As the spring sports season begins to wind down, many teams are already beginning to prepare for their next season.

The football team had its annual blue and white scrimmage, the men’s soccer team had its spring exhibition matches, and five teams have announced additions to their rosters for next year.

Let’s take a look forward and see how some of Butler’s teams will be changing for the 2012-13 school year.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The men’s basketball team finished the 2011-12 season with a 22-15 record, averaging 40.8 percent shooting from the field and 28.1 percent shooting from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs were ranked eighth and 10th in the Horizon League in those categories, respectively.

The team has a chance to improve with the additions of senior guard and transfer Rotnei Clarke and incoming freshman guard Kellen Dunham.

In three seasons at Arkansas, Clarke averaged more than 15 points per game and shot nearly 44 percent from 3-point range.

Dunham averaged more than 29 points during his senior season at Pendleton Heights High School.

The Bulldogs will also be adding guard Devontae Morgan from Tampa, Fla., and guard Chris Harrison-Docks from Okemos, Mich.

Morgan led his high school team to a state championship last season, averaging more than 15 points and six rebounds per game.

Harrison-Docks averaged 21 points and five steals per game in his senior season.

The team will lose only two players—guard Ronald Nored and forward Garrett Butcher.

Butler will have to make up for the loss of Nored’s defensive prowess, as well as the experience and leadership provided by the pair.

Clarke and seniors Emerson Kampen, Chase Stigall and Andrew Smith will likely be asked to step up and fill those roles.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The women’s basketball team concluded its 2011-12 season with a 13-17 record and said goodbye to two senior guards—Devin Brierly and Kaley May.

Brierly was the only Bulldog to start in all 30 of the team’s games. She recorded more than 32 minutes of playing time per game, averaging 11 points per game.

Sophomore center Sarah Hamm is the only returning player to average more than 10 points per game last season.

Hamm will be joined by sophomore guard Jenna Cobb, freshman forward Hayley Howard and freshman guard Hannah Douglas, who all played key roles on the team last season.

Butler will also be adding four incoming freshman—forward Katie Brewer from Indianapolis, guard Blaire Langlois from Carmel, guard Lexus Murry from Indianapolis and forward-center Olivia Wrencher from West Chester, Ohio.

Brewer is a versatile player who has the ability to knock down three-pointers and battle down low.

Langlois has deep range on her jump shot but also has the ability to make plays with her passing.

Murry averaged more than 22 points per game during her senior season and can also be effective on the defensive end, where she averaged 3.5 steals per game.

Wrencher will bring size to the Bulldogs that will complement the play of Hamm and Howard under the basket.

SOFTBALL

The softball team will lose seven seniors at the conclusion of its current season, including four-year starting outfielder and third baseman Lauren McNulty, Butler’s home run record-holding first baseman Erin Falkenberry and catcher Mallory Winters.

Despite this, coach Scott Hall has five incoming players who could make an immediate impact on the program.

Alex Kotter, a shortstop from Vincennes Lincoln High School, had a .615 career batting average and was an Indiana first team All-State pick.

Chelsea Conover, an outfielder from Brownsburg, led her high school team in stolen bases, runs scored and on-base percentage for three years.

Audrey East is a utility player from New Palestine High School. East is one of the best power hitters in Indiana and boasted a .902 slugging percentage, eight home runs and 47 RBIs last season.

Taylor Lockwood, a pitcher from Southport High School, has good control and will be a solid addition to the pitching staff.

The same could be said for Kristin Gutierrez, a left-handed power pitcher from Highlands Ranch High School in Colorado.

Gutierrez, a 2011 Triple Crown All-American honoree, is a dual threat with her pitching and hitting. She led her conference with 127 strikeouts and recorded a .542 batting average.

The success of the pitching recruits could be key with the loss of senior pitcher Breanna Fisher and injuries to junior pitcher Jenny Esparza this season.

BASEBALL

The baseball team will add four players who could have an immediate impact next season.

Nick Bartolone is a left-handed outfielder from Harrison High School. Coach Steve Farley said he expects Bartolone to compete for position in the outfield next year.

Chris Marras, a catcher from Vernon Hills, Ill., will get the chance to work with two fifth-year senior catchers, Radley Haddad and Nick Hladek.

Nick Saldutti is a power-hitting first baseman from Westfield High School. He hit .477 with a .571 on-base percentage in his junior season.

Drew Small is a utility player from Zionsville. He was an All-State honorable mention.

His versatility and speed will help him compete for a spot in the outfield, especially with the loss of senior outfielder Mike Hoscheit.

The Bulldogs will also lose pitchers Dom Silvestri, Mike Hernandez, Brad Schnitzer, Brian Padove and Ryan Salvino, as well as senior infielder Griffin Richeson.

VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team is returning eight players who played in at least 50 sets last year and lost only one senior in Maureen Bamiro.

Bamiro, a former middle blocker, finished with the second-best attack percentage in Butler history and sixth all-time in kills and kills per set.

Last season, she was voted All-Horizon League.

The Bulldogs will return sophomore middle blocker Maggie Harbison, who will likely be a key contributor after being voted All-Horizon League last season.

Butler will also add two transfer students.

Freshman Erica Stahl, a transfer from Cincinnati, will be an addition to the middle blocker position.

Stahl only has four sets of collegiate experience under her belt but was named among the top high school volleyball players by the Under Armour Watch list in 2010.

Sophomore Morgan Peterson, a setter from Middle Tennessee State, will have two years of eligibility with the Bulldogs.

She averaged 8.58 assists and 1.41 digs per set last season.

On a team that has struggled to a 7-13 record this season, one duo is shining through on the Butler women’s tennis team.

Sophomores Stephanie McLoughlin and Gabrielle Rubenstein are 18-9 as a doubles pairing for the Bulldogs this season. That mark includes a 6-0 record in conference action.

Photo by Reid Bruner

“Teams just don’t play the way they play,” coach Jason Suscha said. “They play doubles the way it’s supposed to be played.”

McLoughlin and Rubenstein, like most college athletes, have been playing their sport of choice since they were young.

McLoughlin comes from a tennis family. Her dad was an Indiana University tennis star, and her brother, Stephen, is a senior on the Butler men’s tennis team.

“Growing up, my dad always emphasized doubles, and I played any chance I got,” McLoughlin said.

Rubenstein, a former state singles champion at Brebeuf Jesuit High School, said she was always told that if she wanted to play in college, she needed to know how to play both singles and doubles.

“You just aren’t as valuable if you can’t play both,” Rubenstein said.

The two have been playing together since their very first week of practice at Butler.

“There is no right way to do things,” Rubenstein said. “You just learn to move with your partner, and after a while you figure out their strengths and weaknesses.”

McLoughlin said she lets Rubenstein be the aggressor in their matches.

“I tend to set up on the baseline, and Gabby has great hands and puts it away,” McLoughlin said.

Doubles pair sophomore Caroline Hedrick and junior Brittany Farmer both said that to be successful in doubles, partners have to play off each other’s strengths.

“Our game really complements each other really well,” Farmer said.  “I’m more of the power player, and she’s more consistent.”

Hedrick and Farmer have been the second strongest doubles duo on the women’s team, posting a record of 9-7 overall.

“We have opposite games, but it works,” Hedrick said.

Suscha said he stresses aggressive play in doubles­— something that he said a lot of other women’s doubles teams don’t do.

Rubenstein and McLoughlin said they have embraced the style.

“We have developed a controlled aggression,” McLoughlin said. “We come across teams that play so passively, and because we play aggressively they don’t know how to handle it. We just control the match.”

Suscha said one of the toughest things for all of the Bulldogs has been adjusting from the aggressive doubles play to the more passive play seen in singles.

“You don’t usually see teams being good at both because it is two different styles of play,” Suscha said.

Hedrick said she uses doubles action as an opportunity to prepare for her No. 1 singles matches.

“I think it’s a nice segue into singles,” Hedrick said. “You are warmed up and already in the right mindset.”

McLoughlin said she recognizes the differences between singles and doubles and has been able to overcome them to be successful in doubles play.

“You don’t necessarily have to have crazy endurance or beautiful ground strokes like you do in singles,” McLoughlin said. “You just have to be aggressive.”

Rubenstein said it’s more about mentality and athleticism.

“To play great doubles, you have to be more gifted athletically,” Rubenstein said. “But more importantly, you have to have the right mindset.”

Suscha said that Rubenstein and McLoughlin really understand what it takes to be successful.

“If you play [doubles] right and you play it aggressively, it’s hard to lose,” Suscha said. “And they’ve got it going on. They’re always coming at you.”

The Butler softball team split the first two games of its three-game series against Horizon League rival Wright State yesterday.

Photo by Josh Morris

In the first game of the series, the Bulldogs (17-26, 7-7) grabbed a 5-1 victory.

Butler got on the board early with a two-out RBI double from senior catcher Mallory Winters.

Then, with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning, senior Alyssa Coleman recorded a pinch hit, three-run double to pad Butler’s lead.

The Bulldogs added one more run in the sixth inning.

In the second game, Butler started out strong again.

Freshman third baseman Callie Dennison scored on a single by junior Meaghan Sullivan in the bottom of the first inning.

The Raiders (18-24, 6-8) tied it up in the second inning before the Bulldogs added an unearned run in the third inning.

Errors would plague Butler the rest of game.

The Raiders added two runs in fifth—both unearned—as a result of Butler fielding errors.

The Bulldogs tried to rally in the bottom of the sixth inning, but mistakes on the base paths prevented them from scoring.

“It came down to four errors and some critical base-running mistakes,” coach Scott Hall said. “We have to be able to execute.”

The bright spot for Butler were  solid pitching performances from sophomore Leah Bry in both games.

“Leah was awesome today,” Hall said. “We just have to do a better job of playing defense and backing her up.”

Last weekend, the Bulldogs won one game in a three-game series against conference opponent Green Bay.

Butler lost the first game 4-1, not getting a hit until the seventh inning.

Bry took the loss for the Bulldogs.

The second game was a different story, with the Bulldogs recording a season-high 17 hits and winning by a 9-8 margin.

Butler got out of the gate quickly, scoring four runs in the first inning.

Three of the runs came from a swing of the bat, as senior outfielder Lauren McNulty cracked a three-run home run.

The Phoenix (15-17, 4-5) answered back and took a 7-4 lead into the sixth inning.

In the top of that inning, freshman infielder Kristen Boros hit a solo home run to cut the lead to two.

Butler then tied the game with two runs in the seventh inning.

McNulty broke the 7-7 deadlock in the 10th inning with a solo shot to center field.

It was her sixth long ball of the season.

The Bulldogs added an insurance run with a double from freshman Maria Leichty and an RBI single from Winters, giving the Bulldogs the 9-8 win.

Senior pitcher Breanna Fisher picked up her fourth win of the season.

In the final game of the series, the Phoenix recorded 13 hits and scored 11 runs in just four innings.

Photo by Josh Morris

Butler had only four hits and three runs in the 11-3 loss.

The Bulldogs did pick up a non-conference win last Thursday against Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Butler had five hits and a shut-out performance from Bry on the way to 4-0 victory.

The Bulldogs will finish the three-game series against Wright State today.

Butler will then close out its six-game homestand with a three-game series against Detroit this weekend.