Sept. 26, 2014 ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington softball team completed its first week of fall practice Friday morning with several new faces featured in the circle for the Mavericks.
UTA welcomes three new pitchers to the roster, as well as a new pitching coach in Camden Decker, to join lone returner Brittany May, who appeared in 17 games in 2014 and started five.
"They are picking up the different philosophy," Decker said. "We are trying to make everything as simple as possible and make things more consistent. It takes a bit of time but after they get it, it will be good."
May brings two years of experience in fall practice and knows the expectations for the pitching staff. May redshirted her first year at UTA before appearing for the Mavericks last season.
"We have done a lot of learning so far and a lot of adjustments are going to be made this year," May said. "We have focused on getting to know our staff and getting to know each other to find our strengths and weaknesses."
Joining the redshirt sophomore is three pitchers that bring in high expectations for the program. Kayla Donaldson was a Texas State Sports Writer Association All-State selection in her junior season, and led her teams in wins and strikeouts in her last two seasons at Lorena High School.
"You can tell it is a lot higher level," Donaldson said of her first week of fall practice. "There is a lot to process and a lot of information. I am excited about working with the coaching staff because they definitely know what they are doing and I am lucky to have the great coaching staff that I have."
Camden's goal for the four-person staff is developing consistency.
"I don't want the pitching staff going up and down throughout the season," Camden said. "There is still a lot of stuff that the pitchers will encounter. There is hesitation, but once they understand where I am coming from everything should fall into place."
The UTA softball team will open the newly renovated Allan Saxe Field in February. The 2015 schedule will be released this fall. ​
