clark on the tournaments and competing for an at-large:
“I always say, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, and you have to get yourself in that conversation. And last year, to be a mid major that got an at large bid to regionals was huge, and you have to do that based on your schedule. And the American Conference is a great conference, but you never know what it’s going to look like, who’s going to transfer in, who’s going to transfer out. So what you can control is who you play in the front half. Your first 25 games are really important. And so we open up with Ole Miss. We have Kansas coming in, second play, Clemson, third game. So when you look at our schedule, you see these big names. And so the goal is for our girls to understand that what makes us different, if you look head to head, we had a better RPI than Ole Miss last year, right? And Kansas didn’t make the tournament. We made the tournament. And so there’s little things that we have to continue to push our girls to understand that I don’t care if you’re power four or what you are, a good matchup is a good matchup. So we’re going to challenge them. We’re gonna this year we’ve got two home tournaments, two away tournaments, so making sure we go on the road, making sure we do some different things, so that it’s not the same every single year. I think you look at some programs and they have the same opponents, the same travel schedule, and they kind of rotate it each year for us, we’re gonna bring in as many people as we can, our grounds crew. We’re forever thankful for them, because we punch in a lot of teams, a lot of games in one weekend, but we want to have a really good schedule so we can be in the conversation at the end of the year. I tell the girls all the time, we’re going to try to win conference, and if we can’t win conference, we’re not going to panic, but we’re going to take care of business so that our name can be called at the end of the year if for some reason, the conference tournament doesn’t go our way,” Clark said.
Clark on being the hunted Vs the hunter:
“Yeah, I think last year we were the sleeper, right? Like, it’s the game on the schedule, where you’re like, Okay, FAU. And now I think it’s one where you have to really decide, okay, who am I gonna pitch? What’s our strategy? And so there comes a little bit of pressure with that, but I do think that, you know, ultimately, we just got to be the best versions of ourselves, and we just got to go out and play, and we got to know that, you know, it doesn’t matter the opponent that we are playing, that we’ve got to treat every single one of them the same. From a preparation standpoint, I will say, like hearing our girls talk a little bit like they’re really excited for certain games. And I keep reminding them that, like, Hey, these are the actual games that you need to focus on. They just get excited, and they have friends on all these other schools and teams and or you start to see with girls. I don’t know if baseball is similar to this, but maybe schools that didn’t recruit them or didn’t offer them as much. And so there’s this personal, like vendetta against them that they want to do well against them. And so it’s kind of fun hearing those stories, and you get to learn a lot about what their process was in recruiting. And so, yeah, I mean, I think that the beauty in this, and I tell the girls and this is an advantage that we have, is me coming from an Ohio State and from an Arkansas we treat this place like, it’s a power four. We treat this place from the way that we’re gonna travel, besides charter flights, the hotels, the flights, the food, the uniforms, the everything. Like, I don’t want them to walk away going, Man, I want to go to an Ole Miss because they have this, this and this. Do they have a nicer facility? Yeah. But I tell our girls, if you can get past that piece, we treat this the exact same. And so kind of prepping them in that mentality that you have what they have. Then, why are we scared? Or why are we circling that opponent to make that a bigger game than what it is? So that’s important for us,” Clark said.