Fans of the Lady Lions softball team will see a new face up front this season — head coach Jennifer Jimerson.

A Missouri Southern alumna, Jimerson holds five career records at the College. As a former player, she’s aware of the task at hand.

“She’s really up beat, really excited,” said Haley Hodson, sophomore secondary education major. “She brings a new freshness to the team.”

“Sometimes the older coaches get stuck in their ways and don’t bring anything new in,” said Alese Woolard, sophomore secondary education major.

“She does a great job of incorporating new ideas.”

Her new plans are to focus more on defense.

With a small roster including only two starting pitchers, Jimerson has been given a small challenge this season, but one she plans to rise to.

“That’s a lot of pressure to put on someone to say ‘strike everyone out,'” Jimerson said.

“My philosophy is to let them hit it. We have the defense to get them out.”

Another hurdle for Jimerson is the size of her team.

The Lady Lions roster has only 13 active players and one injured player.

“Obviously we don’t have a large team so far as numbers, so everyone will have to contribute.” Jimerson said. “Hopefully we’ll avoid injuries. That will be a key to our success this year. We do have a small team, but a quality team.

“One strength last year was the depth our team had, and that will definitely come into play this spring.”

With the season approaching, Jimerson hopes to get cooperation not only from the team but from the weather. Cold, rain and snow have put a limit as to how much time the team gets on the field.

“We’ve gotten outside only about five times this year,” Jimerson said.

“The hitting is coming along real well, and I think we’ll have a strong defense.”

Jimerson hopes to improve upon certain aspects of the team before its first game, which will be played at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15 at home against Southern Illinois.