Nov. 18, 2009

Fort Wayne, IN – The IPFW softball team has announced its tri-captains for the 2010 season: senior outfielder Stacey Swinford, junior catcher Kris Karpun, and junior infielder Sara Hopwood.

“The team put a lot of effort into selecting captains,” said IPFW Head Coach Amy Tudor, in her first year at the helm of the Mastodon program. “I am pleased with their choices, and believe that all three ladies will bring something beneficial to the table, and will grow into leaders on the team.”

Swinford, a senior outfielder from Peru, Indiana, played in 26 games last year, starting 11. She batted .176 with six hits, five runs scored, five walks drawn and one run driven in. Last season Swinford played a variety of positions, including outfield and first base.

Karpun, a junior catcher from Delta, British Columbia, Canada, led the team in batting last season with a .280 average, a year after batting .348 as a freshman. She belted three home runs and drove in 13 runners, while scoring 11 times and reaching base 47 times, 30 on hits, 16 on walks, and she was once hit by a pitch. She also had a .988 fielding percentage behind the plate.

Hopwood is a transfer from Eastern Arizona College, and is a native of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. As a freshman at EAC, she had the seventh highest batting average among all NJCAA Division I players, hitting .519, before batting .434 as a sophomore. She had 118 RBI’s during her two years, hitting 17 home runs, 38 doubles, and scoring 109 times. She also doubled as a pitcher, where she had a combined 34-7 in the circle, with ERA’s of 1.89 and 2.07 over her two years, striking out 94 and 75 in her two years, respectively.

“All three women are invested in this program, and the good of the team,” said the head coach. “They have the right attitude and I expect big things from all three. It worked out to our advantage in having our centerfielder, catcher, and shortstop being selected – that is where I want my leaders.”

The Mastodons open the 2010 season in Memphis, Tennessee, where they will take part in the Memphis Blues City Classic, where they will face off against Memphis, Southeast Missouri State, McNeese State, and Appalachian State. The team has their home opener on March 19, when they host a conference series against the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah University.

~Dons~