Three teams east of the Mississippi River will head to Palm Springs, Calif., this weekend to take part in the 16-team Cathedral City Kickoff. The Mississippi State Bulldogs are one of those teams making the westward trek.The Bulldogs, who have won seven of their last eight season openers, will kick off the 2008 campaign against No. 20 Oregon, and will then face Cal State Northridge, UC Riverside, San Diego State and California to close out the weekend.
“We open up in Palm Springs in a tough tournament,” MSU sixth-season head coach Jay Miller said. “It should give us some good competition levels as we get ready for the SEC season.”
The Friday meeting between MSU and No. 20 Oregon will be the first, though the Dawgs will see a familiar face in the Ducks’ dugout. Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen coached MSU from 1997-2002 and led the Bulldogs to an SEC Championship game appearance, as well as two NCAA Regional berths. Miller said the Bulldogs usually play in a tournament in the western part of the country every season, though it typically doesn’t fall on the first weekend of the season.
This will be the first “Western” tournament for this team’s six freshmen, who will be expected to provide a lot of input to the team’s success this season.
One freshman who isn’t unfamiliar to California sand is Lone Grove, Okla., pitcher Misty Flesher. Flesher played 18-and-under summer traveling softball for the Tulsa Eagles, who played several games in Los Angeles. Flesher said that the teamwork and cooperation of the three primary MSU pitchers will help to spread out any pressure on their shoulders.
“This is the most exciting part,” said Flesher. “We finally get to see all the work we’ve put in pay off. This is what we’ve been practicing for all off-season.”
On the other end of the spectrum, this will be the final tournament “out West” for this year’s seniors. Senior centerfielder Hayle Guess is coming into this season as a fifth-year senior, due to being injury redshirted in her sophomore year.
“I’m excited to be getting ready to play our season opener,” Guess said. “The freshmen have had good work ethic, so we haven’t had to worry about that during the off-season. Of course, we seniors have been playing the roles of leaders, and I think this season has the potential to be very successful.