We take a quick look at the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll – Preseason 2015 and provide a snap shot of each team.
No. 25 DePaul
DePaul will look to build off their 44-11 season in 2014. The Blue Demon season ended last year at the Lexington regional when they dropped their final game to Kentucky 10-1 in five innings. They are the clear favorite to repeat as the Big East conference champions again in 2015. The big question for them will be who replaces their top pitcher from 2014 in Kirsten Verdun? Verdun posted 33 wins and a 1.76 ERA. The best bet to replace Verdun is senior Mary Connolly who appeared in 16 games in 2014 and posted a 2.01 ERA with a 6-3 record. Connolly who was named the Big East Player of the year for her work at the plate with a .420 BA. 13 HR and 44 RBI. She was also named to the All-Region team. DePaul returns three other players that batted over .300 in sophomore first baseman Dylan Christensen (.331), sophomore second baseman Micah Fitzgerald (.308) and senior outfielder Ali Lenti (.308). They will face No. 4 Oklahoma in their first game of 2015 when they travel to the Hawaii Paradise Classic February 5, 2015. Full Schedule: http://www.depaulbluedemons.com/sports/w-softbl/sched/depa-w-softbl-sched.html
No. 24 Texas A&M
The Aggies have won 30 plus games 18 seasons in a row and will look to make it 19 in 2015. Last season they went 37-22 on their way to a 2-2 finish at the Norman Regional. They will have to reload an offense as they lost their top three hitters. Of the returning players none had a batting average over .300. Sophomore infielder April Ryan was just shy posting a .295 BA in 176 at-bats. The three departures also accounted for most of the team’s power hitting 57% of the team’s home runs. It will be interesting to see who steps up and what kind of impact a solid recruiting class has. They do return both of their primary pitchers in senior Rachel Fox (3.54 ERA) and junior Katie Marks (3.31 ERA). The two combined for 30 of the Aggies 37 wins with each winning 15 games. It is the toughest conference in softball so having experienced pitchers can be a big asset. They open the season February 6, 2015 at the SoCal Collegiate Classic where they will face No. 7 UCLA twice that weekend. Full Schedule: http://www.12thman.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=632692&SPID=93238&DB_OEM_ID=27300&Q_SEASON=2014
No. 23 South Alabama
The Jaguars will look to build off a solid 42-14 season behind Top-25 finalist for 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Farish Beard. Beard was impressive in 2014 splitting time with All-American Hannah Campbell who graduated. In 2014 Beard had a 1.22 ERA with 224 strikeouts to go with her 22-7 record. Last season they were not a power hitting team but had six batters with a .271 or better average with all of them returning to the line-up. Those are not eye popping numbers but they do show consistency at the plate. As a team they will need to improve upon their power as they only had a .394 SLG. Beard should keep them in games and it will be up to the hitters to scratch out runs. They open the season in a big way when the face No. 3 Alabama on February 5, 2015 in Mobile. Full Schedule: http://usajaguars.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=218&path=softball
No. 22 Notre Dame
The Irish went 41-13 in 2014 and are in the preseason top 25 for the first time in 12 years. The good news is that they return all three of their All-Americans in junior infielder Micaela Arizmendi, sophomore outfielder Karley Wester and senior outfielder Emilee Koerner. The strength of this team is their offense. Wester led the ACC with a .455 BA and was named the ACC freshman of the year. Koerner batted .433 with 11 HR and 28 doubles. Arizmendi added power as well belting 15 home runs and 61 RBI to go with a .382 BA. With all three players back and four more who batted above .300 scoring runs should not be an issue for the Irish. They do lose their top pitcher in Laura Winter, but she should be replaced by sophomore Rachel Nasland who went 6-1 in 2014 with a 2.98 ERA and 33 strikeouts. . They open the season February 6, 2015 at the SoCal Collegiate Classic and will face No. 7 UCLA in their second game of the season. Full Schedule: http://www.und.com/sports/w-softbl/sched/nd-w-softbl-sched.html
No. 21 Tulsa
It is pretty tough to win 50 or more games in DI softball no matter what conference you are in but Tulsa went 53-9 in 2014. They will be younger in 2015 returning five starters from last season. The Hurricanes lose their top pitcher but have two strong ones in senior Bailey Erwin and junior Caitlin Sill. Together they combined for nearly half of the teams wins. Erwin went 13-3 with a 1.45 ERA while Sill went 11-4 with a 2.49 ERA. The also return four of their top six hitters including their power hitter senior outfielder Erica Simpson who had 13 home runs and 45 RBI in 2014. They will start their season February 6, 2015 against Santa Clara at the GCU Kickoff in Phoenix, AZ. Full Schedule: http://www.tulsahurricane.com/sports/w-softbl/sched/tuls-w-softbl-sched.html
