Newman named to 2024 OVC Softball Players to Watch List
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Softball is projected to place fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference in a vote submitted by the league’s head coaches and communication directors.
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The 10-team OVC will feature a schedule with each team playing each other in one three-game series for a 27-game conference schedule from March 9 through May 5. The conference’s season concludes with the OVC Softball Championship Tournament in Peoria, Illinois May 8-11.
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Reigning OVC regular-season champion Southeast Missouri State University was predicted first in the OVC preseason poll with 157 points and 13 first-place votes. Reigning 2023 OVC Tournament champion Eastern Illinois University was selected second with 148 points and six first-place votes. The University of Tennessee at Martin rounded out the top three with 120 points and a first-place vote.
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The Screaming Eagles, coming off a third-place finish in their inaugural D-I and OVC season in 2023, were picked fourth with 112 points. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville was slotted fifth with 111 points ahead of Tennessee State University in sixth with 80 points. Lindenwood University earned 65 points for a projected seventh-place finish. Morehead State University was picked eighth with 44 points while OVC newcomer Western Illinois University (33) and Tennessee Tech University (30) rounded out the preseason poll.
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As part of the Ohio Valley Conference’s preseason announcement, junior pitcher Josie Newman (Indianapolis, Indiana) represented USI on the 2024 OVC Softball Preseason Players to Watch List. Newman comes off a stellar 2023 campaign, earning All-OVC First Team honors at the end of last season.
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Newman finished the 2023 regular season tied for first in the OVC with 15 wins and 17 complete games, alone in first with 139 strikeouts and six shutouts, and second with 145 innings pitched and a .206 opposing batting average. In conference-only action, Newman’s 10 OVC wins were first in the league in addition to her 95.1 innings pitched, 83 strikeouts, 14 starts, and 13 complete games. Her three OVC shutouts were tied for first in conference-only action.
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Plus, Newman had three starts with 10 or more strikeouts, threw two one-hitters, and earned her 16th overall win last season in the opening round of the OVC Tournament in USI’s win against Tennessee State. Newman was also a three-time OVC Pitcher of the Week in 2023.
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The 2024 squad features 20 players – 13 returning players and seven newcomers. Head Coach Sue Kunkle, who enters 2024 with a 649-443-1 career record at USI, heads into her 23rd season at the helm of the Screaming Eagles. Kunkle has USI primed to make another good run in 2024 after a historic first season as an NCAA Division I program and first in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Eagles made their D-I debut last year with a 21-23 overall record and a 13-9 mark in the OVC. USI captured its first OVC Tournament win last May as a No. 3 seed. At the end of last year, USI had two All-OVC First Team selections in Newman and graduated designated player Allie Goodin, who also took home OVC Player of the Year honors.
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Alongside Newman in the circle, USI also returns junior pitcher Hailey Gotshall (Lucerne, Indiana) and sophomore pitcher Raegan Gibson (Louisville, Kentucky). Gotshall was 4-5 with 28 strikeouts and a 4.28 ERA in 55.2 innings pitched. Gotshall made 10 starts in 15 appearances. Gibson tallied a 1-1 record in her freshman season, posting a 6.14 ERA in 21.2 innings. Gibson had three starts in 12 appearances.
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At the plate, USI returns senior outfielder Mackenzie Bedrick (Brownsburg, Indiana). Bedrick started all 44 games last season and batted .308 at the top of the order with a team-best 31 runs scored, which ranked sixth in the OVC. The top returning run producer in the Screaming Eagles’ lineup with Bedrick is senior Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana). Fair also started all 44 games in 2023, hitting .222, and was second on the team with four home runs and 23 RBI. The power-hitter also added seven doubles last season.
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Opening day for the Screaming Eagles in 2024 will be February 16 at the Easton Bama Bash when USI opens against the University of Virginia and the University of St. Thomas. USI will play five games from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to begin the 2024 campaign, including a matchup against the host and top-15 ranked University of Alabama on February 18. Southern Indiana will start conference play March 9-10 at Tennessee Tech before hosting its home-opening series from USI Softball Field March 16-17 against Morehead State.
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2024 OVC Softball Predicted Order of Finish
(as voted on by the league’s head coaches and communication directors)
1. Southeast Missouri (13) 157
2. Eastern Illinois (6) – 148
3. UT Martin (1) – 120
4. Southern Indiana – 112
5. SIUE – 111
6. Tennessee State – 80
7. Lindenwood – 65
8. Morehead State – 44
9. Western Illinois – 33
10. Tennessee Tech – 30
2024 OVC Softball Players to Watch
Rachel Kaufman, Eastern Illinois
Amanda Weyh, Lindenwood
Jessie Begley, Morehead State
Aubrie Shore, Southeast Missouri
Sydney Baalman, SIUE
Josie Newman, Southern Indiana
Anayah Baker-Rowell, Tennessee State
Mackenzie Fitzgerald, Tennessee Tech
Kaci Fuller, UT Martin
Bella Alvarez, Western Illinois
