Jacksonville State has been selected to win the East Division while SIUE was picked to take the West Division in the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference softball race as voted on by the league’s head coaches and sports information directors. The Gamecocks picked up 12 first-place votes and 120 points while the Cougars picked up 19 first-place nods and 129 points.
Eastern Kentucky is picked to finish second in the East after earning 12-first place votes and 118 points. Tennessee Tech is selected to finish third with 86 points followed by Morehead State (79), Belmont (54) and Tennessee State (35).
In the West Division, Eastern Illinois earned two first-place votes and 97 points for a second-place predicted finish. UT Martin is picked to finish third with one first-place vote and 93 points while Murray State earned two first-place nods and 82 points to be predicted to finish fourth. Rounding out the West are Austin Peay (49) and Southeast Missouri (37).
Jacksonville State posted a 30-27 overall record while going 11-11 in the OVC to finish in a tie for second in the OVC East Division last year. The Gamecocks also won their fourth OVC Tournament crown since joining the league in 2003. Jana McGinnis enters her 21st season at the helm of the JSU squad and will have All-Conference honoree Sara Boarders and Tiffany Harbin returning this year. Borders, a junior infielder, earned All-OVC First Team accolades last year after leading the team in batting average (.354), home runs (11), doubles (17), RBI (41) and stolen bases (8). Harbin will be back in the circle for the Gamecocks this year. The senior pitcher was named the OVC Tournament MVP last year after earning all four wins for JSU and giving up just three earned runs during the tourney. Harbin had 17 wins with a 2.70 earned run average last season while striking out 263 in 230.1 innings pitched. The Gamecocks open the season at the Mississippi State Bulldog Kickoff on Feb. 7.
SIUE went 35-13 overall and 17-5 in the OVC to finish second in the West Division last season. Sandy Montgomery, who enters her 26th season as the head coach of the Cougars, will have a pair of All-OVC selections returning to the squad this year. Haley Chambers and Alex McDavid will both be back on the field this season after earning All-Conference First Team honors last season. Chambers, a sophomore pitcher, was also named the 2014 OVC Freshman of the Year after leading the conference with a 1.66 ERA and seven shutouts. She racked up 19 wins and struck out 167 batters as a freshman. A junior infielder, McDavid earned OVC Player of the Year honors last season. She paced the league with a .425 batting average while ranking second with 65 hits and 43 RBI. She was also among the OVC’s top 10 in home runs with eight long balls. SIUE will kick off the 2014 season on Feb. 7 at the LSU Tournament.
Seven different OVC teams have won a regular-season championship with Tennessee Tech and Southeast Missouri leading the way with five titles each. The regular-season champion has gone on to win the league tournament title 13 times since the inception of the championship in 1994. Last year, Eastern Illinois won its second OVC regular-season title while Jacksonville State earned its fourth league tournament crown.
The 2014 softball campaign gets underway on Feb. 7 with Conference play starting March 15. The 2014 OVC Softball Championship will feature the top eight teams. The three-day event will take place on May 7-10 on the campus of the top seed.
2014 OVC SOFTBALL PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
(as voted on by the league’s head softball coaches and sports information directors)
EAST
1. Jacksonville State (12 first-place votes) - 120
2. Eastern Kentucky (12 first-place votes) - 118
3. Tennessee Tech - 86
4. Morehead State - 79
5. Belmont - 54
6. Tennessee State – 35
WEST
1. SIUE (19 first-place votes) - 129
2. Eastern Illinois (Two first-place votes) - 97
3. UT Martin (One first-place votes) - 93
4. Murray State (Two first-place votes) - 82
5. Austin Peay - 49
6. Southeast Missouri - 37
(*Schools were not allowed to rank their own team. 6 points awarded for a first-place vote, five for second, etc.)