No. 23 West Chester and Gannon top 2021 PSAC Softball Preseason Poll
2021 PSAC East SB Preseason Notes
2021 PSAC West SB Preseason Notes
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --- No. 23 West Chester University and Gannon University topped the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Preseason Softball Poll for their respective divisions, as voted on by the league’s head coaches, the PSAC office announced Friday.
Under the new format that takes place this season in PSAC softball, the league is split into two divisions, the East and the West.
The East consists of Bloomsburg University, East Stroudsburg University, Kutztown University, Lock Haven University, Mansfield University, Millersville University, Shepherd University, Shippensburg University and West Chester.
The West is made up of California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University, Edinboro University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Mercyhurst University, the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Seton Hill University, Slippery Rock University and Gannon.
East
West Chester is the top choice to finish first in the East. The Golden Rams were picked 23rd in the 2021 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Preseason Poll as they were the lone team to represent the PSAC in the top 25. WCU received six of the nine possible first-place votes from coaches. They come into 2021 as the two-time defending Atlantic Region champions, aiming to make their third trip to the NCAA Division II National Championships. They have won at least a share of the PSAC East Division in each of the last six seasons. A notable returner for West Chester is fifth-year senior Bri Garber, WCU’s all-time hits leader. Her 250 career hits are 14th in PSAC history entering 2021 and she is 50 hits shy of becoming just the second player in conference history to reach 300, while also being 26 runs shy of becoming just the third player in conference history to reach 200 runs scored.
Kutztown is right behind West Chester in the poll picked second in the East. The Golden Bears received three of the nine possible first-place votes. Head coach Judy Lawes is just eight wins shy of 1,000 for her career and would become the 39th coach all-time to reach that feat, and sixth all-time at the DII level. KU returns all but one starter from a season ago including 2019 PSAC Freshman of the Year, starting pitcher Bridget Bailey. Bailey is joined by 2019 All-PSAC East honorees Jenna Lipowski and Kate Ostaszewski.
Bloomsburg was voted third in the poll going 8-6 in 2020 before the pandemic shut things down. Since the inception of the program in 1977, Bloomsburg has only had four losing seasons and just one since 1979. One of the leagues’ top hitters Nicolette Ray returns as she was batting .429 (21-for-49) with two home runs and 20 RBI’s in 2020. Abby Wild and Tara Baney are expected to lead the Huskies in the circle. Wild was 6-3 with a PSAC-best 65 strikeouts, while Baney recorded 30 k’s in 34.0 innings.
Shippensburg is fourth in the East and consists of a roster that features 16 returners and nine true freshmen. Sixteen of the 25 players on the roster have freshmen athletic eligibility. Prior to the pandemic, the Raiders were 10-4 and were one of the top hitting teams in the conference. They hit .351 through 14 games and led the PSAC in doubles (39), triples (11) and runs scored (120).
Lock Haven was picked fifth in the East and will rely on the bat of Mikayla Ruppert and the arm of Jada Schellhammer. Ruppert hit .392 and had a .608 slugging percentage in 51 at-bats in 2020, while Schellhammer started the abbreviated season with a 6-3 record over 52.0 innings pitched and had a 3.23 ERA.
Rounding out the rest of the East were Shepherd, East Stroudsburg, Mansfield and Millersville, respectively.
West
Gannon snagged the top spot in the West with five of the nine possible first-place votes. The Golden Knights have six seniors on their roster and one returning graduate student including Maria Taliani, Kristina DeMatteis, Nicole Bush, Lyndsey Lakatos, Kennedy DeMatteis, Syndie Whitaker and Kaity Stocker. Taliani comes back as the team’s third-best hitter in 2020, batting .300 (15-for-50) with six home runs and 11 RBI’s. Lakatos was just behind her in average batting .273 (9-for-33), while Kristina DeMatteis was second on the roster in home runs (5) and first in RBI’s (15). The Golden Knights also return their top hurler from last year in Kennedy DeMatteis who had a 2.07 ERA and 43 strikeouts over 54.0 innings pitched.
Seton Hill was second in the West voting earning two first-place votes among the nine. The Griffins were 7-10 in the abbreviated 2020 season. SHU returns two of their top batters from 2020 in Alexis Vargas and Jenna Osikowicz. Vargas hit an impressive .426 (23-for-54) with two home runs and nine RBI’s while Osikowicz batted .390 (23-for-59) with a home run and five RBI’s. She also tallied four stolen bases. Shaelynn Myers returns as the team’s top pitcher from 2020 with a 4.17 ERA and 30 K’s over 40.1 innings pitched.
IUP was picked third in the poll and recorded one first-place vote. The Crimson Hawks bring back their top nine hitters from 2020 including former PSAC Central Athlete and Freshman of the Year, Kaitlyn Beers and Renee Wall. IUP received a lot of firepower from a trio of hitters who were on pace for 10-plus homers last season: Beers, Wall, and Haleigh Zimmerman. Sophomores Hope Jones and Ashley Renzi will look to make an impact in the circle. The pair started 11 of IUP’s 14 games in 2020 and combined for eight complete games and 29 strikeouts over 65.0 innings pitched.
California is picked fourth in the West registering one first-place vote and return two-time All-PSAC West honoree Brooke Wilson. Wilson has a career .372 batting average starting in all 89 games over the last three years. In the circle, Ellie Lobdell had a 1.44 ERA in almost 50.0 innings last season, earned three of the team’s four victories and tossed five complete games while making seven starts.
Mercyhurst enters the year picked fifth in the West after finishing the shortened 2020 season with a 6-10 record. Madison Fry paced the offense last year hitting an astounding .488 (20-for-41) with seven runs scored. Cheyenne Hindman, the team’s top hurler last year is set to return after posting a 4.20 ERA with 18 punchouts over 35.0 innings pitched.
Pitt-Johnstown, Slippery Rock, Clarion and Edinboro concluded the rest of the Western Division poll, respectively.
EAST (No. of 1st Place Votes)
1. #23 West Chester (6)
2. Kutztown (3)
3. Bloomsburg
4. Shippensburg
5. Lock Haven
6. Shepherd
7. East Stroudsburg
8. Mansfield
9. Millersville
WEST (No. of 1st Place Votes)
1. Gannon (5)
2. Seton Hill (2)
3. IUP (1)
4. California (1)
5. Mercyhurst
6. Pitt-Johnstown
7. Slippery Rock
8. Clarion
9. Edinboro
ABOUT THE PSAC
Headquartered in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference comprised of 18 institutions in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The member institutions are Bloomsburg University, California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University, East Stroudsburg University, Edinboro University, Gannon University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown University, Lock Haven University, Mansfield University, Mercyhurst University, Millersville University, The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Seton Hill University, Shepherd University, Shippensburg University, Slippery Rock University and West Chester University.