BURNABY, BC --- On January 31^st to February 2^nd in Las Vegas, the Simon Fraser University Softball team will get their 2020 season campaign underway at the Desert Stinger Tournament. 
 
Simon Fraser is coming off a tough season in 2019, where they went 9-30 overall and 4-24 in GNAC play. However, the team will be under new leadership this season, as Tina Andreana takes over the helm as Head Coach.
 
Andreana spent time as an assistant coach with three different NCAA programs since finishing her playing career with Oregon State in 2013. In 2018, Andreana was the pitching coach at UNLV as the Rebels went 33-20 and finished runner-up in the National Invitational Softball Regional Championship
 
Following the teams pre-season preparations, Andreana commented on her experience so far at SFU: "I love being back in Canada, and the girls have been really receptive to our coaching styles. I think you can expect a bit more power hitting from us this year, we've been working hard on improving defensively as well."
 
Going into 2020, SFU is led on the field by senior catcher Amanda Janes, who earned First Team All-GNAC distinction with a .282 batting average, six home runs, 30 RBI and a .521 slugging percentage in 2019. Meanwhile, Junior utility player Kate Fergusson was a Second Team All-GNAC choice last season, with a .364 batting average, 23 runs and 14 RBI.

Amanda Janes shared her thoughts on the 2020 season getting underway this upcoming weekend: "Heading into the first weekend, our team is extremely excited to get back outside to play ball in some beautiful weather! The coaches have done a great job with preparing us this off-season and we can't wait to see how it will translate onto the field. This weekend will definitely help in preparing us for our GNAC conference play, and will give us a chance to see what we need to continue to work on in the upcoming weeks."
 
Simon Fraser will be participating in two pre-conference tournaments this season, and on the opening day of the Desert Stinger, SFU will face 2016 DIII National Champions in the University of Texas-Tyler. After the aforementioned Desert Stinger, SFU will be headed to the DII Cactus Classic in Tucson, Arizona from February 14^th to 16^th.
 
Coach Andreana also commented on the expectations during the upcoming tournaments: "We're facing some tough teams to start things off, which will be good…the opportunity to get outside in the sunshine and really develop as a team and bond together will be valuable as well." 
 
Simon Fraser begins the GNAC portion of their schedule on February 29^th in Bellingham against Western Washington, and will open the Home portion of their schedule at Beedie Field in the backend of a home-and-home on March 1^st. 
 
Tina Andreana added her thoughts on adjusted to the GNAC conference going into the year: "It's mostly a hitters conference, so we've had to change our coaching styles a little bit in that regard. We're working on getting a little bit more power out of our hitters and then obviously being able to move the ball more in the circle." 
 
During conference play, Simon Fraser will also be attending the Annual Tournament of Champions, hosted by Stanislaus State University in Turlock, California. The Tournament will include all member teams from the GNAC, CCAA and PacWest Conferences.
 
Simon Fraser will conclude regular season play at home on April 26^th, as they face off against Central Washington University on Beedie Field. 
 
Finally, Andreana shared her mentality going into her first season as Head Coach: "We walked into a really great group of athletes here, so it's mostly just about coaching them up, finding some success on the field, and making their experience enjoyable."
 
Stay tuned for more Softball news as the team gets their season underway in Las Vegas.