DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With the return of 10 letterwinners from a season ago, alongside the homecoming of hall-of-fame head coach Laura Watten, the Bethune-Cookman University softball team, picked preseason to repeat as Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference southern division champions, opens its 2015 campaign on the road Feb. 6-8, at the Charleston Challenge, hosted by the College of Charleston, in Charleston, South Carolina.
The reigning 2014 southern division champs, who fell three runs shy of the programs ninth MEAC championship last May, begins its 2015 slate with UNC Greensboro on Friday (Feb. 6) at 11 a.m., followed by a nightcap against UMass-Lowell at 6 p.m.
During day-two action in Charleston, the Wildcats face Marshall (9 a.m.) and Army (1:30 p.m.), before wrapping up the opening weekend with host College of Charleston, Sunday (Feb. 8) at 1:30 p.m.
WILDCAT OVERVIEW
In addition to the team preseason honors, senior outfielder Calesha Shelley (Suisan City, Calif.), sophomore pitcher Sabrina Anguiano (Haciendo Heights, Calif.) and sophomore third baseman Kaitlin Alamprese (Chino, Calif.) also earned preseason MEAC accolades. Shelley landed a spot on the first team All-MEAC squad, while Anguiano and Alamprese were selected second team All-MEAC.
The trio is joined by seniors Breanna Chavez (P/U, Bellflower, Calif.) and Shamaria Engram (INF/OF, Dover, Fla.), juniors Melissa Berouty (C/INF, Redondo Beach, Calif.), Wanda Darby (OF, Bartow, Fla.) and Sophia Ortega (INF/OF, Highland, Calif.) sophomores Bailey Conner (P/1B, Encinitas, Calif.) and Ciera Banks (OF, Daytona Beach, Fla.) while welcoming rookies Mariah Davis (INF/OF, Madera, Calif.), Bryanna Campos (C/INF, Pico Rivera, Calif.), Nereyda Gutierrez (INF, Downey, Calif.) and Santa Fe State junior-transfer Geena Capitini (C/INF, Boynton Beach, Fla.).
Watten, who guided the Wildcats to a 2005 NCAA Super Regional appearance and five MEAC titles, is back in the B-CU dugout after coaching at the University of Maryland for the past nine seasons.
ABOUT UNCG
Junior Lindsay Thomas was named the Southern Conference preseason Player of the Year for the second straight season. Thomas was the 2013 SoCon Freshman of the Year and is a two-time first team All-SoCon catcher. Last season, she made NFCA Mideast All-Region second team after hitting a career-best .388 with 71 hits, 13 home runs and 49 RBI. The Irvine, California native also has made the SoCon All-Tournament team two years in a row, including setting a new SoCon record with five home runs in six postseason contests.
Additionally, the UNCG softball team was selected to finish third in the SoCon, while Senior Dominique Madruga, Nicole Thomas and Lindsay Thomas were named to the preseason first team.
ABOUT UMASS-LOWELL
The UMass Lowell softball team, under the direction of first-year head coach Danielle Henderson, was selected to finish sixth in the 2015 America East Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. The River Hawks, who enter their second year as a Division I program in 2015, went 13-36 overall last season, including 3-13 in America East action.
ABOUT MARSHALL
Three Marshall student-athletes were named to the Conference USA preseason poll, while the Thundering Herd was predicted to finish fourth in the conference behind FIU, UAB, and FAU, respectively.
A pair of Herd juniors, outfielder Kaelynn Greene and infielder Shaelynn Braxton were named to the preseason team, alongside sophomore outfielder Morgan Zerkle.
ABOUT ARMY
Army was picked preseason to finish fourth in the Patriot League poll.
Kasey McCravey, a two-time Patriot League selection and a first-team All-Northeast Region pick last year at third base, ranks among the top returning batters in the league. She hit for a .388 average batting cleanup in the lineup as the team leader in RBI (44), total bases (92), slugging percentage (.605), doubles (10) and home runs (7). In the Patriot League, McCravey listed first in sacrifice flies (5) and second in RBI, home runs and slugging percentage. Army compiled a 23-28 mark last year with a 9-9 showing in the Patriot League to finish fourth in the regular season standings.
ABOUT COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
The College of Charleston was selected as the Colonial Athletic Conference runner-up preseason.
The Cougars impressed in their debut CAA season under first-year head coach Linda Kalafatis. The team finished with a 40-16 record and among the top 50 in RPI before being abruptly ousted from the first round of the CAA tournament last season.
Senior pitcher Hope Klicker, a first team All-CAA honoree in 2014, put together a 20-12 mark in the circle and anchored the Cougars pitching staff with 178.1 innings pitched to go along with 15 complete games and 135 strikeouts.
Junior utility player Carly Hansis joined Klicker on the All-CAA first team last spring, hitting .365 with a team-leading .449 on base percentage, while junior Rebecca Mueller was a second team All-CAA selection (.344 BA, 56 starts). Sophomores Samantha Martin (13-3, 1.88 ERA) and Katie Padilla (54 starts, 20 RBI) should also contribute after each made the All-CAA rookie team one year ago.
TOURNAMENT COVERAGE
A Tournament Central page can be found on www.cofcsports.com. You can also follow B-CU's progress on the official twitter feeds, @bcuathletics and @bcusoftball.
