(Photo courtesy of Tim Clark, Texas Lutheran)
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - In exclusive balloting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Confenrence (SCAC), two-time defending league champion Texas Lutheran University was tabbed as the preseason favorite to capture the conference softball title in 2016.
The Bulldogs received 48 total points and six first place votes to lead the way. Coming in second with 40 points and the remaining first place vote was Trinity University, last season's conference runner-up.
Last season, Texas Lutheran produced a final season record of 37-6 with an SCAC mark of 23-0 and made a second straight appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament. The Bulldogs, who set new single-season school records for runs scored (292), RBI (251), batting average (.366), wins (37), and consecutive wins (33), return six First Team All-Selections from a year ago - including both the reigning SCAC Player-of-the-Year (Jennifer Gallagher) and Pitcher-of-the-Year (Taylor Grissom).
Gallagher, a senior designated player from Missouri City, Texas, led the league in batting average (.431), on-base percentage (.493), RBIs (45) and doubles (16) while slugging .595. Grissom, a senior right-hander from Spring, Texas, finished the 2015 season with a 20-2 record and a miniscule 0.77 ERA. She gave up just 12 earned runs in 90.0 innings and struck out 45 in earning her second consecutive SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year honor.
Trinity has 12 returning players from last year's 18-18 squad (10-6 SCAC), including junior outfielder Mackenzie Hill who was selected for the All-SCAC First Team, after being a Second Team honoree the previous season. Hill leads the returning Tigers in batting average, at .314 and scored 22 runs and drove in 14 a season ago.
Southwestern University, the 2013 SCAC Champions, was picked to finish third (with 34 points) after a fourth-place showing in both the regular season and the post-season conference tournament a year ago. The Pirates (18-21 / 12-9 SCAC) return junior outfielder/designated player Marissa Irvin who was a 2015 First-Team All-SCAC selection after finishing second in the league in hitting (.413) and fourth in on-base percentage (.460).
The University of Dallas was the coaches fourth choice with 28 points. The Crusaders, who posted a program-best 13 conference wins last season, are led by First-Team All-SCAC selections junior outfielder Lyda Tesauro and junior pitcher Katie Lee. Tesauro finished second in the SCAC in doubles (15) and stolen bases (24) and third in runs scored (32) while Lee led the SCAC in innings pitched (212.0), shutouts (6) and strikeouts (101) and was second in wins (19) and third in earned run average (2.61).
The coaches' fifth choice was Schreiner University, who posted a surprising third-place finish at last year's conference tournament after entering the event as the sixth-seed. The Mountaineers return First-Team All-SCAC sophomore utility Sydney Christopher, who finished second in the conference in doubles (15) and fourth in RBI (29).
Austin College garnered 15 points in the preseason coaches' poll. The 'Roos will be led by senior duo and twins Briana and Sophia Hernandez. Centenary College rounds out the coaches poll in seventh with nine points. First-year head coach Mark Suire inherits a Ladies' squad led by sophomore shortstop Anna Dunn - last season's SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year.
For a preview of the 2016 season, click here (coming soon) for the SCAC Softball Media Guide. This year's preseason guide contains a complete recap of the 2015 season as well as team-by-team previews for the upcoming campaign.
Also, all seven SCAC coaches, along with a respective student-athlete, participated in SCAC Softball Media Days earlier this week. Click here to watch any of the seven team interviews.
Be sure and follow the SCAC on Facebook and Twitter (#SCACsb) for constant updates and information regarding all SCAC Sports.
| 2016 SCAC Softball Preseason Poll | |||
| |
No. of Votes | 2015 SCAC | 2015 Overall |
| 1. Texas Lutheran University |
48 (6) | 23-0 | 37-6 |
| 2. Trinity University | 40 (1) | 10-6 | 18-18 |
| 3. Southwestern University | 34 | 12-9 | 18-21 |
| 4. University of Dallas |
28 | 13-9 |
20-16 |
| 5. Schreiner University |
22 | 6-16 | 10-31 |
| 6. Austin College |
15 | 5-13 | 10-16 |
| 7. Centenary College |
9 | 4-20 | 7-26 |
Note: First-place votes (in parentheses) are worth seven points, second place worth six points, on down to seventh-place votes being worth one point. Coaches voted for order of finish 1-7.