Troy softball added a new member to its coaching staff before it opened the fall ball season with contests against Northwest Florida and Mississippi State.
“I always enjoyed coaching,” said Mackenzie Puckett, the newest member of the Troy Trojans softball coaching staff.
Puckett, a Georgia graduate, joins the Trojans from the Bulldogs where she spent three years as a player and nine months as a student manager.
Before the Cairo, Georgia, native spent two seasons at Florida State, where she won a national championship with the Seminoles in her freshman year.
“Being able to experience that national championship, it shows you how different it is from just making it to supers, or just making it to regionals versus winning the whole World Series,” Puckett said.
In her time as a student manager at Georgia, the Bulldogs finished 49-19 overall and made it to the NCAA Super Regionals, where they fell to no. 6 ranked UCLA. That season saw wins over Auburn, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Arkansas, who all finished ranked.
“I believe this team has the potential to make a run in the postseason and be competitive as well,” Puckett said.
At Troy, Puckett steps into a more offensive centered role as she’s spending most of her early moments at Troy with the hitters. In her first season at Georgia as a player, Puckett hit three home runs, including a grand slam against Samford. Puckett looks to bring that hitting experience with her to Troy.
“I’m hoping that we just hit the ball well and hit it hard,” Puckett said. “As long as we’re hitting the ball and making good, hard contact, the home runs will come.”
In her third game as part of the Trojan coaching staff, Puckett gets to face the team she won a national championship with when Troy plays host to Florida State as part of their fall ball schedule.
“I really hope we just perform well; I want us to come out and be competitive,” Puckett said on facing her old team. “We played Mississippi State this past week, and we did a great job of being competitive throughout the whole game, battling, and I just hope we bring that same energy versus Florida State.”
In their first two games of the fall ball schedule, Troy split the games against Northwest Florida and Mississippi State. The Trojans beat Northwest Florida 4-0 at the Troy Softball Complex before losing 11-8 at the neutral site game against Mississippi State.
Head softball coach Eric Newell speaks highly about the addition of Coach Puckett to the staff and is excited to get things started with her in Troy.
“She comes to us highly recommended by the coaching staff at UGA, where they spoke openly about her strong work ethic and integrity,” said Coach Newell in an interview with Troy Athletics. “She is an incredible fit for the culture of Troy softball.”
When asked to describe how she’s feeling about this upcoming season, Puckett said she’s “ready to get after it.”
The Trojans are in position to “get after it” as they continue their fall ball slate by playing host to Central Alabama Wednesday at 5 p.m. before welcoming Florida State on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.
After that, the Trojans host Chipola on Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. and Snead on Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. before traveling to play Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Oct. 20 at 1 p.m.
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