The Webster University softball team starts the 2017 season this weekend with four games in Memphis, TN.  The Gorloks will play single games vs. Kenyon College (OH) and host Rhodes College on back to back days on February 25-26.

Webster, with 12 returning players and seven starters, will be bolstered by a recruiting class of five that includes three freshmen. Leading the way for the Gorloks this year will be a pair of SLIAC All-Conference players, Katelyn Sullens (SR, Highland, IL/Highland) and Sidney Coleman (SR, Fredericksburg, VA/Fountain-Ft. Carson).  Sullens, an outfielder, hit .430, had a team high 49 hits, 22 RBIs, and seven stolen bases.  Coleman, also an outfielder, hit .366 with four home runs and 25 RBIs..

Junior infielder Tessa Johanning (Sullivan, MO/Sullivan), who batted .333 with 20 RBIs, is also back. The pitching staff is led by senior Alexis Spriggs (SR, Scott City, MO/Scott City), who pitched 102 innings and picked up seven wins with a 3.84 earned-run average.  Among newcomers expected to see time on the field will be freshmen Abby Burroughs (Edwardsville, IL/Triad) and Taylor White (St. Charles, MO/Lutheran St. Charles), as well as junior transfer Morgan Mansur (Decatur, IL/Mt. Zion).

The Gorloks were picked fifth in the 2017 SLIAC coaches' preseason poll.  Webster was 11-7 in the SLIAC in 2016, just missing the conference tournament, and was 17-20 overall on the season.

Kenyon, a member of the North Coast Athletic Conference, was 17-22-1 in 2016.  Rhodes, a member of the Southern Athletic Association, was 25-20 in 2016.