Colonels picked 7th/8th in preseason polls

The Nicholls State University softball team has been selected to finish just outside of the conference tournament field as the coaches voted the Colonels to tie for seventh in the 2016 Southland Conference Preseason Poll, while the sports information directors picked them to finish eighth.
Coming off their first winning season since 2010, the Colonels are projected to miss the postseason for the sixth consecutive campaign. Nicholls received 56 points in the coaches poll to tie with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and garnered 52 points in the sports information directors poll to finish ahead of Stephen F. Austin.
Nicholls finished last season at 26-22 overall and 12-14 in the Southland, putting them three games back of the tournament field in the standings. The Colonels return 15 letterwinners from last season, including eight starters and all three starting pitchers.
Two returnees earned postseason recognition as shortstop Brooke Morris was named Second-Team All-Southland as a sophomore, while Payton Gremillion earned third team in her freshman campaign.
Northwestern State received all 121 possible points in the coaches’ poll and 120 points in the SID poll to claim the top spot. The Lady Demons, who have claimed five regular-season championships and five tournament championships, received 11 possible first-place votes from the coaches and 10 from the SIDs. Northwestern State went 22-3 in league play and claimed the 2015 regular-season title.
McNeese State finished second in the coaches’ and SID polls with 109 points and 111 points, respectively, and received two first-place votes from the SIDs. Central Arkansas was picked third in both polls and received one first-place vote in the coaches.
The coaches tabbed Lamar fourth, followed by Southeastern Louisiana in fifth and Abilene Christian sixth, while the SIDs had Lamar and Southeastern Louisiana tied for fourth and Abilene Christian sixth.
The coaches had Nicholls and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi tied for seventh, while the SIDs chose A&M-Corpus Christi seventh and Nicholls eighth.
Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State rounded out the top 10 in both polls, with Houston Baptist taking 11th and University of Incarnate Word 12th, respectively.
Since both Abilene Christian and University of Incarnate Word are in their third year of transition into Division I, they will not be eligible for postseason play until 2017-18.
Nicholls will open the season Feb. 12 at the Lion Classic in Hammond.