With the conference�s top pitcher and leading hitter guiding the way, there are ample reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming UW-Stevens Point softball season.

     The Pointers feature senior pitcher Karen Guckenberger, who is already the school�s all-time winningest pitcher and will likely become the WIAC�s all-time strikeout leader this season. While Guckenberger keeps the opponents off the scoreboard, senior centerfielder Jill Van Wychen sparks the offense after hitting a league-best .439 last season.

     Guckenberger enters her senior year as a three-time All-WIAC selection and was last year�s WIAC Pitcher of the Year. She needs just 40 strikeouts to become and conference�s all-time leader. Van Wychen is the team�s leadoff hitter and was a first-team all-conference performer with a career .368 average.

     But the Pointers� lineup goes much deeper than the returning league leaders. UW-Stevens Point features returning starters at six positions and talented freshmen at the others. Possibly the most important returnees are on the coaching staff where head coach Paul Caufield and assistant Kelly Erickson are back for the second straight year. It is the first time since 1999 that the Pointers have returning head coach.

     �We�ve got a better hitting lineup than last year,� said Caufield, whose team ranked eighth in the WIAC with a .269 team average. �If Karen pitches as well as she did last year, we could have a big year.�

     Caufield�s enthusiasm is bolstered by the return of both middle infielders as senior shortstop Carrie Hermsen hit .295 last season and sophomore second baseman Amy Schumacher started 31 games as a freshman. Also back is senior catcher Amanda Sparks, who led the team with 19 RBI�s while playing first base last season, and senior third baseman Brooke Woller, who hit .278 with four homers a year ago.

     Sophomore Casey Schipferling emerged in the outfield at the end of last season and may take over at first base this season. Meanwhile, a pair of freshmen will likely handle outfield duties as two-time all-state performer Meagan Strmsek from Oak Creek is the favorite in left field and Liz Boettcher from New Berlin West will battle with redshirt freshman Abby Bartz in right field.

     Freshmen Jenny Feidt and Jenni Van Cuyk, both from Kimberly, are competing for the designated player position and may see time on the infield as well. Freshman Kristin Sorenson, who played on two state championship teams at Stevens Point Area Senior High, will challenge for time at third base.

     Guckenberger will share pitching time with junior Katie Knoedler, who was 5-4 last season while making nine starts. Junior Jeanann Briski also returns to the staff after posting two wins in nine appearances a year ago.

     �We�ve got a good class of freshmen and sophomores and a lot of them are really pushing the upperclassmen,� said Caufield, who has 28 players on the roster, including 16 freshmen. �It works out better with so many players since the bench starts pushing each other and it creates good competition for playing time. All of our players have a good attitude and it keeps everyone having a good time.�

     Caufield credits team chemistry as one of the strengths of the team and it�s been important through the first month of the season when he was assisting with the Pointer men�s hockey team and Erickson was working as a teacher. The team was forced to practice much of February without a coach, creating natural leaders.

     �There could have been a lot of bickering and problems, but nobody�s complaining,� said Caufield, adding that none of the 28 players quit after the first month of workouts. �It worked well because everyone got to work on things individually and was forced to self-evaluate the things they needed to work on. We didn�t name any captains and the seniors just kind of took over those practices.�

     The Pointers open the season March 16 in Fort Myers, Fla. and will have 15 home games this year, including the WIAC cluster weekend on April 12-13.