Two more preseason conference favorites and a nationally-ranked Kentucky squad await South Dakota at the North Texas Invitational taking place at Old Celina Park in Celina, Texas, Friday through Sunday. The Coyotes are playing six games in three days against five different opponents. Three of those five foes are 2022 NCAA Tournament teams.
 
The Schedule
Friday
1:30 p.m. vs. No. 22 North Texas (4-0) | First Meeting | Live stats
4 p.m. vs. Sam Houston State (2-3) | First met last year on opening day | Live stats
 
Saturday
1:30 p.m. vs. McNeese State (4-1) | First Meeting | Live stats
4 p.m. vs. No. 16 Kentucky (2-0-1) | Second Meeting (2016) | Live stats
 
Sunday
10 a.m. vs. UT Arlington (3-1) | Third Meeting (twice in 2021) | Live stats
12:30 p.m. vs. Sam Houston State | Live stats
 
The Opponents
 
North Texas (2022 Final RPI 44, 37-16, Conference USA)
The Mean Green were preseason No. 24 in a D1Softball.com poll and that is the first top-25 ranking in program history. North Texas is up to No. 22 this week following a 4-0 start that included a 10-2 win against UConn and a 3-1 road win at Georgia Tech.
 
North Texas returns seven of its top nine hitters and both pitchers from last year's C-USA championship squad. Highlighting the list is first baseman Kailey Gamble who broke out as a sophomore last season when she hit 16 home runs and drove in 52 – both are top-four in program history. Center fielder Lexi Cobb hit .397 with six home runs. Kalei Christensen, who moved from the outfield to catcher this year, hit 11 homers with 48 RBIs. The Mean Green hit 71 home runs in 53 games last season.
 
Senior pitcher Ashley Peters (20-7, 2.43 ERA in 2022) is the C-USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Skylar Savage (15-8, 2.64 ERA) was an all-conference honoree as a true freshman last year. UNT also added Liberty transfer McKenzie Wagoner (11-5, 2.21 ERA) to its arsenal.
 
Sam Houston State (2022 Final RPI: 231, 15-39, WAC)
The Bearkats rallied late to beat South Dakota 9-8 a year ago in Texas. Like North Texas, Sam Houston State returns seven batters and its top pitchers from 2022. The Bearkats were 2-3 last week including a 2-0 loss to South Dakota State, a game in which Sam Houston State went hitless against Tori Kniesche.
 
Brailey Wasik contributed at the plate and in the circle as a true freshman last year. She hit .275 with 11 home runs and 28 RBIs, and was 4-3 with a 5.49 ERA in nearly 70 innings of pitching. First baseman Kylie Hobbs and third baseman Elia Hebel are also back from the Bearkats after combining for 15 homers last season.
 
Junior Mika Vento was the team's ace last season. She was 6-18 with a 3.31 ERA in 145 innings. She worked the final inning of Sam Houston's win against USD last year. The Bearkats also added New Mexico transfer Emma Guindon to its pitching staff.
 
McNeese State (2022 Final RPI: 49, 40-21, Southland)
The Cowgirls are loaded with speed. The defending Southland champs ranked fifth nationally in stolen bases last season and stole 20 bases in the first five games of this season. Those 20 steals came from nine different players. They were caught five times.
 
Right fielder Jil Poullard is the leader. She hit .367 last year with seven home runs, 45 RBIs and 19 steals. First baseman Crislyne Moreno batted .355 with three homers, 40 RBIs and 15 steals. The Cowgirls also added James Madison transfer Emily Phillips, a catcher, who went 4-of-9 with a home run in four starts for McNeese last weekend.
 
Ashley Vallejo is the defending Southland Pitcher of the Year. She was 18-8 with a 2.32 ERA in 168 innings last year. Whitney Tate and Shaelyn Sanders also return after combining for 20 wins last year. Freshman Lindsay Davis tossed five shutout innings in her debut last week.
 
Kentucky (2022 Final RPI: 21, 37-19, SEC)
If you thought losing four of its top seven hitters would slow Kentucky, you're probably wrong. The Wildcats smoked a good Louisville team in five innings last week and tied No. 9/6 Texas 4-4.
 
Bringing back all-American shortstop Erin Coffel and all-American catcher Kayla Kowalik certainly helps. Coffel hit .423 with 20 home runs and 68 RBIs last year. She has already gone yard twice this season. Kowalik was in the running for National Player of the Year two years ago when she hit .495 with 12 home runs and scored 77 runs. Sandwiched between those two at the top of the lineup is outfielder Taylor Ebbs who had 10 round trippers and drove in 30 last year.
 
Kentucky used seven different arms last year. No one pitched more than 72 innings. Stephanie Schoonover (7-5, 5.15 ERA) and Alexia Lacatena (9-4, 3.22 ERA) got all but four outs for the Wildcats in three games last weekend.
 
UT Arlington (2022 Final RPI: 138, 22-27, Sun Belt)
Kara Dill, one of the best hitters in Kentucky history and the pitching coach at Texas A&M the past six seasons, is embarking on her first head coaching gig. Her Mavericks were 3-1 on opening weekend with a split with Texas Tech and a sweep of Tulsa. That all happened without seemingly Arlington's best player in Meagan Smith, an all-region performer who hit .294 with eight home runs last season. Intead, it was fifth-year Kimber Cortemelia who went 6-of-13 at the plate with a pair of doubles and four RBIs in four games.
 
Jessica Adams earned all-region honors in the circle as a freshman last year. She was 12-17 with a 3.22 ERA in 186 innings of work. She struck out 77 and walked 55. She has yet to allow an earned run in two starts and 12 innings this season. Freshman Tamya Waiters made three appearances and tossed eight innings on opening weekend.