Photo by: SFA Athletics
SFA Tabbed Fifth in Southland’s Preseason Softball Poll
1/30/2019 12:33:00 PM | Softball
Ladyjacks projected to finish fifth in 2019 Southland race following their first 30-win season in 10 years
FRISCO, Texas – Just nine days separate the SFA softball team and its first pitch of the 2019 season and Wednesday afternoon the Southland Conference released the preseason projections for the league this spring. The Ladyjacks have been picked to finish fifth in the 12-team conference a year after reaching the 30-win plateau for the first time in a decade and just the sixth time in program history.
Voted upon by the Southland's head coaches and sports information directors, defending regular season champion Nicholls is predicted to claim the top spot in the conference once again in 2019 after receiving 18 first-place votes. Three-time defending Southland tournament champion McNeese received six first-place nods and is tabbed to end the regular season in second place. Central Arkansas has been chosen to finish third with 164 total points in the voting, while Southeastern Louisiana is fourth in the preseason poll with 163 points.
SFA, who completed the 2018 season in a three-way tie for second place in the final league standings with McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana, received a total of 158 points for fifth and edged Northwestern State (156) by two voting points. The remainder of the preseason Southland poll includes Sam Houston State (145) in seventh place, followed by Abilene Christian (119), Lamar (80), the University of the Incarnate Word (61), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (40) and Houston Baptist (36).
Last spring, the Ladyjacks tied for the 13th-largest turnaround in all of NCAA Division I softball by completing the season with a 31-24 overall record just one season removed from going 17-33 in 2017. Posting the most victories in a single season in the last 10 years, SFA earned the No. 2 seed for the Southland tournament after going 18-9 in conference play. The Ladyjacks earned conference series wins in seven of their nine league series in 2018, including sweeping three Southland opponents, after being picked in a tie for eighth in the preseason poll. Making just its second national postseason appearance in program history, SFA gained the Southland's automatic berth into the 2018 Postseason National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC).
Returning 11 letter winners and welcoming 12 newcomers, third-year head coach Nicole Dickson will have her team ready for an even better spring in 2019. Full of youth, the Ladyjacks feature 12 underclassmen as only three of SFA's 11 returning letter winners have played more than one season in the Purple and White. Senior Lauren Becker and juniors Jordan Llinas and Madison Clements are the only Ladyjacks to have seen game action in each of the last two seasons.
Senior infielder Margarita Corona, who tallied six go-ahead or game-winning hits and tied for the most home runs (9) on the team last year, joins sophomore infielder Bryana Novegil and senior outfielder Courtney Brown as SFA's trio of starters returning in 2019. Along with Corona, Novegil claimed All-Southland honorable mention accolades a season ago after leading the Ladyjacks in hitting (.381), on-base percentage (.503), hits (61), triples (6) and walks (26). SFA also brings back junior right-hander Autumn Anderson, along with righty Llinas, after each saw time inside the circle in 2018.
The Ladyjacks' 2019 campaign features a challenging slate of games as SFA will traverse to Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana and face 10 teams who made a national postseason appearance a year ago. Competing against 12 programs who posted at least 30 wins a year ago, five of the Ladyjacks' opponents this spring earned 40 or more victories in 2018.
SFA begins the season Friday, Feb. 8 at Mississippi State's Bulldog Kickoff Classic in Starkville, Mississippi, with a 10 a.m. opening pitch against the Missouri Valley Conference's Valparaiso. The Ladyjacks' home opener will take place Wednesday, Feb. 13 when the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe visit the friendly confines of SFA Softball Field for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
Tickets to SFA's home games can be purchased at the gate the day of the game.
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack softball throughout the 2019 season.
Southland Preseason Poll (first place votes)
-SFA-
Voted upon by the Southland's head coaches and sports information directors, defending regular season champion Nicholls is predicted to claim the top spot in the conference once again in 2019 after receiving 18 first-place votes. Three-time defending Southland tournament champion McNeese received six first-place nods and is tabbed to end the regular season in second place. Central Arkansas has been chosen to finish third with 164 total points in the voting, while Southeastern Louisiana is fourth in the preseason poll with 163 points.
SFA, who completed the 2018 season in a three-way tie for second place in the final league standings with McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana, received a total of 158 points for fifth and edged Northwestern State (156) by two voting points. The remainder of the preseason Southland poll includes Sam Houston State (145) in seventh place, followed by Abilene Christian (119), Lamar (80), the University of the Incarnate Word (61), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (40) and Houston Baptist (36).
Last spring, the Ladyjacks tied for the 13th-largest turnaround in all of NCAA Division I softball by completing the season with a 31-24 overall record just one season removed from going 17-33 in 2017. Posting the most victories in a single season in the last 10 years, SFA earned the No. 2 seed for the Southland tournament after going 18-9 in conference play. The Ladyjacks earned conference series wins in seven of their nine league series in 2018, including sweeping three Southland opponents, after being picked in a tie for eighth in the preseason poll. Making just its second national postseason appearance in program history, SFA gained the Southland's automatic berth into the 2018 Postseason National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC).
Returning 11 letter winners and welcoming 12 newcomers, third-year head coach Nicole Dickson will have her team ready for an even better spring in 2019. Full of youth, the Ladyjacks feature 12 underclassmen as only three of SFA's 11 returning letter winners have played more than one season in the Purple and White. Senior Lauren Becker and juniors Jordan Llinas and Madison Clements are the only Ladyjacks to have seen game action in each of the last two seasons.
Senior infielder Margarita Corona, who tallied six go-ahead or game-winning hits and tied for the most home runs (9) on the team last year, joins sophomore infielder Bryana Novegil and senior outfielder Courtney Brown as SFA's trio of starters returning in 2019. Along with Corona, Novegil claimed All-Southland honorable mention accolades a season ago after leading the Ladyjacks in hitting (.381), on-base percentage (.503), hits (61), triples (6) and walks (26). SFA also brings back junior right-hander Autumn Anderson, along with righty Llinas, after each saw time inside the circle in 2018.
The Ladyjacks' 2019 campaign features a challenging slate of games as SFA will traverse to Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana and face 10 teams who made a national postseason appearance a year ago. Competing against 12 programs who posted at least 30 wins a year ago, five of the Ladyjacks' opponents this spring earned 40 or more victories in 2018.
SFA begins the season Friday, Feb. 8 at Mississippi State's Bulldog Kickoff Classic in Starkville, Mississippi, with a 10 a.m. opening pitch against the Missouri Valley Conference's Valparaiso. The Ladyjacks' home opener will take place Wednesday, Feb. 13 when the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe visit the friendly confines of SFA Softball Field for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
Tickets to SFA's home games can be purchased at the gate the day of the game.
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack softball throughout the 2019 season.
Southland Preseason Poll (first place votes)
| 1. | Nicholls (18) | 238 |
| 2. | McNeese (6) | 224 |
| 3. | Central Arkansas | 164 |
| 4. | Southeastern Louisiana | 163 |
| 5. | Stephen F. Austin | 158 |
| 6. | Northwestern State | 156 |
| 7. | Sam Houston State | 145 |
| 8. | Abilene Christian | 119 |
| 9. | Lamar | 80 |
| 10. | UIW | 61 |
| 11. | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 40 |
| 12. | Houston Baptist | 36 |
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