NFCA Preseason Top 25 Coaches’ Poll

 University of Southern Indiana Softball begins the 2017 season in February receiving consideration for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Preseason Top 25 Poll.

USI, which is essentially 30^th with nine votes, returns seven position starters and three pitchers off a team that went 35-21 overall and 21-9 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference a year ago.

Included in that list of returning players are five All-GLVC honorees, two All-Region performers and the reigning GLVC Player of the Year in senior All-American catcher Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana).

Hodges, who was named first-team All-America by Herosports.com, the NFCA and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association, is coming off a historic 2016 season that saw her set single-season school records for home runs (22), RBIs (72), walks (45) and runs scored (58).

Surrounding Hodges in the lineup is a first-team All-GLVC outfielder in sophomore Olivia Clark-Kittleson (Carbondale, Illinois), a pair of second-team All-GLVC honorees in junior first baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) and sophomore designated player/pitcher/outfielder Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana), and a third-team All-GLVC shortstop in senior Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana).

Clark-Kittleson hit .351 with nine RBIs and 18 runs scored before injury cut her 2016 season short. Fossett hit .336 with 11 doubles, six home runs and 37 RBIs, while Bradley hit .300 with 12 doubles, a triple, two home runs and 23 RBIs in her first year of collegiate softball. Bradley also earned All-Midwest Region honors a year ago.

Reese had a huge year for USI as a junior when she hit .326 with 16 doubles, 10 home runs and 40 RBIs.

In the pitcher’s circle, the Eagles return Bradley and fellow sophomores Haylee Smith (Florence, Kentucky) and Courtney Atkisson (Bringhurst, Indiana). Smith led the Eagles with a 2.91 ERA and 11 complete games as a freshman, while Bradley went 6-3 with a 3.04 ERA.

Atkisson is coming off a strong fall campaign that saw the emergence of freshman pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky). Leonhardt earned third-team All-State honors as a senior after posting a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts during her senior season.

USI opens the year February 14 when it travels to Florence, Alabama, to take on defending NCAA Division II champion and preseason No. 1 University of North Alabama.

The Eagles also are slated to play preseason No. 6 Grand Valley State University March 6 at The Spring Games in Clermont, Florida, while the University of Indianapolis (No. 16) and the University of Missouri-St. Louis (No. 23) are the only GLVC teams to open the year in the NFCA Top 25 preseason poll.

Following their doubleheader with North Alabama, the Eagles host the Midwest Region Crossover February 24-26 at Deaconess Sports Park in Evansville. USI opens its home schedule March 15 with a doubleheader against Midwest Region foe Kentucky Wesleyan College.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Both the Indiana men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads were named College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Teams on Wednesday.
To be selected as a CSCAA Scholar All-America Team, programs must have achieved a grade point average of 3.00 or higher over the fall semester.

“Academics are always the number one priority at Indiana University as stated in the spirit of Indiana doctrine,” Indiana head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “With this in mind, we are very proud of both our men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams for their outstanding work in the classroom last fall.”

A record 638 teams, representing 394 institutions earned the honor on Wednesday, with 73 percent of all CSCAA member programs posting GPA’s above 3.00 with 91 percent of Division I women’s teams meeting the mark.

Founded in 1922, the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) – the oldest organization of college coaches in America -is a professional organization of college swimming and diving coaches dedicated to serving and providing leadership for the advancement of the sport of swimming & diving at the collegiate level.

Aces chosen to finish in 6^th place

 

1. LOUIS – On Wednesday, the Missouri Valley Conference released its 2017 Preseason Softball Poll.  With a solid nucleus of players returning from last year’s 24-win squad, the University of Evansville was picked to finish sixth in the league.

“Honestly, preseason polls and rankings are fun but do not mean much.  We know as a team what we have to do and where we want to be,” Purple Aces head coach Mat Mundell said.  “Now that the season is here, it is time to go to work.  When it comes to polls and rankings, our focus is more on where we are at the end of the season.”

The MVC also released its preseason first team, which featured UE sophomore Morgan Florey.  Florey, who is the defending MVC Freshman of the Year, finished third in the MVC with a 1.95 ERA and went 16-11 in the circle.  She was also the top power hitter on the team, leading UE with 8 home runs and 26 RBI.

Also coming back for the Aces is 2-time All-MVC First Teamer Chandra Parr.  The senior was a strong hitter in 2016, batting .306 with 23 RBIs.

With six first-place votes, Drake was picked to win the league, just ahead of Wichita State, who received three of the top votes.  Southern Illinois was chosen third with UNI and Illinois State rounding out the top five.  The full poll and preseason squad is below.

Rank      Team (1st-place votes)   Points

1              Drake (6)                           92

2              Wichita State (3)               88

3              Southern Illinois                82

4              UNI (1)                                  68

5              Illinois State                       54

6              Evansville                            53

T7           Missouri State                   34

Bradley                                 34

9              Indiana State                     28

10           Loyola                                   14

Player, Team                                          Pos.     Yr.

Shaye Harre, Southern Illinois             1B       Sr.

Kassie Brown, Indiana State                 2B       Sr.

Taryn Pena, Drake                                   3B    Soph.

Mackenzie Wright, Wichita State       3B       Jr.

Riley Strandgard, Illinois State             SS        Jr.

Jordan de los Reyes, Illinois State       C        Sr.

Morgan Florey, Evansville                  UT/P  Soph.

Macklin Hitz, Wichita State          DP/UT-NP Sr.

Kennedy Frank, Drake                           OF    Soph.

Erica Nagel, Loyola                                 OF       Sr.

Kelly Kapp, Bradley                                OF       Sr.

Nicole Newman, Drake                           P         Jr.

Brianna Jones, Southern Illinois         P       Soph.

The Kentucky Equine Education Project has scheduled KEEP Day in Frankfort during the 2017 legislative session for Wednesday, February 22, making it easy for those involved in the industry to meet with their state legislators to discuss the importance of horses to their districts’ economy.

“Twenty-eight new legislators were elected in the Kentucky State House of Representatives in the November elections, ushering in a change in leadership for the first time in nearly 100 years,” said Joe Clabes, KEEP’s executive director. “With important topics like tax reform expected to be considered in 2017, we need to educate new and returning members on the important role horses play in Kentucky’s economy and there are no better messengers than their own constituents.”

Horses of all breeds form a $4 billion industry in the commonwealth, supporting an estimated 100,000 direct and indirect jobs, spanning all 120 counties. Kentucky is home to 35,000 operations with at least one horse, totaling 242,400 equines (including mules and donkeys) and $23.4 billion in value when including related assets, according to a University of Kentucky Department of Agriculture survey.

KEEP’s top priority for 2017 remains the push for equine sales-tax equity, achieving the same exemption from 6% sales tax on feed, equipment and supplies that other livestock producers receive.

Clabes added, “We urge all supporters of Kentucky’s horse industry to ‘Join the Herd’ in Frankfort on February 22. There has never been a better opportunity to build relationships with our representatives in Frankfort to present a unified voice for the advancement of our horse economy.”

Those wanting to meet with their State Senator and/or Representative as part of KEEP Day can go to horseswork.com/advocacy and confirm their attendance by simply filling in their name and address. Their specific Senator and Representative will be automatically notified. Legislators will set up appointments for constituents by either email or going through KEEP in order to accommodate multiple members from their districts. Those interested in attending can also call KEEP at (859) 259-0007, and KEEP staff will help arrange appointments with legislators. The KEEP team will be in contact with all registrants prior to February 20 to provide additional information.

The first twenty attendees to register will receive a special gift. Upon their arrival in Frankfort on February 22, they’ll be given a 12 X 19” print signed by Courier-Journal photographer Michael Clevenger of his 2015 Eclipse Award-winning photo of American Pharoah clinching the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stake, with jockey Victor Espinoza looking back at the field far in his wake.