By Kevin Farr
Murray State Sports Information
After being on the cusp of a national championship twice in the past three years, the Murray State Lady Aggies are focused on unfinished business as the 2025 softball season is slated to begin Friday with Coffeyville and Dodge City Community College in Tishomingo for a weekend series.

Over the past two seasons Coach Aaron Mullens' squad has rewritten the school record book for offensive numbers and welcomes back several key members of that power-packed lineup that set a new Murray State plateau for victories with 60 in a third place national finish. That was the fourth straight trip to the NJCAA Division II World Series and added to their runner-up trophy from 2022.

So how do you improve on that?

Well, the Lady Aggies have added one of the deepest and most talented groups of pitchers in Mullens' tenure to try and finally clear that final hurdle after being on the brink of that elusive national title once again last season in what some may have expected to be a rebuilding year.

"Expectations are high," Mullens admitted. "We expect to be there at the end and know what kind of firepower we have back at the plate. I don't know if we'll set offensive records like we did a year ago, but we should be pretty good.

"The difference will be our pitching staff. The totality of this staff is the best I've ever had. It's a very deep staff with so much depth that we won't have to overuse anybody. We have three legit high velocity arms and others with very good off-speed stuff that can disrupt opposing hitters' timing."

Despite losing a couple of starters to injuries in the offseason, the Lady Aggie depth at the plate and versatility defensively will spur the charge with another star-studded cast.

That group will be led by sophomore two-way star Bradi Harman, who earned first team All-American honors a year ago by posting a .481 batting average that included a whopping 104 hits and 32 doubles, which were right at or near the nation's leader. She belted five triples, 18 home runs and drove in 95 runs while scoring another 93. Her on-base percentage was .546, she stole 21 bases and maybe most amazingly she struck out just six times in 212 at bats.

Despite battling through injury, Harman was still the Lady Aggie ace in the pitching circle while striking out 102 batters in 57 2/3 innings. Her record in mostly relief appearances was 6-1 with three saves along with a 1.51 earned run average. The bad news for opponents is that she should be fully healthy this time around.

Sophomore Haili Igou was a first team All-American as well and will make the move from third base to the outfield this year. Igou hit .401 and led the club with eight triples and finished second with 22 homers. She also doubled 14 times, posted 82 RBI and scored 91 times.

Kennedy Lord, who joins fellow returnee Gracie Lute and newcomer Kaylee Carter in competing for time at first base, will look to add to her .435 average, eight doubles, one triple, nine home runs and 52 runs batted in a season ago. Lute batted .355 as well as smacking nine doubles, three homers and drove in 28.

Brighton O'Connor also returns and will compete with freshman Adison "Bubba" Lee for time at third base, adding a spark at the plate that included five bombs and 19 RBI mostly off the bench last season.

Brynn Surmont is another returnee at the catching position and will be in contention for time along with freshmen Avery Beauchamp and Ryley Severson. Surmont batted .333, chipping in a homer and five batted in a year ago.

Freshman Brylee Fanning is expected to be a fixture at second base to team with Harman at shortstop for a stellar double play combination. Fellow newcomers Ryann Phillips and Cady Mae Ammons are penciled into the other two outfield spots to start with. Watch for Karsyn Nye as well, who Mullens said had a great fall season, and Emily Rogers in the outfield competition mix.

There's also several others from a sensational recruiting class that included eight All Staters who should be vying for action as well, including Kendyl Overton and Cadence Chambliess. Returning starter Lexi Meadows is injured and won't be able to play in the field but has been cleared to run bases and should be a key weapon for the Lady Aggies in those situations.

"We've got plans for everybody because you never know when injuries can pop up," Mullens added. "We already had a couple injuries. On paper though this is the best team I've ever had. We should be good defensively and also be able to do a lot more things on the base paths than teams we have had in the past. It's exciting."

The potential of the pitching staff, which shouldn't need to rely nearly as heavily on Harman, is what really has the Lady Aggie skipper bursting - thanks to the seven incoming freshmen.

That unit is headlined by hard throwing Oklahoma City native Bella Hardeman, high school All Stater Carolyn Overton, Jazmine Cookson, Alanna Routt, DrewAnn White, Ava Boozer and Tallie Smith. That arsenal should definitely have pitching coach Charli Crawford feeling like it's Christmas all over again.

"I think we have the pitching this year to come through if we were to end up in the loser's bracket at the World Series like in years past," Mullens said. "We should be able to navigate any type of adversity. I know five runs is probably going to win just about any game because it's going to be hard for other teams to score against this staff with their ability. I don't see a team putting up a lot of runs against us."

The schedule has changed a bit this year with the conference divided into sections and the Lady Aggies will once again challenge themselves outside of league play. There's a four-game swing to west Texas in early February, the THF Winter Blast hosted by Grayson College and their annual trek to Branson, Missouri where they will face World Series rival Kirkwood among others.

For the second straight year the Region 2 Southwest Plains Tournament will be held in nearby Ardmore coming up May 7-10.

"This is an extremely tight knit group that plays for one another," he commented. "We had an amazing fall getting to know one another. The girls responded well to adversity of facing a host of D1 competition. We are just excited now to get to play some games. I'm eager to see this bunch in action."