DENTON, Texas (10/12/12) - The North Texas softball team opens its fall schedule on Saturday, Oct. 13 when it faces TWU in a cross-town matchup at Pioneer Field.

On Sunday, North Texas travels to College Station to face Sam Houston and Texas A&M. The Mean Green defeated all three teams last year in fall play.

The Mean Green is returning 11 letterwinners, including all four pitchers. North Texas has brought in eight new faces for the 2012-13 season.

North Texas Head Coach T.J. Hubbard's goal for the weekend is to get the freshmen acclimated to the game and to see what specific positions they look best at.

"We want to give them as many opportunities, as many reps, and as many at-bats in the games as we can," said Hubbard. We want to get them comfortable with the speed of the game, their teammates, whatever their positions are. We'll worry about setting some performance goals after this weekend."

North Texas held an intra-squad scrimmage on Wednesday and despite some rust, Hubbard was impressed, especially with the pitchers. He thought all the freshmen played well, including Bryana Wade at catcher and Karly Williams at third.

"The biggest part for this group this weekend is offensively, they have to feel confident at the plate and get some at-bats against some tough competition. Defensively, they are all going to be fine."

The coaching staff is also going to look at players in several positions.

"We'll see a lot of different kids in different positions, and it will really tell us where we will need to focus them at. Hopefully, after this weekend, we will know where each of them will play."

There are a number of versatile players who can play a couple different positions. Senior Lesley Hirsch can play infield or outfield, Taylor Schoblocher will see action at second, outfield and catcher; and Karly Williams can play second or third.

The six potential outfielders will also be moving in and out of the three outfield positions.

There are a few holes to be filled left by last year's senior class. Graduated senior Caitlin Grimes played nearly every game last year at catcher, Megan Rupp was a fixture in center field, and Lisa Johnson was a four-year starter at second base.