West Texas A&M was selected to repeat as Lone Star Conference softball champions according to the preseason poll announced by league officials on Wednesday.
WT received 17 of the 25 first-place votes for a total of 211 points in the poll decided by LSC coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives. The Lady Buffs finished the 2015 season 45-11 overall with a 22-6 league mark to earn their second straight LSC championship and the tournament title.
Angelo State finished second in the poll with five first-place nods for 173 points. Tarleton State was third with 161 points and three top votes just in front of Texas Woman’s, who was tabbed fourth with 159 points.
Cameron was fifth with 142 points, while Texas A&M-Commerce (101), Midwestern State (87), Texas A&M-Kingsville (54), and Eastern New Mexico (37) rounded out the poll.
WT’s Lacey Taylor was named LSC Preseason Player of the Year, while ASU’s Brandy Marlett earned LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year honors.
Taylor, a senior catcher from Byers, Texas, recorded a LSC-best .458 batting average with 11 doubles, two triples and 12 home runs to drive in 63 RBI for a slugging percentage of .813 while tallying 40 walks for an on-base clip of .584. She totaled 271 putouts with 22 assists and just two errors behind the dish for the Lady Buffs for a fielding percentage of .993, and threw out eight base runners trying to steal. Taylor earned first-team All-American recognition from the NFCA and Daktronics along with first-team All-LSC, Daktronics All-Region and NFCA honors.
Marlett, a sophomore pitcher from Rancho, Texas, was 18-6 last season with six shutouts including a no-hitter. She led the LSC in opposing batting average (.231) and was second in earned run average (2.52), strikeouts (164) and strikeouts looking (37). Marlett claimed LSC Pitcher of the Year, first-team All-LSC and all-region NFCA and Daktronics honors.
The 2016 season starts January 29 with nine LSC teams playing a single round-robin schedule with a four games against each league opponent. The four-game series shall consist of a doubleheader Friday and a doubleheader Saturday.
The overall LSC Champion will be the team(s) with the best winning percentage in regular-season conference games, while the winner of the postseason championship will be recognized as LSC Tournament Champion and receive the league’s automatic qualification into NCAA postseason. The single-elimination championship will be played April 29-30, at the No. 1 seed.
Here is a closer look at the voting breakdown:
| Rank |
LSC Softball |
1st |
TOTAL |
| 1 |
West Texas A&M |
17 |
211 |
| 2 |
Angelo State |
5 |
173 |
| 3 |
Tarleton State |
3 |
161 |
| 4 |
Texas Woman's |
|
159 |
| 5 |
Cameron |
|
142 |
| 6 |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
|
101 |
| 7 |
Midwestern State |
|
87 |
| 8 |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
|
54 |
| 9 |
Eastern New Mexico |
|
37 |