NEW YORK – St. John’s was unanimously picked to be the 2016 BIG EAST softball champion when the conference unveiled the Preseason Coaches’ Poll on Monday. The Red Storm received all seven available first-place votes for a total of 49 points, as the league’s head coaches ranked the teams one through seven and were not allowed to vote for their own programs.
Villanova received the remaining first place vote and was chosen to be the runner-up with 37 points, followed by DePaul with 36 points and Seton Hall with 30 points. Creighton (fifth, 29 points) and Butler (sixth, 21 points) rounded out the top six, while Providence (14) and Georgetown (8) ranked seventh and eighth respectively.
St. John’s is coming off a 2015 campaign that saw the Red Storm capture their first BIG EAST regular season crown and win the BIG EAST Championship for the first time in program history. They return five players that received All-BIG EAST honors, including BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year Tori Free. The senior had the top earned run average in BIG EAST play at a 0.90 clip — the only Conference pitcher with a sub-1.00 ERA and just the second pitcher in the last four seasons to post a sub-1.00 ERA in BIG EAST action. First Team selections Krystal Puga, Brittany Garcia, and Lauren Zick and Second Team honorees Yvonne Rericha and Monique Landini will lead a St John’s offense that was tops the league in batting average in 2015. Garcia, Zick and Rericha ranked in the top 10 in the conference in batting average in league play.
Villanova comes into 2016 after what has to be considered a solid 2015 season. The Wildcats made it to the semi-finals of the BIG EAST Championship last year, marking their first postseason berth since 2010. Villanova returns their top seven hitters and All-BIG EAST Second Team selection Kate Poppe comes back in the circle. Poppe finished 2015 first in the conference with 92 strikeouts in league play and third in ERA with a 2.84 mark.
DePaul finished second in the 2015 regular season before falling to Seton Hall in the BIG EAST Championship semifinals. The Blue Demons led the league in runs scored, RBI and slugging percentage. Returning for the Blue Demons is Morgan Maize, a First Team All-BIG EAST selection that hit .421 in conference play. Assisting her will be .300 hitters Dylan Christensen and Kali Gardner along with Nicole Pihl, who was second on the team in RBI with 34.
Seton Hall returns two First Team honorees, including BIG EAST Rookie of the year Alexis Walkden. Walkden was among the national leaders in home runs, ranking 20th among all Division I players with 20 jacks last season, including a BIG EAST-best nine in league action. The third baseman led the Pirates with a .394 batting average over 20 BIG EAST games. Joining her is Yasmin Harrell, who led the team in hits and finished second to Walkden with a .365 batting average.
With two All-BIG EAST selections returning, Creighton will look to build off of last year’s 22-21 campaign. Allie Reinhart led the Bluejays with a .396 batting average, 21 hits and 12 RBI in conference play last season. Behind the plate will be Blake Ringle. Ringle finished second on the team with 10 long balls, four coming in BIG EAST action.
Butler narrowly missed out on the postseason in 2015, finishing the regular season a tie for fourth place with Villanova but losing out on the tiebreaker. The Bulldogs bring back Alyssa Lach and Brandyce Sallee, two All-BIG EAST Second Team honorees. Sallee and Lach are Butler’s top returning hitters, as Sallee was second in the conference with seven doubles and fourth in total bases in conference play.
Providence went 8-11 in BIG EAST matchups and16-23 overall in head coach Kerri Jacklet’s tenth season. Nicole Lundstrom returns looking to pick up where she left off last year. In conference action the then sophomore led the Friars in slugging percentage, on base percentage, RBI, and runs scored. Kara Baldassarri returns as Providence’s batting average leader, having hit for .386 in 2015.
Georgetown comes into 2016 looking to improve on last year’s 15-32 season, 5-14 in BIG EAST play. Sophomore Theresa Kane is the team’s returning batting average leader at .289, with a .345 mark in conference games last year. Sam Giovanniello comes back as well, having finished second on the team in RBI and hits in 2015.
BIG EAST play begins on March 23, with the top-four teams at season’s end qualifying for the BIG EAST Championship. The league’s postseason tournament returns to suburban Chicago at the Ballpark at Rosemont for a third straight year. Semifinals will be played on May 13, followed by the title game on May 14, with the winner earning the BIG EAST’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. No. 1 seed St. John’s won its first BIG EAST Championship title in 2015 in the highest scoring championship game in league history, 9-5 over Seton Hall.
2016 BIG EAST Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll
- St. John’s (7) – 49
- Villanova (1) – 37
- DePaul – 36
- Seton Hall – 30
- Creighton – 29
- Butler – 21
- Providence – 14
- Georgetown – 8
