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ST. LOUIS – Missouri State softball was selected to finish fourth in the annual Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll as voted by the league’s coaches, the league announced today.
Ahead of the Bears are preseason favorite Northern Iowa, which received nine first-place votes and 140 points, Murray State with one first-place vote and 126 points, and Southern Illinois with 103 points.
Missouri State collected 95 total points to slot into the fourth position, as Drake and UIC, which were picked to finish seventh and 11th respectively, each received a first-place vote.
The Bears finished last season with a 28-20 overall record and finished second in the MVC regular season standings with an 18-7 conference ledger, before winning the MVC Tournament title and advancing to the program’s seventh NCAA Tournament. MSU earned a 2-0 shutout victory against Illinois in the Columbia regional prior to capping its season with a hard-fought, 0-2, loss to No. 15 seed Missouri.
Missouri State did not have any players named to the preseason all-conference team.
The Bears will kick off the 2023 campaign on February 10th at the Lion Classic I hosted by Southeastern Louisiana. MSU will take on Nicholls at 3 p.m. CT before facing Southeastern Louisiana at 5 p.m. CT to open the regular season.
Preseason Poll
- UNI (9) 140
- Murray St. (1) 126
- Southern Ill. 103
- Missouri St. 95
- Illinois State 94
- Belmont 90
- Drake (1) 79
- Indiana State 64
- Bradley 51
- Evansville 37
- UIC (1) 34
- Valparaiso 20
Preseason All-Conference Team
Isabella Henning, Indiana State 1B
Emme Olson, Illinois State 2B
Rylie Hamilton, Southern Illinois 3B
Gracie Osbron, Murray State SS
Emmy Wells, UNI C
Abbott Badgley, Bradley UT/P
Emily Valtman, Drake DP/UT-NP
Mya Dodge, UNI OF
Madison Parks, UNI OF
Elizabeth Warwick, Southern Illinois OF
Kailyn Packard, UNI P
Hannah James, Murray State P
