Jason Ashcraft – Big Sky Conference
OGDEN, Utah (January 28, 2016) – Weber State was picked to repeat as Big Sky Conference softball champions in voting conducted by the league’s coaches in the 2016 preseason poll. Idaho State was chosen second while Sacramento State was picked third.
Coaches were not allowed to vote on their own teams.
Weber State finished the 2015 season with a 38-19 overall record and a 13-6 conference mark and captured its first-ever Big Sky tournament title. WSU fell to Louisiana Lafayette and Mississippi State in last year’s Women’s College World Series Regional. The Wildcats return five seniors from last year’s championship team and two First Team All-Big Sky selections infielders McKinley Brinkerhoff and Alyson Kulp.
Idaho State and Sacramento State tied in the conference voting with 40 points but two first place votes gave ISU the No. 2 spot in the preseason coaches’ poll. ISU had a stellar 2015 season with five All-Big Sky selections. This season the Bengals will be under the guidance of new coach Candi Letts and will be without three-time All-Big Sky First Team selection Vicky Galasso, who graduated last year. First-teamers outfielder Kacie Burnett and pitcher Ashlyn Ames return to Pocatello along with Second-Team pitching selection Sophie Slagle. ISU finished the 2015 season with a 38-18 overall record and a 17-4 mark in Big Sky play.
Sacramento State, who finished second in the Big Sky last season with a 15-6 conference mark and a 28-26 overall record, was picked third in the preseason poll. The Hornets relied on strong pitching last season as they were second in the conference with a 3.83 team ERA. Sac State returns 11 players, including six positional starters and two pitchers this year. Leading the returnees are five players that received some form of all-league recognition last season including Second-Team first baseman, Sasha Margulies.
Rounding out the preseason poll was Montana in fourth place after just one season of Division I play. Southern Utah, the 2014 champion, was picked fifth, Northern Colorado was tabbed sixth while Portland State and North Dakota were chosen seventh and eighth respectively.
The 2016 softball season begins February 11 as Southern Utah takes on Arizona. The rest of the Big Sky Conference members hit the field on Friday, February 12. The 2016 Big Sky softball championship will take place May 12 through the 14 at the home field of the regular-season champion. The top six teams in the conference standings will qualify for the conference tournament.
Preseason Softball Poll
| Team | Points |
| 1. Weber State | 48 (6) |
| 2. Idaho State | 40 (2) |
| 3. Sacramento State | 40 |
| 4. Montana | 26 |
| 5. Southern Utah | 25 |
| 6. Northern Colorado | 23 |
| 7. Portland State | 15 |
| 8. North Dakota | 7 |
(Number of first place votes in parenthesis)
