Jacksonville State Picked to Win the 2017 OVC Softball Race

Jacksonville State Picked to Win the 2017 OVC Softball Race

Jacksonville State has been selected to win the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference crown as voted on by the league’s head softball coaches and sports information directors. The Gamecocks earned 22 of the 24 first-place votes and 242 points. SIUE picked up the remaining two first-place votes and is picked to finish second with 205 points while Eastern Kentucky earned 201 points for a third place predicted finish. Eastern Illinois is picked to finish fourth with 173 points while Tennessee Tech completes the top five with 159 points. UT Martin (151), Murray State (135), Morehead State (94), Southeast Missouri (83), Belmont (71), Austin Peay (47) and Tennessee State (23) round out the poll.
 
Jacksonville State posted a 43-17 overall mark while going a 26-0 in the OVC en route to its fifth regular-season title.  It was just the second time in league history a team has finished the season undefeated in conference play. The Gamecocks earned the top spot in the Conference Tournament and went on to win its fifth tourney crown. Jana McGinnis enters her 24th season at the helm of Jacksonville State and will have the 2016 OVC Pitcher of the Year in junior Whitney Gillespie back in the circle this year. Gillespie, a junior, led the league ERA (1.13), shutouts (9) and opponent batting average (.163). She also struck out 127 batters in 2016. Senior utility player Emily Church will be back this year. The first team All-OVC selection led the league with 41 RBI while ranking second with 10 home runs. Church also recorded a .311 batting average last season.
 
SIUE went 28-26 overall and 15-11 in the OVC to finish in fourth place. The Cougars earned the fourth seed in the OVC Tournament and fell to Jacksonville State in the championship game. Sandy Montgomery, the longest tenured coach at SIUE, will have sophomore outfielder Alyssa Heren and senior pitcher Haley Chambers-Book back this season. Heren was named to the All-OVC second team and the All-Newcomer team last year. She finished the year with four triples to rank third in the OVC while also posting a .282 batting average, 27 RBI and 48 hits. Chambers-Book will return to the circle after missing all of 2016. She was named the OVC Pitcher of the Year in 2015.
 
Eastern Kentucky finished second last year with a 37-17 overall and a 17-8 league record. Jane Worthington enters her 25th season as the head coach of the Colonels. She will have a pair of All-OVC selections returning this year in junior outfielder/catcher Paige Murphy and sophomore Rachel Minogue. Murphy led the OVC with a .395 batting average while ranking second with 42 runs and third with 62 hits. Minogue was also named to the All-Newcomer team as a freshman last year. She recorded a .281 batting average with 42 hits and 20 runs scored.
 
Eight different OVC teams have won a regular-season championship with Jacksonville State, Southeast Missouri and Tennessee Tech leading the way with five titles each. The regular-season champion has gone on to win the league tournament title 14 times since the inception of the championship in 1994. Last year, Jacksonville State won its fifth regular-season title and its fifth OVC Tournament crown.
 
 
2017 OVC SOFTBALL PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
(as voted on by the league’s head softball coaches and sports information directors)
 
1. Jacksonville State (22 first-place votes) - 242
2. SIUE (Two first-place votes) - 205
3. Eastern Kentucky  - 201
4. Eastern Illinois - 173
5. Tennessee Tech - 159
6. UT Martin - 151
7. Murray State - 135
8. Morehead State - 94
9. Southeast Missouri - 83
10. Belmont - 71
11. Austin Peay - 47
12. Tennessee State - 23
 
(Schools were not allowed to rank their own team. 11 points awarded for a first-place vote, 10 for second, etc.)