The Wayne State softball team was selected 12th in the 2019 NSIC Preseason Softball Coaches Poll.
Winona State, the defending NSIC regular season and tournament champions, were voted as the team to beat in the NSIC this season, collecting 12 first-place votes and 222 points in voting conducted by league coaches. Augustana, an NCAA tournament team one year ago, received the remaining four first-place vote and 214 points to finish second.
Wayne State returns five starters in the field along with two starting pitchers from last year’s team that was 16-29 overall and placed 11th in the NSIC with a 10-16 league mark. Senior first baseman Emily Chandler and sophomore pitcher Maddie Moser were selected as Wildcat Players to Watch in the NSIC this season.
Chandler, a 5-foot-9 senior first baseman, was selected as the Wildcat Position Player to Watch this season. She earned first-team All-NSIC honors for the second time in three seasons last year, leading the Wildcats at the plate with a .392 batting average. She also led the team in RBI (43) while tying for the team lead in hits (60) and ranking second in home runs with seven.
Moser, a 5-foot-9 right-hander, was tabbed the Wildcat Pitcher to Watch this season after recording a 6-11 record with a 6.02 ERA last season as a freshman. In 21 starts, Moser had five complete games with one shutout and also recorded one save while leading the team in strikeouts (52).
Wayne State is scheduled to open the 2019 season on Friday, Feb. 15 at the Arkansas Monticello/8-State Classic in Bentonville, Ark., playing Missouri Western and Mississippi College.
