Jan. 25, 2006
PLANO, Texas - The 2006 Southland Conference regular season softball race should be up for grabs if the preseason polls are any indication of what's to come in the upcoming months.
The coaches' poll has Texas-San Antonio and Sam Houston State tied for first place with 75 points each and only one point separates the two programs in the sports information director's preseason poll.
The polls were voted upon by the SLC Head Softball Coaches and Sports Information Directors and released Tuesday by the league office. Head coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
UTSA captured five first-place votes in each poll, while Sam Houston State picked up four from the coaches and three from the SIDs.
The rankings were identical in both polls except for the No. 5 and 6 slots. Texas State and McNeese State are predicted to finish third and fourth, respectively. Each picked up a first-place vote in the SID poll, but the Cowgirls, who competed in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, earned one first-place vote on the coaches' poll.
Texas-Arlington edged out Northwestern State for fifth place with 45 points in the Coaches' Poll. The Lady Demons finished with 40 points for sixth. These two positions were flip flopped in the SID poll. The voting for the remaining spots was tight as Nicholls State (38) squeezed by Southeastern Louisiana (32) for seventh and Stephen F. Austin (15) edged Louisiana-Monroe (13) for ninth to complete the preseason coaches' poll.
UTSA, winner of the last two regular season SLC titles, returns 14 letterwinners and eight starters from a squad that finished 42-18 overall and 21-5 in SLC play. That same team also improved its own SLC home run record to 103, its previous was 101 established in 2004. UTSA's 40 wins also marked a school best. Reaching that 40-win plateau may be a bigger challenge than expected this season due to losing the service of 2005 SLC Player and Hitter of the Year, Jessica Rogers. Rogers, a third baseman, was recently sidelined with a season-ending injury and will redshirt her senior campaign. She topped the SLC with 23 home runs and 64 RBI. UTSA will look to Melaney Torres, 2005 SLC Newcomer of the Year, to step up in Rogers' absence. Torres, a transfer from Kansas in 2004, finished the season with 46 runs scored, third most in the league, and 14 doubles, fourth best in the SLC.
Sam Houston finished the 2005 campaign at 29-25 overall and 19-7 in SLC action. The Bearkats won 14 of their last 19 games, including 11 straight. SHSU welcomes back 10 of 17 letterwinners and seven of nine starters, plus one starting pitcher. Sam Houston returns the league's top hitter and pitcher in Lauren Boone and Shalayne Blythe, respectively. Boone, a senior, led the league in batting average with a .414, while Blythe fired off a league-leading 353 strikeouts. Blythe also collected SLC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year accolades. Both appear on the 2006 All-SLC Preseason first team and earned 2005 All-SLC first team accolades.
Two-time SLC Utility Player of the Year, Katie Ann Trahan of Texas State returns to the field. Trahan picked up a league leading 22 wins last season, while she and Blythe of SHSU collected seven shutouts each.
