HARROGATE, Tenn. — The way the Lincoln Memorial University softball team finished the last two seasons warrants a lack of expectation from across the South Atlantic Conference.
 
Missing two conference tournaments in consecutive years will do that, placing a label as one of the bottom-tier teams, but this 2019 softball squad, which was picked eighth in the SAC Preseason Poll, isn't worried about the outside perception.
  
 "Going into it, you're hoping to sneak up on a few teams that aren't thinking too highly of us until after we play them," LMU second-year head coach Ritchie Richardson said. "I'm not disappointed at all by being picked eighth in the preseason poll. We are extremely excited about the season. We are a new team since last year.
 
"We had 10 new players come in this summer in our first recruiting class, and they've been great additions to our program. I'm equally as excited about the returning players. We have some outstanding returners coming back. I tell you what — when you put those kids with the strong recruiting class that we had, I think good things are going to happen this year."
 
LMU won't have to wait too much longer to make the buzz its feeling around Dorothy Neely Field visible when the Lady Railsplitters host Maryville University and Walsh University this weekend for six total games among the trio, starting at noon Saturday.
 
The Lady Railsplitters will look a lot different this season, sporting those newcomers Richardson mentioned plus the returners that make this LMU squad one to keep an eye on.
 
"We certainly have more depth this year," Richardson said. "Gosh, we have more bats off the bench that we will need; we have runners off the bench that we will need. We are just deeper and better defensively. We have more pitching depth then we had last year. So, I feel like the pieces are in place for us to have a good run at it here this year. I love where we are at and I know our kids are excited to get going."
 
PITCHERS

There's one word that can describe this pitching staff: change-up. It's a pitch Richardson and his staff have woven in this season, and one the Lady Railsplitters will lean on and use to keep opposing batters off balance.
 
"A lot of people think you have to be a hard thrower to be effective in college softball, but for me, the best pitch is the change-up," Richardson said. "Every kid in our conference, they all do one thing the same: they all throw 60 to 63 miles per hour. Everybody in our conference can do that.
 
"The thing that not many can do is throw an effective change-up. Our emphasis has been developing the change and being able to work off it as our primary pitch, which just makes our other stuff better."
 
Junior Justice Smith, the lone returning hurler, has spent the offseason incorporating a nasty change-up to pair with her curveball and screwball. It's a look from Smith that players, who have faced her in the past, won't be expecting and one the Rockmart, Ga., native has used to revamp her speed and velocity to lead this pitching group.
 
"She's getting outs with pitches she didn't even throw last year," said Richardon of Smith, "and we're hoping that within the conference teams that they feel like, 'Hey, it's going to be screwball and curveball with this kid — the same ole stuff.' But, it's going to be a different go-around for her just because she's able to mix and work off some different pitches."
 
The seasoned veteran is accompanied by two freshmen in Bailey Griffith and Faith Howe.
 
Griffith, a righty from White Bluff, Tenn., uses her change-up — one Richardson calls one of the best he's ever seen — as her main pitch and works a mix of her screwball and riseball in with it. The freshman can also play in the outfield, but her ability to keep hitters off balance has already been witnessed in practice sessions and has given her a permanent home within the pitching staff as a vital weapon.
 
The trio concludes with Howe, a young pitcher who reminds Richardson a lot of Smith in the way that her speed touches in the 60s, and how she relies on the power pitches: curveball, riseball and screwball. And like the Gladwin, Mich., native's mentor, she's developed a change-up as another option to make these three pitcher's next pitch unpredictable.
 
 "They have both been outstanding," Richardson said. "Both freshmen have good change-ups and you should see a lot of that from our entire staff."
 
CATCHERS
 
The play behind the plate has trended in the right direction. Last season, one of the Lady Railsplitters' weaknesses was first and third defense, and the strength from a catcher standpoint but that won't be the case this year.
 
Now, insert McKenzie Henry.
 
The freshman, who was an All-District and All-State catcher at William Blount High School in Louisville, Tenn., brings a whole other dynamic to the catching position with the ability to gun a runner down from her knees and knock one over the fence on the offensive side.
 
"I think the good thing with McKenzie Henry is from day one," Richardson said, "it was pretty easy to see, 'Hey, this kid can really play.' She just makes us so much better having her back there — just the presence and she is outstanding defensively. She changes our defense so much. When you think of first and third defensive situations last year, we really struggled to execute in those situations.
 
"She makes a total difference than last year. We just struggled to get outs or to do anything really good in that situation. This year, we almost always get an out, but it's because of her physical skills. She throws the ball well and has great instincts, as well. She sees what is about to happen and makes the right play. It's a night-and-day difference."
 
Behind her is senior Jacie Pittman and sophomore Audrey Petoskey. The duo brings collegiate experience of absorbing a pitching plan and calling the game to the table. And if they aren't plugged in behind the plate for a game, you could see the pair in the batting box with a chance to add to the scoreboard as a designated player.
 
"Audrey Petoskey has made some nice adjustments and has the most natural power of any kid I've ever coached," Richardson said. "She can hit it a mile — it's the consistency and the contact. Jacie Pittman had high production last year."
 
INFIELDERS
 
This group of infielders has all of the same faces, minus a new one at shortstop.
 
Before getting to the freshman, let's go over the three who all return better than ever. Back at first base is senior Kelsie Hocutt, an All-SAC second team member from last season and a preseason selection to start her final year at LMU. Richardson referred to her as the leader of the infield, showing her back-up Elise Bruce the ropes, and an all-around intelligent player offensively and defensively.
 
Next, is Ty-Kella Goins, who is coming off an All-SAC first team and All-Region season at second base. The junior heads into this campaign as an All-SAC first team preseason member, which reflects the numbers she put up and her solid defensive effort on every play.
 
"She's a really slick fielding second baseman," said Richardson of Goins. "She goes back on the ball probably better than anybody I've ever coached."
 
Emma Webb has yet again solidified herself as the Lady Railsplitters' starting third baseman. The sophomore, who was in the running for SAC Freshman of the Year last season, brings back her offensive skill set plus improved defensive adjustments to prove she's the one for the job.
 
Last but not least is freshman Sierra Hucklebee at shortshop. The Gibbs High School standout has a wit about her from the field to the batter's box, which makes the Lady Railsplitters even more lethal. She's a battle-tested, state-championship winning kid who knows what it takes to get all the way to the end.
 
"She's like McKenzie and just really changes things for us in the infield," Richardson said. "She plays the game like you want kids to play — plays hard and doesn't take plays off. She's determined and intense all the time. She makes the routine play and some great plays.
 
"She'll be a great stick in the lineup. She handles the bat well — a tough out. In high school, you can count on one hand how many times she stuck out and does the same thing at the college level. She's just a tough, grinding out."
 
It's those four players, plus freshmen Tori Voiles and Kelsie Tuggle possibly seeing time, that has Richardson and his staff chomping at the bit to throw the first pitch of the season and see these infielders — a core he thinks could be the best in the SAC — do their thing.
 
"That's a really, really good group, we think offensively and defensively," the second-year head coach said. "Our infield is really, really strong. It's one of our strengths. It may be as good as anybody in the conference."
 
OUTFIELDERS
 
The most competitive group has been those in the outfield. Last season, Richardson and his staff had maybe three or four in outfield drills, but this go-around there are around eight, making for great competition.
 
Allie Jones, an All-SAC second team member from last season and one entering this year, will resume her roles in left field. As a senior, the Ooltewah, Tenn., native, can call the shots and be depended on to bring her technique-conscious defensive efforts  — as Richardson described it — on top of Jones' powerful stick at the plate every game.
 
Over in center field, will be the freshman Kelsie Tuggle, who could also see playing time in the infield, to start the season. The Farragut High School alumna from Knoxville came in as a highly-touted athlete and has proved as much, improving every single day from the batter's box to any skill position.
 
"She can execute our hitting plan and grind out an at-bat and make you pay," said Richardson of Tuggle. "Defensively, she's such a good athlete that she could be our starter at third base, the outfield or a number of different places she can play well. For us, it is, 'This kid has to play and be in the lineup — she's that good.'
 
"In college or any level, it's about getting your best nine offensive players into the lineup and do that, you have to move a few pieces of the puzzle around. For us in making it happen, it's putting a good athlete like Kelsie Tuggle in the outfield."
 
Right field could see a ton of different combinations from Savannah Daniel, Sami West, Bella Buccellato — all being players that could be a designated player at some point as well — to Kelsey Hoskins or Victoria Mounce, but to start the season Richardson is pushing towards Grace Cochran.
 
Last season, the sophomore started at shortstop but with the addition of a natural infielder in Hucklebee, she's been moved into the outfield. The Grimesland, N.C., native hit .300 last season and showed her worth, moving around to different positions to help the Lady Railsplitters in anyway she could.
 
"We like what Grace can do offensively. She's looked good in outfield drills all year for us," Richardson said. "We feel like she'll be very solid out there. But, we've got Savannah Daniel, who is an outstanding defensive player out there. We turned her around to the left side hitting last year, and feel she's made great strides. She's certainly in the mix in the outfield.
 
"Bella Buccellato may be our best defensive outfielder, but has had some struggles offensively. Sami West is another freshman, who has really come on and really improved. She may be one of our most improved players since the fall. We really like what she brings to the table offensively; she's developing as a pretty good defensive outfielder. So, a lot of different combinations we can go with."
 
After Richardson's first season a year ago, where he struggled some days to find a consistent product to put on the field, he's more than thrilled to have such a talent, deep team with options to plug in.

Now, it's time to prove the improvement and push the eighth-place preseason ranking to the back burner for good.
 
"We are pumped and like the way our team looks. The newcomers have added a lot of polish," he said. "It's sort of like two-a-days in football. You go against your own teammates and hit off your own pitchers so often that you get to the point you just want to hit somebody else.
 
"We are sort of at that point — ready for anybody to come in here not wearing a Railsplitter practice shirt and ready to get after somebody else."