RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - The Oklahoma Baptist softball team was selected to finish sixth in the Great American Conference preseason polls by the coaches on Tuesday morning.
The Bison come off a season that was directly affected by COVID-19. Before the season came to a halt, OBU was one of the surprise teams of the early season with a 14-10 overall record and an impressive 10-2 mark in the GAC, good for second in the conference under third year Head Coach
Sam Maples.
Offensively, the Bison return nearly their entire team including
Kaytlyn Marsh who posted a .452 average and a .512 on-base percentage. Four returners hit over .300 in
Jadyn James,
Kylie Kawamura,
Emily Richardson, and
Emily Smith. In the circle,
Aspen Younce's 60 strikeouts ranked third in the GAC.
Southern Arkansas finished as the unanimous favorite following a vote of the league's head coaches. The Muleriders finished the abbreviated 2020 season with a 22-2 record, including 12-0 in GAC play. Arkansas Tech placed second in the poll. When the 2020 season stopped, the Golden Suns owned a 14-10 record.
Southern Nazarene edged out Harding for third place while Southeastern Oklahoma State took fifth, followed by Oklahoma Baptist. Henderson State finished in seventh and Arkansas-Monticello came in eighth.
Southwestern Oklahoma State, East Central, Ouachita and Northwestern Oklahoma State rounded out the poll.
OBU will open the season at the OC/UCO Invitational beginning with a doubleheader against Southwest Baptist and Nebraska-Kearney at 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 12.
For more information follow the team's official Twitter account (
@OBU_Softball).
