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TLU Ranked No. 3 in NFCA Preseason Coaches Poll
Posted: Feb 08, 2022

TLU Ranked No. 3 in NFCA Preseason Coaches Poll

SEGUIN, TX -- The Texas Lutheran softball team was ranked No. 3 in the 2022 NFCA Division-III Coaches Poll, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced on Tuesday.

This marks the third time TLU has entered the season in the top three of the NFCA preseason poll since the organization began announcing the preseason poll in 1997. Additionally, this is the fifth time the Bulldogs have started in the NFCA's top 10.

DePauw, who the Bulldogs meet on March 5th in Columbus, Georgia, was chosen as the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation garnering all 10 first place votes. TLU was joined by Virginia Wesleyan, East Texas Baptist and Birmingham-Southern in the top five. Texas Lutheran will face four teams ranked in the preseason top 25 this year - St. John Fisher (Mar. 4th), DePauw, Trine (Mar. 5th), and Case Western Reserve (Mar. 10th), as well as three teams receiving votes in Coe (Mar. 4th), Emory (Mar. 6th), and Babson (Feb. 25th).

Coming off a 36-6 (18-0 SCAC) record in 2021, a No. 2 final ranking in the NFCA poll and second-straight national championship appearance, Texas Lutheran will return 10 players that played in at least 20 games for the Bulldogs last season who accounted for 53% of its hits and 68% of its runs.

The Bulldogs have also added 16 newcomers, including Division-I transfers Murphy Williams (Gladewater/Gladewater), a junior pitcher who transferred from University of Louisiana Monroe, and sophomore pitcher/outfielder Madison Johnson (Round Rock/Round Rock), who transferred from Texas A&M - Corpus Christi.

Among TLU's returners are National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Americans Kelly Jurden (Brenham/Brenham) and Ashlyn Strother (Seabrook/Clear Falls) as well as NFCA All-Region honorees Sarah Metzer (Sugar Land/Dulles), Chassety Raines (Spring/Klein Collins), Sydney Ouellette (Corpus Christi/Gregory-Portland), and Casey Martin (Pearland/Pearland).

The NFCA Preseason Top 25 poll can be viewed in full here.

For more information on Texas Lutheran softball, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter and Instagram (@TLUsoftball) and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on Twitter, @tlubulldogs on Instagram and Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on TikTok).