Six things you need to know about the 2025 Softball team

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT Softball team opens the 2025 season on Friday with two games versus Bethany (W Va.) in Naples, Fla. at the Gene Cusic Softball Classic. Here are six things you need to know about the team heading into the season.
 
2024 REVIEW
RIT put together its winningest season in seven seasons, finishing with a 13-23-1 record. The Tigers also compiled a 6-8 Liberty League mark to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2017, earning the fourth seed for the conference tournament. After shutting out fifth-seeded St. Lawrence, 8-0 (5 inn.) in the tournament play-in game, RIT fell to top-seeded RPI, 5-1, and third-seeded Ithaca, 9-1 (5 inn.) to close the season.
 
LET MADDY COOK
Senior outfielder Maddy Cook returns after landing Liberty League Second-Team All-Conference honors last season. Starting all 38 games for the Tigers in center field, Cook finished sixth in the conference with 27 RBI and 13th with 39 hits while leading RIT with three home runs and six doubles. She also ranked 13th in the league with a .348 batting average, ninth with 58 total bases and 12th with a .875 OPS.
 
BATS APLENTY
Sixteenth-year Head Coach Rebecca Stryker welcomes back a veteran lineup for 2025 along with Cook. Senior 1B Erin Ozminkowski has started 100 games the last three seasons, including all 37 last spring when she finished third on the team with a .315 batting average and second with 35 hits. Senior 2B Bailey Kehl returns with 98 starts under her belt while senior C/OF Kristin Hino has started 48 times the last two seasons. A trio of sophomores also return following strong first-year campaigns – INF Maria Minemier finished fifth in the Liberty League with a .389 batting average while totaling five doubles, 28 hits and a .500 slugging percentage. INF Emma Merkley batted .298 with four doubles, and 13 RBI while starting 36 of 37 appearances. C/OF Kathryn Baretela batted .409 with a team-high five triples along with a home run and 11 RBI in only 44 at-bats over 20 appearances.  
 
IN THE CIRCLE
Junior Jessica Majot headlines Stryker's returners on the pitching staff. Named Liberty Second-Team All-Conference, won a career-high nine games while ranking fourth in the Liberty League with 83 strikeouts, fourth with 119.2 innings pitched, tying for first with 15 complete games and tying for fourth with four shutouts. The mechanical engineering major was also recognized with College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors after completing her first two semesters with a 4.0 grade point average. Senior Lexi Pieri brings nearly 200 innings of experience to the bullpen while sophomore Katie Schneider looks to build on a first-year campaign comprised of 15 appearances and nine starts.  
 
NEW FACES
Stryker brought in a first-year class comprised of seven players looking to make an immediate impact. First-years Mackenzie Blair and Addison Hill look to bolster the pitching staff, while first-year Madeleine Barstow joins the other end of the battery behind the plate. OF Anna Cavotta, OF Carlianna Ewing, OF/1B Kate Carlone and INF Sylvia White will also pull on a Tiger jersey for the first time this spring as well.
 
THE 2025 SCHEDULE
RIT is scheduled to play 10 games in Florida in the next week, before kicking off the northern part of the slate with road games at St. John Fisher (Mar. 26) and Nazareth (Mar. 27). The Tigers will host Keuka (Apr. 2) to open the home portion of the schedule, before starting Liberty League play at Rochester (Apr. 5). RIT will host Geneseo (Apr. 8) before back-to-back league road doubleheaders at Clarkson (Apr. 11) and St. Lawrence (Apr. 12). Following a trip to Brockport (Apr. 16) The Tigers will finish the season playing 10 of its final 12 games at homes, kicked off by three-straight home doubleheaders opposite Liberty League rivals Skidmore (Apr. 18) and RPI (Apr. 19) as well as non-league foe Oswego (Apr. 22). After a trip to conference-foe Union (Apr. 26), the Tigers will close the regular season hosting Alfred (Apr. 29) and conference-rival Ithaca (May 3). The top-five teams in the final Liberty League standings will qualify for the Liberty League Tournament (May 8-10) on the campus of the top overall seed.