By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Before the Ohio Valley Conference's membership kicks off the 2020-21 softball season, the league announced its preseason poll and Players to Watch list for the new year.
Senior outfielder Beth McCulley was selected as Tennessee Tech's Player to Watch among a lineup that has several players that would fill the role nicely. McCulley, a Woodstock, Ga., native returning for a second senior campaign after the COVID-19 pandemic, has proven herself time and time again as a clutch player for the Golden Eagles at the plate and a tremendous defensive player in the outfield.
Through Tech's first 19 games last season, McCulley posted a .283 average with five RBI. However, the numbers don't indicate how strong of a hitter the senior has been with the Golden Eagles, ending the 2019 campaign with a team-high .338 average and 50 hits, scoring 20 times, while driving in seven runs. She finished 2020 with a 1.000 fielding percentage from her centerfield post.
Even though the Golden Eagles finished the shortened campaign with a 10-9 mark, Tech saw several players, who are returning for the 2021 season, put together solid numbers. Senior Jessie Lowery posted a team-best .349 average last season, collecting 22 hits and 10 RBI. Junior Raleigh Lewis had a breakout sophomore season, driving in a team-high 14 RBI with five home runs, while senior Sydney Love-Baker scored a team-best 24 times with five home runs and 10 RBI.
In the circle, junior Alyssa Arden posted a 7-3 record with a 4.12 ERA over 66 1/3 innings of work, striking out 69 as batters hit .258 against her.
With no conference games played last season, deciding a preseason poll was no easy task. In a vote between the league's coaches and sports information contacts, Southeast Missouri was picked as the favorite, taking 13 first-place votes and beating Eastern Kentucky, with nine first-place picks, by just four points.
Jacksonville State, Murray State and SIUE rounded out the top five, while Austin Peay, UT Martin, Tech, Eastern Illinois and Belmont completed the top 10 of 12 teams.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
