(Write up from OVCSports.com)
Tennessee Tech has been selected to win the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference crown as voted on by the league's head softball coaches and sports information directors. The Golden Eagles earned 13 first-place votes and 231 points. Jacksonville State is picked to finish second with nine first-place votes and 226 points while Murray State earned the remaining two first-place nods and 195 points for a third-place predicted finish. SIUE is picked to place fourth with 192 points while Eastern Kentucky completes the top five with 141 points. Eastern Illinois (112), Southeast Missouri (111), UT Martin (108), Morehead State (94), Belmont (66), Austin Peay (50) and Tennessee State (27) round out the poll.
"It's a great honor for the other coaches to recognize the girls for their talent and finishing first last season," Tennessee Tech head softball coach Bonnie Bynum said. "However, we don't want to get to wrapped up in it. Going into this season we are definitely going to have a bullseye on our back for finishing as well as we did last year. Preseason play doesn't mean a lot so now we are just going to go out there and prove it on the field."
Tennessee Tech posted a 33-28 overall mark while going 15-11 in the OVC to finish fourth overall last season. The Golden Eagles earned the No. 4 seed in the Conference Tournament and went on to win its seventh tournament crown. Bonnie Bynum enters her fourth season at the helm of her alma mater and will have junior pitcher Danielle Liberatore back in the circle this year after she was named to the All-OVC second team and the Tournament MVP last year. Liberatore ranked second in the OVC in earned run average (2.30), strikeouts (283) and shutouts (6). Senior infielder Sabrie Neeb and sophomore catcher Bayli Cruse will also be back this year after earning OVC All-Newcomer honors last season. Neeb is the team's top returning hitter after compiling a .325 batting average with 39 hits, eight home runs and 20 runs batted in. Cruse hit .280 with 46 hits, five home runs and 24 RBI.
Jacksonville State went 38-17 overall and 18-6 in league play to finish second last year. Head coach Jana McGinnis enters her 23rd year with the Gamecocks softball program and will have a pair of All-OVC second team selections returning from last year in senior infielder/outfielder Ella Denes and sophomore pitcher/utility player Whitney Gillespie. Denes hit .352 with 58 hits, eight home runs and 36 RBI a year ago. She recorded 13 doubles to rank among league leaders. Gillespie posted a .324 batting average with nine home runs and seven doubles last year. In the circle, Gillespie registered a 2.76 ERA with 11 wins and 63 strikeouts over 99.2 innings of work. Sophomore outfielder Emily Woodruff will be back this season after hitting .317 with 57 hits, eight doubles and four home runs to earn OVC All-Newcomer honors last year. Woodruff also stole 10 bases in 2015.
Murray State finished third last year with a 38-19 overall mark and a 20-7 league record. Kara Admundson enters her fourth season as the head coach of the Racers and will have seven starters among 15 letter winners returning from last season. Senior infielder Jessica Twaddle will be back this year after being named the OVC Player of the Year in 2015. Twaddle led the league in batting average (.426), hits (72) and RBI (54) last season. She also recorded 16 doubles last year to rank third. Junior infielder Maggie Glass, a 2015 All-OVC First Team selection, is back this year. Glass second in the league last year with 16 home runs and 53 RBI. She also posted a 327 batting average and 12 doubles last season. Shelbey Miller, a senior infielder, returns this year after posting a .345 batting average with 61 hits, 14 doubles and 33 RBI in 2015.
Nine different OVC teams have won a regular-season championship with Tennessee Tech and Southeast Missouri leading the way with five titles each. The regular-season champion has gone on to win the league tournament title 13 times since the inception of the championship in 1994. Last year, SIUE won its first regular-season title while Tennessee Tech earned its seventh tournament crown.
2016 OVC SOFTBALL PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Tennessee Tech (13 first-place votes) - 231
2. Jacksonville State (Nine first-place votes) - 226
3. Murray State (Two first-place votes) - 195
4. SIUE - 192
5. Eastern Kentucky - 151
6. Eastern Illinois - 112
7. Southeast Missouri - 111
8. UT Martin - 108
9. Morehead State - 94
10. Belmont - 66
11. Austin Peay - 50
12. Tennessee State - 27
(Schools were not allowed to rank their own team. 11 points awarded for a first-place vote, 10 for second, etc.)
