University of Southern Indiana Softball has been picked by Great Lakes Valley Conference Coaches to repeat as league champions in 2019. The Screaming Eagles received 11 first-place votes and 166 points in the annual GLVC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, which was released by the league office Wednesday afternoon.
Trailing USI in the poll was 2018 GLVC regular-season champion University of Illinois Springfield with one first-place vote and 149 points, while McKendree University was third with one first-place votes and 140 points. University of Indianapolis was picked fourth with 138 points, while the University of Missouri-St. Louis rounded out the top five picks with 126 points and one first-place vote.
On the heels of a historic 2018 campaign, the Eagles return five position starters and all but one pitcher from a team that captured the GLVC, NCAA II Midwest Region and NCAA II national titles last season.
After finishing the regular-season with a 27-22 overall record and a 15-13 mark in GLVC play, USI went on to win 14-of-15 postseason games en route to the school’s first-ever team national title.
Included in that was a 4-0 run through the GLVC Tournament as the Eagles, who entered the weekend as the No. 6 seed, won their first conference tournament title since 1998.
Head Coach Sue Kunkle, who earned her 500th career win during the GLVC Tournament last season, returns for her 18th year at the helm of the Eagles after her coaching staff was named the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year. Kunkle will look to a two-time All-American in junior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) to lead her squad into 2019.
Leonhardt was named the NCAA II Softball Championship Most Outstanding Player after going 5-0 with a
1.44 ERA, a .091 opponent batting average and 40 strikeouts in 34 innings of work. That effort included a one-hit shutout of top-ranked University of North Georgia as well as USI’s first-ever post-season no-hitter in USI’s 3-0 win over Angelo State University.
In the post-season, Leonhardt posted a 12-1 overall record with a 1.35 ERA, .152 opponent batting average and 96 strikeouts.
Leonhardt is one of several returning players that made a major impact last year. Senior second baseman Claire Johnson (Pittsboro, Indiana) and senior outfielder/pitcher Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana) each earned NCAA II Softball Championship All-Tournament accolades a year ago. Johnson hit .313 with two home runs and four RBIs in the NCAA II Softball Championship; and posted a team-best .356 batting average with nine RBIs and 17 run scored throughout the postseason.
Bradley hit .375 with a double, home run and seven RBIs during the Eagles’ five-game championship run a year ago after posting a 7-4 record with three saves, a 1.87 ERA and a .241 opponent batting average in the circle as a sophomore in 2018.
USI, which has won two straight regional titles, opens the season February 8 when it takes on Young Harris College at the UAH Charger Chillout. The Eagles are slated to host the Midwest Region Crossover February 22-24 at Deaconess Sports Park before taking part in The Spring Games March 2-9 in Clermont, Florida.
