SAC Softball Coaches Tab Lenoir-Rhyne as Preseason Favorite

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The 2014 SAC softball preseason coaches' poll was released on Tuesday, with Lenoir-Rhyne earning the top spot. L-R has won four-straight SAC Softball Tournament championships and three of the past four regular-season conference titles.

Lenoir-Rhyne – which tied for third in the SAC standings in 2013 after going 37-16 overall and 11-7 in league play – earned seven of the 12 first-place votes in the 2014 preseason poll. The Bears reached the semifinal round of last year's NCAA Division II Softball Championship southeast super regional.

2013 SAC regular-season runner-up Anderson is No. 2 in the poll, and received three first-place votes. AU earned an at-large selection to last season's NCAA Championship, where it advanced to the southeast super region final.

2013 NCAA Championship selection Wingate is No. 3 in the poll, followed by Catawba and Carson-Newman - which both received one first-place vote – in a tie for No. 4.

Tusculum – which won its first SAC title in program history last season after going 31-19 overall and 13-5 in the conference - is ranked No. 6 in the poll, while Lincoln Memorial is seventh, Mars Hill is eighth and Queens is ninth.

Completing the poll are Coker at No. 10, Newberry at No. 11 and Brevard at No. 12.

Headlining the 2014 SAC softball preseason All-Conference Team are the league's top individual award winners from last season, Carson-Newman shortstop Brittany Hefner and Catawba pitcher Carley Tysinger.

Hefner - the 2013 SAC Player of the Year - led the conference with 19 home runs and 75 RBI, while Tysinger – the SAC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year – was the league-leader in wins with 25, ERA at 1.21 and strikeouts with 324.

Joining Hefner on the first-team infield are Anderson catcher Laura Jansky, Anderson first baseman Danielle Swygert, Anderson second baseman Jessica Neidigh and Mars Hill third baseman Robyn Stanek. Carson-Newman's Kelli Hensley, Anderson's Molly Child and Tusculum's Miranda Beeler make up the first-team outfield, Wingate Kayla Saliga is the team's designated player, and Carson-Newman's Elayna Siebert is the first-team utility player.

Lenoir-Rhyne's Maryann Hoskins rounds out the honorees, joining Tysinger as a first-team pitcher.

The second-team infield pits Wingate catcher Taylor Laskey, Tusculum first baseman Kaytlin Stroinski, Wingate second baseman Hayley Whitley, Wingate shortstop Alexis Burrell and Lenoir-Rhyne third baseman Haily Jarman, while LMU's Brianna Mulkey, Newberry's Gabby Bedard and Lenoir-Rhyne's Jody Mizzelle account for the second-team outfield.

Voting for the second-team designated player ended in a tie between Queens' Whitney Britt and LMU's Amanda Snow, Brevard's Alyssa Miller is the second-team utility player, and Wingate's Stacey Houser and Lenoir-Rhyne's Brandi Hole are the second-team pitchers.

SAC softball officially kicks off on Saturday, Feb. 1, with the season culminating April 24-27 at the 2014 Food Lion SAC Softball Championship in Harrogate, Tenn.

2014 SAC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll

2014 SAC Softball Preseason All-Conference Team

First Team

C – Laura Jansky, AU

1B – Danielle Swygert, AU

2B – Jessica Neidigh, AU

SS – Brittany Hefner, C-N

3B – Robyn Stanek, MHU

OF – Kelli Hensley, C-N

OF – Molly Child, AU

OF – Miranda Beeler, TC

DP – Kayla Saliga, WU

UTIL – Elayna Siebert, C-N

P – Carley Tysinger, CAT

P – Maryann Hoskins, L-R

Second Team

C – Taylor Laskey, WU

1B – Kaytlin Stroinski, TC

2B – Hayley Whitley, WU

SS – Alexis Burrell, WU

3B – Haily Jarman, L-R

OF – Brianna Mulkey, LMU

OF – Gabby Bedard, NEW

OF – Jody Mizelle, L-R

DP – Whitney Britt, QU

DP – Amanda Show, LMU

UTIL – Alyssa Miller, BC

P – Stacey Houser, WU

P – Brandi Hole, L-R