Jason Trufant continues to see endless possibilities for intercollegiate athletics at Mississippi University for Women.
Coming off a recently completed first year in which the baseball and softball teams finished fifth at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Small College World Series, Trufant is looking ahead to an even bigger and more successful second season at The W.
“We achieved academically, athletically, and in the community,” Trufant said. “We will continue to build on that support. We have a lot of growing to do, and that growth will determine the next steps we take.”
Trufant said he talked with The W President Jim Borsig earlier this month in Pittsburgh about scheduling of events at the school. He said no one envisioned there would be conflicts with graduation May 5 and the school’s golf outing/fundraiser at Lion Hills Center and Golf Club on May 18. Needless to say, Trufant said no one imagined The W’s baseball and softball teams would be playing more than 900 miles away at the USCAA Small College World Series in DuBois, Pennsylvania, which is approximately two hours northeast of Pittsburgh.
“You’re in Pennsylvania and you’re thinking, ‘Wow, two years ago we decided to join this organization as we were progressing inside the NCAA to give this type of opportunity and it happened in year one,’ ” Trufant said.
Trufant praised the accomplishments of coach Matt Wolfenbarger’s baseball team (21-15), which had a first-team USCAA All-American (Damain Benefield) and a third-team All-American (Will Peters).
Benefield, a freshman infielder, was the team MVP. He finished the season as the leader in almost every offensive category — batting average (.437), home runs (seven), RBIs (37), doubles (tied for first with 12), on-base percentage (.538), slugging percentage (.757).
Trufant also highlighted the accomplishments of coach Tatjana Matthews’ softball team (21-19), which had Katlyn Duke and Kristen Martin earn third-team USCAA All-America honors.
Duke and Martin had grade-point averages of 3.5 and earned spots on the USCAA All-Academic Team.
Tiffany Phillips, Anna Kate O’Bryant, Mackenzie Harris, Madison Scoggin, Madeline Newman, Ciara Steward, and Cara Hopper also were named to the All-Academic team.
“It blows my mind away with what our student-athletes were able to accomplish in year one,” Trufant said.
As much as Trufant would love to take a break, he knows The W doesn’t have time to relax because men’s and women’s basketball, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s cross country, and men’s golf will play their first seasons in 2018-19.
Trufant hopes the work that was done in the 2017-18 school year to help the school prepare for the return to intercollegiate athletics and the first seasons for the men’s soccer, women’s cross country, women’s volleyball, baseball, and softball teams will help it have an even better second year.
“I think we identified a lot of things we can do better,” Trufant said, “whether it is travel, food, gear, academic advising. It doesn’t matter. We have been able to sit back and identify all of that and try to get better for round two and, eventually, round three.
“It is kind of like a heavyweight fight and how are we going to get round to round, and what are we going to do better so the next round is better. I think our student-athletes were so exceptional. They made our jobs pretty easy. I think that next year we will have hiccups, but they won’t be things we can’t overcome because we know how to fix them.”
Trufant is pleased with the hiring of Brian Merkel and Howard White Jr. for men’s basketball and women’s basketball, Gray Massey for women’s soccer, Rod Hartzog for men’s and women’s tennis, and Benji Williams for men’s golf. Morgan Turnipseed, who coached the women’s cross country team, will lead the men’s cross country squad.
Schedules have been set for the 2018 men’s and women’s soccer seasons. Improvements (new nets, poles, and wind screens) have been made to the Garrett Tennis Courts on The W’s campus. Trufant said four more baskets will be added to Pohl Gymnasium in the next few weeks to create an even better practice environment for the basketball teams.
Trufant said none of the plans could have been realized without Borsig, who will retire June 30, and things wouldn’t be moving forward without the continued support of Nora Miller, who will begin serving as the school’s acting president July 1.
Trufant also said The W has started initial work with architects to create plans for a baseball/soccer facility on campus. In 2017-18, the men’s soccer team played at the downtown Columbus Soccer Complex, while the baseball team played at Columbus High School. That agreement included The W making several upgrades to CHS’ facility, including a new outfield fence and bullpens.
Trufant said The W is examining ways it could play its soccer matches in the outfield of an on-campus baseball facility, which could be located behind Pohl Gymnasium or somewhere else on campus.
“I think it will be pretty unique,” Trufant said. “I am looking for unique. I am not looking for cookie cutter. You see that with softball. It is a little different. You have that Welty blue turf, and having an attractive piece that kids will be like, ‘Wow.’ That happened once, and we’re going to make it happen again.”
Trufant said his “wish list” would be to have an on-campus facility for baseball and soccer be realized in one to two years. He said plenty of fundraising needs to be done, but he said he wouldn’t have that timetable in mind if he didn’t think it could happen.
“That’s the next most important thing for me, getting them a home on campus,” Trufant said. “It is only going to enhance the experience.
“People are going to read whatever you’re going to write and say, ‘Man, one to two years, this guy is nuts.’ Maybe I am, but you have got to have a goal and something to shoot for, and I don’t think I am overshooting that goal.”
Trufant said he has seen people at The W work hard to realize goals, which gives him confidence great things are on the horizon.
Trufant also said The W remains on track to compete as a full NCAA Division III member in the 2021-22 season, which was its initial goal when it decided to re-start intercollegiate athletics. He said NCAA representatives will tour the campus in the fall as part of the organization’s assessment of The W’s progress. Trufant said the visit will be a part of the school’s application process to show the NCAA it is for real.
“I think we have a lot of work to do between today and October, but it is all stuff we’re prepared to do staff wise,” Trufant said.
Trufant said the school is considering adding track and field and men’s and women’s lacrosse and other sports, including esports or bowling, in coming years. He isn’t sure of the timetable for those efforts, but he said 15-18 sports would be the school’s “magic” number.
“I am excited about the future,” Trufant said. “I would be lying to you if I said I am not stressing about the future, but, at the same time, you have to have the outlook to say this is how we want to do it. It is process oriented, and we are dead in the middle of that process and I am not turning any pages now. We have to keep moving in the forward direction.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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