Bringing the Bulldogs Back Home
Butler’s softball season will kick off on Friday afternoon at the Rosemont Dome tournament hosted by DePaul University in Rosemont, Illinois. The Bulldogs will play five games against five different teams from four different conferences over a three day period.
With the Rosemont Dome located immediately east of O’Hare International Airport, Butler senior Ella White will look to emulate the airplanes by putting some flight into the ball. The Noblesville, Indiana native led returning players in home runs last year with 10, second only to Monique Hoosen’s 12. Along with that, she was one of two players to start every game last year, joined by Roncalli High School graduate Cate Lehner.
Lehner, a junior from Indianapolis, looks to continue her success on the bases, as she stole 26 bases on 28 attempts a year ago. In two years, she has stolen 43 bases on 50 attempts, currently 7th in program history. Lehner also led the team with 62 hits despite not hitting a home run.
Head coach Scott Hall, who enters his 15th season at the helm of the program, will certainly focus on pitching to get Butler to the top of the Big East this year. The Bulldogs recorded a 4.23 team earned run average in 2024, only ahead of Georgetown and DePaul in the Big East at 4.60 and 5.06 respectively.
As for pitching, sophomore Katie Petran will need to be just as important as her freshman season. She pitched 174.0 innings while posting a 3.46 ERA and striking out 91 batters last year, leading the team in all categories. She will not be short of pitching partners, as Kayla Noerr, Rylyn Dyer and Sydney Cammon return to Indianapolis, joined also by freshmen Gwen Baker and Paige Lille.
Butler returns 16 players from 2024 to its 2025 squad. The Bulldogs were selected to finish in 6th place in the Big East preseason poll, but can surprise everyone with an experienced team and a solid offensive core.
Scouting Butler’s opponents
Teeing off with the Tommies
Butler begins its season on Friday afternoon against the University of St. Thomas. The Twin Cities’ Summit League squad went 16-34 last season with an 8-9 conference record, finishing in third place.
Butler played St. Thomas for the first time three years ago in this same tournament, defeating the Tommies 7-0 and handing head coach Jennifer Trotter her first loss at St. Thomas. Trotter now enters her fourth season at the helm, sporting a 48-105 overall record and a 22-36 Summit League tally.
Trotter will be looking to center fielder Avery Wukawitz to continue her success from last year. The junior from Woodbury, Minnesota, led the team in total bases with 71 in 2024, along with recording 7 home runs and 38 hits. She also stole 14 bases on 15 attempts, showing her ability to keep pitchers on their toes.
Another weapon the Tommies have is senior Ella Cook. The Iowa City, Iowa native recorded 8 home runs and a .580 slugging percentage while bringing home 35 runs, leading the team in all categories. Cook is important not only from the batter’s box, but from the mound. She posted a 7-9 record in 2024 that included a 5.39 earned run average, 64 strikeouts and 58 walks in 101.1 innings. She also recorded 8 complete games.
There is a lot to be positive about at St. Thomas. The Tommies were picked to finish 4th in the Summit League, and all their pitchers from last season are returning. Christina Crawford, Ella Cook, Morgan Klein and Keira Murphy, along with freshman Ava Kleinfeldt, will look to take the Tommies to the top.
A Rebirth of the Phoenix
Friday’s action for the Bulldogs finishes with a matchup against Green Bay. The two schools have played each other on 66 previous occasions, with the Phoenix leading the series 36-30 and winning the most recent matchup 2-1 in Chattanooga, Tennessee four years ago.
Green Bay is led by Sara Kubuske, who begins her sixth season as head coach. Previous to her job with the Phoenix, she was an assistant coach at the University of Indianapolis between 2010 and 2019. She helped the Greyhounds to the Division II tournament in all of her 10 seasons, including winning a regional title and appearing in the Division II Women’s College World Series in 2015.
Kubuske will be leading a very different team in 2025. Green Bay saw offensive options Samantha Saloun, Kaylin Fahy, Hailey Heckenlaible and Lauren Porter depart, along with key pitchers Martha Miller and Kelly Greene transferring to Macalester College and DePaul, respectively.
Of the returning players, Bella Herman, a senior from Johnson Creek, Wisconsin, led the Phoenix with 43 hits last year, including 2 triples. The team also returns shortstop Paige Hanson, who recorded 25 hits and batted .248 while also stealing 3 bases.
On the mound, Ava Schill led the team with a 5.21 earned run average in 2024. The sophomore from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, will be joined by freshman Morgan Kostecka and transfers Genesis Eggart and Megan Weiss.
With 12 new additions to its roster, 8 of those being freshmen, and an 8th place preseason selection in the Horizon League, the Phoenix will look to rise from the ashes of a 9-38 campaign and collect its 4th 20+ win season in the last 5 years.
313 versus 317
Saturday’s schedule for Butler begins with a battle against Detroit Mercy. Another former conference opponent from the Horizon League, the two teams have faced each other on 70 previous occasions. The Bulldogs lead the series 40-30 over the Titans, the most recent contest a 5-2 victory for Detroit Mercy at the Rosemont Dome in 2019.
The Titans are led by second-year head coach Dan Vitale. In his first season at the helm, Detroit Mercy went 6-38 overall, with 5 of those wins coming in Horizon League play. The team did not pick up a win in any of their nine neutral-venue games last year and has not won such a game since March 6th, 2020, when they defeated Bethune-Cookman 2-1 in Orlando, Florida.
Similar to Green Bay, the Detroit Mercy Titans have made a whopping 15 additions to their roster. These 15 additions are tied with IU Indy for the most new additions to a Horizon League squad this year. 13 of these new players are freshmen and 12 hail from the Great Lakes State.
Through all the roster changes for Detroit Mercy, two returning offensive powers are Jada Davis and Trinity Fessler. Davis, a sophomore from Richwood, Ohio, led the team with 5 home runs and 15 runs batted in while also recording a .402 slugging percentage. Fessler, a junior from Vassar, Michigan, recorded a team-high .254 batting average and .441 slugging percentage, and she hit 4 home runs and drove in 11 runs last year.
Returning to the Titans’ pitching lineup this season are Jordan Kavanagh and Claire Borg. Kavanagh recorded a 2-19 record in 27 appearances, pitching 109.2 innings and striking out 68 batters. Borg recorded a team-best 7.94 ERA in 12 appearances, striking out 8 batters and walking 13 in 28.1 innings of work. To support these workhorses, Detroit has also added freshmen pitchers Josalyn Dietlin, Erin Flynn, and Paige Keown.
After being selected to finish 9th and last in the Horizon League, head coach Dan Vitale and the Titans can set their sights high and surprise everyone with a young team. 2025 could be a season to “Remember the Titans.”
A Beacon of Hope
Saturday’s action finishes with Butler facing in-state rival Valparaiso. The Beacons were also once members of the Horizon League between 2007 and 2017, but now compete in the Missouri Valley Conference. The two schools share a 22-22 series record, but have played only once since Butler’s departure from the Horizon League in 2013. That game ended in a 7-5 victory for the Bulldogs in the 2022 Rosemont Dome tournament.
The Beacons’ program has seen a lot of change this offseason. New head coach Mike Armitage, hired from Minnesota State University Moorhead last June, takes over a program that went 9-40 in 2024 and failed to win any of its 16 road games. One bright spot, though, is that the Beacons posted a 6-10 record in neutral venue games.
Many key components of Valparaiso’s offense departed over the offseason, including Regi Hecker and Alexis Johnson. The two combined for a batting average of .295, 6 home runs, 85 hits and 17 stolen bases on 22 attempts. Pitchers Cadence Augustine, Caitlyn Kowalski and Anna Wilming also departed the squad. To combat these losses, the program recruited nine freshmen and brought two transfers from Moorhead.
Joining the program from Moorhead are Mack Gallagher and Azalya Lopez. Gallagher, a junior from Frankfort, Illinois, led the Dragons with 6 home runs, 46 runs batted in and 12 doubles. Lopez, a junior from Corona, California recorded a .309 batting average, batted in 30 runs and led the team with 50 hits and 4 triples. Lopez was stellar on the mound too, posting a 19-6 record while recording a 2.06 earned run average, 130 strikeouts and 12 complete games.
Of the returning Beacons, they are led offensively by Kayden Krug, a sophomore from Milford, Ohio. In 2024, she recorded a .268 batting average while tallying 22 hits and bringing seven runs across the plate.
Only one Valparaiso pitcher returns from 2024. Sydney McDermott, a sophomore from Stout, Ohio, recorded a 5-23 record with a 4.80 earned run average, 63 strikeouts, 61 walks and 9 complete games over 143.0 innings. She will be joined by freshmen Erin Metz, Mia Carroll-Greeves, Kayla Purdy and Caitlyn Purdle, along with transfer Azalya Lopez on the mound.
Valparaiso is a new team with a lot of potential. The Beacons were selected to finish 12th and last in the Missouri Valley Conference, but with a big bullpen and incoming offensive firepower, look for the Beacons to light their way to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Dogfight at the Dome
Butler wraps up its tournament contests Sunday against Western Illinois. The Bulldogs and Leathernecks have met on seven previous occasions, with Western Illinois holding a 4-3 advantage in the series. However, the Bulldogs have won 3 consecutive games against the Leathernecks, including wins in the Rosemont Dome tournament in 2020 and 2022 and a 2-1 win at the UNI-Dome tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa last year.
Alisa Goler begins her fifth season as the head coach of the Leathernecks. Hired in June 2020, she has compiled a 49-136 overall record and an 18-68 conference record. 2024 was the first year for Western Illinois in the Ohio Valley Conference, and Goler helped the team to a 5-22 conference record.
Outfielder Malia Robertson returns for her second season after a fantastic freshman year. The sophomore from Fairview Heights, Illinois recorded a .275 batting average, 41 hits, 13 runs batted in, 7 doubles and a home run in 48 games last season. She also stole 19 bases on 21 attempts, the most of anyone on the team.
Juniors Rylee Boone and Maria Luna return to Macomb, Illinois hungry for more success. Boone, who hails from LaCygne, Kansas, was the only Leatherneck to bat above .300 last year, and she also recorded 33 hits and stole 9 bases. Maria Luna hit three home runs last season, joint-most on the team, recorded 25 hits and brought in 15 runs while posting a team-leading .439 slugging percentage.
Western Illinois returns pitchers Lillie Wools and Kathryn McChristy to the lineup. The Leathernecks have also recruited freshmen Audrey Clark, Libby Spaulding and Kaelyn Waters to fill the shoes of Emily Price, who led the team with 9 wins and an earned run average below 3.00 in 152.2 innings.
Western Illinois, like many of the other teams Butler will face in the Rosemont Dome tournament, introduces nine new players to its roster for 2025. Even with being picked to finish 10th and last in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Leathernecks will be chomping at the bit to find success in their second season as members of the OVC.
