LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Valdosta State softball team was selected 12th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Preseason Top 25, announced by the organization Tuesday.
Defending national champion Rogers State (Okla.) leads the poll with 400 points and all 16 first-place votes, while 2022 national runner-up Cal State Dominguez Hills is second with 379 points, followed by UT Tyler (Texas). Gulf South Conference member, Auburn Montgomery, is fourth, followed by North Georgia to round out the top five.
Texas A&M-Kingsville sits sixth in the preseason poll, followed by Seton Hill, Central Oklahoma, Adelphi and Grand Valley State is tenth. Cal State San Marcos is 11th, followed by the Blazers, Augustana (S.D.), Anderson and Kutztown complete the top 15. Tampa sits 17th in the initial poll, while GSC foe Alabama Huntsville is 23rd. Both Nova Southeastern and Rollins are among others receiving votes from teams from the South Region.
The Blazers, who went 38-14 a season ago and 21-5 in Gulf South Conference play, open the 2023 campaign in South Florida with doubleheaders at Palm Beach Atlantic (Feb. 3) and at Nova Southeastern (Feb. 4), followed by a single game at Barry University on Feb. 5. Following a trip to Columbus, Ga., the following weekend for the Cougar Class, the Blazers are scheduled to open the 2023 home slate with Mississippi College for a three-game, GSC series on Feb. 18-19 at Steel's Diamond.
Click on the links to the right of this story for the 2023 Blazer softball schedule and for the NFCA Preseason Top 25.
