Kent State University
East Tennessee State
50th Season of Kent State Softball Begins at Camel Stampede
2/6/2025 2:47:00 PM | Softball
The 50th season of Kent State varsity softball begins in Buies Creek, N.C. with five games as part of the Camel Stampede hosted by Campbell University.
Live stats will be available for all games via StatBroadcast, and both games against Campbell can be heard on The Varsity Network.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, February 7Â Â Â
12:30 p.m.   vs. East Tennessee State
5:30 p.m.     at  Campbell
Saturday, February 8Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
3:30 p.m.     vs. East Tennessee State
6 p.m.         at  Campbell
Sunday, February 9Â
10:30 a.m.   vs. UMass
About the Flashes
Kent State was picked ninth in the 2025 Mid-American Conference softball preseason coaches' poll, which was announced last week. The top six teams in the final standings will qualify for the MAC Tournament, which will be played Firestone Stadium in Akron from May 7-10.
Head coach Jessica O'Donnell enters her second season leading the Golden Flashes with a 17-member roster that includes 10 newcomers. Seniors Savannah Wing and Delaney Robeson were key run producers during the 2024 campaign. Wing led team with 38 RBIs as a junior and batted .310 with 18 doubles, the most by a Kent State player in 31 years. Robeson drove in 27 runs last season and enters her final season with 14 home runs, which is just five away from joining the top-10 in program history. Juniors Brynn Libler and Carley Penner were also regulars in the Flashes' lineup last season with both starting at least 40 games.
Sophomore Aaralyn Nogay highlights a quartet of field position newcomers with Division I experience. Nogay earned All-MAC Second Team and MAC All-Freshman Team honors while leading Bowling Green in stolen bases (9) and triples (2) last season. Senior Katie Jo Moery was a three-year starter at Maine and led her team in hits (35) and doubles (10) in 2024. Junior Kam Utendorf batted .317 during her lone season at Valparaiso and junior Maddy Miklesh played the last two years at DePaul.
All four members of the pitching staff enter their first season in Blue and Gold. Junior Abbey Pochie brings the most collegiate experience and posted a 2-3 record and 4.83 ERA for DePaul last season. Senior Delaney Nagy (UConn) and redshirt sophomore Kendal Leitner (Binghamton) both had career 2-1 records at their previous school. The quartet is completed by freshman Ella Johnson, a two-sport prep standout who is the only athlete in Kentucky high school history to score 1,000 career points in basketball and strike out 1,000 career batters in softball.
Scouting the Opposition
East Tennessee State
ETSU was picked eighth in the preseason poll for the Southern Conference after going 11-39 in 2024. Cameron Young was selected as the SoCon Preseason Player of the Year after coming off an impressive junior campaign in which she batted .394 with 17 doubles and 23 RBIs. Riley Nayadley and Brylee Mesusan were named to the Preseason All-SoCon Second Team.
Sara Muir (4-9) and Taylor Suchy (0-11) return after throwing the most innings for last year's pitching staff that had a 5.38 ERA.
Campbell
The Fighting Camels ended last season with a 37-21-1 record and were picked third in CAA preseason poll. Tyra Parker was named to the All-CAA Preseason Team and ranked fourth in the conference in batting with an average of .355 last season and led the CAA with 25 stolen bases. Madison Ford received honorable mention preseason accolades.
Hannah Leierer also earned honorable mention preseason accolades looks Leierer went 5-8 with a 3.69 ERA and 59 strikeouts last year.
UMass
UMass went 20-35 last year and was picked sixth in the A-10 Conference preseason poll. Sarah Keagy ranked second in the A-10 last season with 12 home runs and had a team-high 38 RBIs.
The top three pitchers from last season's staff that posted a 4.64 ERA return. Julianne Bolton led the team in wins (8), strikeouts (124) and innings pitched (158.2).
On Deck for the Flashes
Kent State will head back to the Atlantic coast next weekend for five games at Coastal Carolina's Battle at the Beach on Feb. 14-16.
Follow Kent State Softball
For complete coverage of Kent State Softball, download the official Kent State Golden Flashes app (iOS, Android) and follow the Golden Flashes on social media on X, Instagram and Facebook for news and updates.
